She was done with this conversation and headed towards the door. “No.”
Hererra rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. Autumn turned away from him but heard his chuckle behind her as they exited the room. “Fine, we don’t have to talk about it anymore.”
She let go of the breath she held and followed him to the club’s entrance. They walked to a diner a couple of blocks over. It was empty except for a few couples who sat further away from them.
After they ordered, Autumn people-watched. One of her fingers absently rubbed over the rim of her glass. Her mind is stuck between what happened at the club and her conversation with Nico Scala.
“Who did you meet at Yankee Stadium?”
She blinked and turned her attention to Hererra. “What?”
“Come on, Taylor, you know I won’t let you go somewhere alone, right?” He took a sip of his water and glanced over the rim of his glass, his eyebrow raised.
Her finger stopped its movement, “I didn’t know I needed a babysitter.”
Hererra rolled his eyes, “I never said you needed a babysitter.” With a shrug of his shoulders, he added, “You’ve never asked me to go to a Yankees game.”
She blinked back, “You’re a Mets guy. Why would I ask you to go to a Yankees game?”
“Exactly,” his lips quirked, and an eyebrow rose, “When do you go anywhere outside of the job unless you’re being dragged out?” He shrugged, a knowing look on his face. “So that means it could only be work related.”
Autumn grimaced. He was right. She didn’t go out, but that didn’t disguise the fact that Hererra followed her. Was that what made her senses go off before she walked down into the subway? “I don’t need someone watching out for me or following me, Detective Hererra.”
“Technicalities.” He waved a hand as if it were nothing, “So, who did you meet? It’s not like you stayed long, twenty minutes tops before you bolted like a scared rabbit.”
Nearly being kissed and then almost watching it play out for the world to see would do that to you.
“Why didn’t you go inside the stadium to see who I met?” She said aloud.
Ben shuddered, “Walk inside the Yank’s stadium? I’m not venturing into Hell. I’d never do that to my team.”
Autumn’s lips twitched. Only Hererra could make light of a tense situation.
She flicked her gaze to him, then away. He didn’t know the reason she went to meet Scala, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t follow her again either.
“I met with Nico Scala.” There. She told him.
Ben blinked before his eyes grew glacial. All humor left his face as his lips thinned, “Why would you want to meet a man with his reputation?”
“We were in a public place, Hererra.” Autumn shrugged her shoulder as if it wasn’t a big deal. “And… I don’t know. I wanted to hear what he had to say, not that he was going to change my mind.”
His eyebrow lifted again, “What was he trying to change your mind about?”
“He offered to help get us information about Catarina Casale’s death.”
“He must be doing his uncle’s bidding.” His gaze flicked to the window, then back to her. “How does he think he can help? There’s always an ulterior motive with that bastard.”
Their food arrived. Autumn hadn’t felt all that hungry until the juicy hamburger and greasy, salty fries were placed before her.
“Autumn.”
At the sound of her name, Autumn looked across the table at the detective. He leaned back in the booth, both arms crossed. Those amber-colored eyes stared her down. “What else happened?”
She took a bite of her hamburger, and the grease, meat, and potato bun melded together as she chewed. She grabbed her glass, slurped through the straw, and took another bite, repeating the process before she answered him.
“He offered to get information from Blue Navarro.”
“The owner of Cat Tails.” He cocked his head to the side, “How?”
