Cannon hesitated for a moment, then said, “We used something similar when I was in the Marines.” He didn’t elaborate further. Nahla noticed him tense.
Reaching over his sister, Cannon scrolled down a little bit. At the bottom of the document, there was the name of a contractor: Barrett Performance Solutions.
Nahla read the business name out loud, then said, “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Me either,” Capri said.
Cannon said nothing. Nahla glanced at him. “Have you?”
Without looking at her, he shook his head once. “Nah.”
She said, “Okay, so I guess we can flag these two files and keep searching.”
They all did just that, but it took Nahla a minute to refocus.
Nahla frowned. She didn’t have any prior knowledge of how Cannon acted when he was lying, but his entire demeanor shifted when he read that name. She felt like he was holding something back, but decided not to push the issue.
Not just yet anyway.
She tuckedBarrett Performance Solutionsright beside the name Ox, in the back of her mind, and kept working.
The driveback from Mama Porter’s house had been a comfortable, quiet one. After dinner at his grandmother’s, Cannon was feeling grateful for the fact that Nahla got along so well with the two most important people in his life. Nahla was thankful that the two most important people in his life liked her.
Now that they were back at the safe house, Capri was putting away the take-home plates Mama Porter had sent them with, while Cannon leaned against the island, watching her. He was struggling with whether or not to leave Nahla alone that night. The safe house was secure. He was sure no one knew where it was, and even if they did, it would be more than difficult for them to breach any of the entrances.
But. . .
He needed to go and seeBarrett Performance Solutionsfor himself. As soon as he saw the name, the wheels in his head started to turn. How convenient was it that the same day his long-lost homie pulled up on him, they uncovered a document with marine-coded signatures and a company with Ox’s last name?
He hated to think that Mace could potentially be coming around just to play him, but he had to consider all his options. That started with determining whether Maddox “Ox” Barrett owned this company.
Pushing himself off the counter, he walked over to her.
“La,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Nahla closed the refrigerator and allowed her head to fall back on Cannon’s chest.
With a smile, she said, “Yes?”
“I’ma step out for a minute, aight?”
She frowned immediately. Turning around, she said, “Without me?”
“Yeah. This place is secure, so you’ll be straight. I found the address toBarrett Performance Solutions, and it’s in Jasona. I wanna check it out real quick.”
“Without me,” she repeated, as more of a statement this time.
“I don’t know anything about this place, La. I don’t wanna put you in any unnecessary danger.”
That was partially true. He did want her safe, but Cannon had no plans of being spotted. He only wanted to scope it out, so he was pretty sure he wasn’t about to encounter anything dangerous. The real reason he didn’t want her to come was that he was concerned that her nosy ass would put pieces together that had more to do withhimthan thecase.
Nahla wasn’t going for it. “Danger?” She waved him off. “Youjustsaid it would be quick.”
“Yeah, but?—”
“And, if you’re really just concerned about my safety, isn’t the safest place for me to be with you?”
He was momentarily speechless, so Nahla spoke up again.
