He made a face as he shrugged. “I’m not gonna toss her to the wolves.”
“Do you really think she’s being watched?”
“Honestly, probably not, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Especially if she starts asking questions and makes someone suspicious.” He glanced toward the door. “Let’s get out of here and reduce the risk of anyone realizing I paid her a visit.”
I couldn’t ignore the difference between the two visits. He hadn’t been above physically hurting Miguel to get what he wanted, but he was going to great lengths to protect the accountant. I suspected he was doing it because she’d been dragged into the situation unwillingly. That only verified what I already knew about him—while he didn’t suffer assholes, he did his best to protect the innocent or mostly innocent.
We headed over to the car, and he didn’t waste any time pulling out of the parking lot.
“What took you so long to come out?” he asked with a slight chill in his voice.
“Natalie stopped me. She asked why I was with you.”
He cast a sidelong glance in my direction before turning back toward the road. “What did you tell her?”
“The truth. We’re working together to bring down Gerald Knox and save a lot of girls.” I waited for a beat. “She knew who I was.”
“And?” he prodded.
“She said I must have pissed someone off or gotten in someone’s way for them to set me up like that.”
His head jutted back in surprise. “She believed you?”
“Yeah, when she heard about the shooting, her first thought was that I’d pissed someone off. She thinks they used the situation to their advantage. She said I was lucky. She claims other cops who have gotten in the way or didn’t cooperate have been killed.”
“How do you think they got away with killin’ cops?” He glanced at me again. “Did you notice a pattern?”
I shook my head. “No. I never suspected a thing. She said the cops were killed off duty, and it sounds like a lot of their deaths were made to look like accidents or natural causes.”
“What do you make of it?”
I drew in a deep breath as I considered it. “Honestly, I don’t know. She said she wrote checks to guys on the force who worked for J.R. Simmons. Yet she claims she doesn’t remember any of their names.”
“You don’t believe her?”
I shook my head. “No. If I were an accountant writing checks to pay off cops, you can bet I’d remember all of them. But she said she might be able to dig up the records. She’s going to let Carter know if she finds anything.” I tilted my head as I turned to him. “What do you make of that?”
He pursed his lips. “She’s holdin’ out for something.”
“Yeah, my thought too. But what?”
“To see if I follow through with protecting her?” he mused. “To see if she can find someone willing to pay to find out Harper Adams is looking into dirty cops?”
“You really think she’s up to the latter?” I asked in surprise.
“If I were a bettin’ man, I’d say no. But we’d be fools to not at least entertain the possibility.”
A new thought occurred to me, and I gasped. “Oh… your guards will provide double duty, protecting her and watching to see who she contacts. That’s part of the reason you’re giving her a detail. To spy on her.”
He made a face. “Like I said, I’d be a fool not to consider that she’ll go to someone after my visit.”
“Will your team surveil her phone calls? How will they get access?”
“Unfortunately, we’re probably out of luck with the phone calls, but someone from the team will likely go into her office to introduce themselves and give her a panic button. If they’re worth their salt, they’ll find a way to install a camera in her office and possibly even the public spaces in her home. They might suggest it, and if she refuses, it’s an additional reason to suspect she’s gonna sell me out.”
“Is that a real concern?” I asked in surprise. “I thought she was an innocent.”
“She was an innocent when she got dragged into Simmons’s world. But by the time he was killed, she was deep in it. I believe she wanted out, but I’m also sure the job came with lots of perks. Perks she likely doesn’t have access to now.” He glanced at me. “Like I said to her, I suspect the Feds didn’t get all the money.”
