Like she’d been careful when she’d gone with two special ops guys to break into Eli Zepeda’s apartment, like when she’d punched Zepeda in the face. “I will.”
“So your bounty hunter... I guess you still haven’t slept with him.”
Her face heated. Silence fell as she tried to find the right words.
“Oh, my God! Youhaveslept with him! I knew you couldn’t hold out. Was he fantastic? What am I thinking? With a body like that, he had to be. You could just rub yourself all over him and it would be delicious.”
Kate laughed. “I’m not talking about it.”
“Better than great! I knew it!”
“Look, I gotta go.” Not really, but she wasn’t ready to have this conversation with Cece. “I’ve got some things I need to do.”
“Okay, fine—for now. Just be careful, okay? With the murder caseandwith your hot alpha male.”
She smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” As Kate ended the call, her stomach growled again. She headed for the kitchen, actually hungry this time. It was good to have friends.
She remembered she’d said that about Jason, that he was a friend. As she rummaged through the fridge and took out lunch meat, light mayo and mustard, she decided it was true. They were friends. With a man like Maddox, that was all it ever could be. Jase wasn’t a settled-down kind of guy, though he had been surprisingly monogamous while they had been together. She hadn’t caught him even looking at another woman, not a hint that he was getting bored or interested in someone else.
Still, his life was catching criminals and bringing them to justice, and clearly he loved it. Which meant when the case was solved, he would be moving on and it would be over between them.
Her stomach twisted. Kate looked down at the food on the counter, but her appetite had disappeared.
Jase drove south on I-35 toward Waco. Ryker lounged in the passenger seat, the picture of toughness and strength. The lights from the dashboard illuminated his solid jaw and strong cheekbones.
Jase cast him a glance. “You got the meet set with your guy, right?”
“Eagles Club. It’s off I-35 on Eighteenth Street. Dive bar downtown. Guy calls himself Shifty. Says he’s got fresh intel. Meet’s set for midnight.”
“If I recall, there’s a Budget Inn in the area. We’ll get a room, assemble our gear, maybe catch a nap before we head out. Could be a long night.”
Ryker nodded.
When they reached the edge of town, Jase pulled into a Burger King just off the highway, went through the drive-thru for burgers and fries, then headed for the motel.
At two minutes till midnight, they crossed the sidewalk and pushed through the door into the Eagles Club, the interior dimly lit, illuminated mostly by red and purple lights behind the liquor bottles on the back bar. Red glass candleholders flickered on small round tables scattered across the room.
The place was only about two-thirds full, the customers talking among themselves, an occasional burst of laughter. Jase figured another half hour, the patrons would be well on their way to stupid, and drunks from nearby bars would wander in for a few more drinks before closing.
“Over there.” Jax gestured to a guy at the far end of the bar. Late forties, dirty blond hair and a drooping mustache. He spotted them and stood up as they approached. Jase ordered a couple of Lone Stars and a fresh drink for his newfound friend, and they carried them over to a table against the far wall.
“This is Hawk Maddox,” Jax said to him. “He’s the guy I told you about. Give him whatever you’ve got.”
Shifty looked him over, taking in his height and muscular build, probably figuring, even if he’d gotten cold feet about talking, it was too late to back out now.
“Harding’s staying in an apartment out in Bellmead. I got the address.”
Jase made a mental note of the street and number the guy rattled off.
“He’s living with a woman and two other guys,” Shifty said. “They’re hard cases, kicked out of the military for dealing dope. Which is what they’re mostly doing now, but they’ve managed to jack a few high-end cars and a couple of newer pickups. Always a good market for those.”
Jase took a swallow of beer. “Got names?”
“Pike and Folsom. Pike’s big and dark. Folsom’s got a bad scar on his cheek. Cops are getting fed up. I don’t think Harding will be sticking around much longer. Things are getting too hot.”
“You think Harding will be there tonight?” Jase asked.
The guy shifted nervously and glanced around. Maybe that was how he got his name. “I don’t know. Haven’t heard of anything going down tonight, so he should be. Can’t say for sure.”
