Picking up her phone, she called Max back, wondering if he'd already found something, but his phone went to voicemail, so she hung up and got back on her computer.
Several hours later, her eyes were blurring from reading through the lengthy files the DA's office had sent over. She still had a couple more years to go through, but it was almost five, and she needed to get out to Queens for her uncle's birthday. She sent the remaining files to an encrypted folder she could access from home and would dig into that after she spent a little time with her family.
She had just gotten into the car when Max called her back. "What's up?" she asked. "Did you find anything?"
"I have some information. It's not verified yet, but I want to talk to you about it."
"That sounds a little mysterious."
"Can we meet?"
"I'm just leaving work. I have to go to Queens for my uncle's birthday bash."
"Maybe after?"
She hesitated. She didn't want to wait to hear what he had to say. "Or you could come with me…" She regretted the invitation as soon as it left her mouth, but it was too late to take it back.
"Are you sure your family won't care?"
"The family mantra is the more the merrier. Are you at home? I can pick you up. I'm just leaving work."
"I'll be waiting."
A little tingle of excitement ran through her. She told herself this was just about work, but she knew that was a lie. She just hoped he didn't know it, too.
Chapter Fourteen
Max was waiting in front of the Golden Dragon, looking so deliciously sexy in dark-gray slacks, a navy sweater, and a black coat that her heart flipped over in her chest. He hopped into her SUV and gave her a warm smile.
"Hello," he said as he fastened his seatbelt.
"Hi." She cleared her throat, feeling oddly uncomfortable, not by anything he was doing but the unexpected attraction that seemed to intensify every time she saw him. "Lots of traffic tonight."
"Not surprising," he murmured. "How did your day go?"
"It wasn't going great until about an hour ago. Tyler found Vincent Castellano."
"That's great."
"Castellano admitted to threatening Samantha at the bistro, but he has a rock-solid alibi for the café bombing. He was clocked in at work in Jersey during the blast. And he was out of town for three days before the blast at a family wedding. He said his threat was only about the fraud case Samantha was building against the auto shop. He was terrified of losing his job, and he didn't even know what the Meridien Tower was. He's a thug, but he's not our bomber."
"Why did he run and hide then?"
"After the bomb blast, he realized his threat might get him into trouble. When you think about it, his actions were not well thought out. He threatened Samantha in a public place with lots of witnesses and security cameras. He's not that smart."
"No," Max agreed. "And I can't see a tie between Petroysan and Cooper. Anything else?"
"James Cooper has unexplained cash deposits in his bank account. We're following the money."
"That's good," he said with a nod. "If he was taking bribes, maybe someone didn't feel he held up his end of the bargain."
"Which would go with what Whitney said about him needing to understand consequences." She paused. "Oh, there's another thing. Someone tried to break into the safe house. Whitney is all right. The agent outside is recovering from a concussion. The agent inside got off a couple of shots, striking the attacker, who unfortunately escaped. He ditched his clothes in a laundry bin, and there was blood on them. We're tracing the DNA now. Hope to have a hit soon. Things are moving along, just not as fast as I would like."
"You've made some progress."
"Some," she agreed. "What about you? You said you had news?" Her pulse was steadier now. Focusing on business had put her back on a more even keel.
"I spoke to a friend of mine. He believes that Cal is Caleb Azrani. Caleb's brother, Malik Azrani, worked with Ali Qadir, who is?—"
