"I told you they would be."
"You weren't kidding. Where was your brother tonight?"
"Working. Hayden is a second-year resident at St. Mary's. He works long shifts. He would not have been nearly as nosy as my mom if he had come. He's more private, and that's why we get along. He doesn't ask me a lot of questions, and I return the favor."
"Well, I think your family is great. And not just the family, all the friends. You're part of a community. It's very cool."
"I think so," she agreed. "Sometimes I find the personal questions annoying, but I know they come from a good place. Anyway, that's enough family talk. I need to refocus. I want to dig into Wexler Properties when I get home and also renew my memory of that tower fire. I worked that day, and it was a significant event, but I don't remember the details."
"The details may not matter. There's no tie between Wexler and the café, as you told your uncle. The tower fire could mean nothing. The connection is between James Cooper and Samantha Barkley."
"Dominic also had a working relationship with Cooper. Every time we turn a corner, we run into Dominic's connections. Have you noticed that?"
"He has a vast network. I still think he's innocent, though."
"I hope you're right. How's Samantha doing? My last update was early this morning, and they hadn't taken her off the breathing tubes yet."
"They postponed until tomorrow. They don't think she's stable enough."
"How is Dominic handling it all?"
"He's been to the hospital just about every day, checks in on her for a few minutes, and then goes back to work."
"But he's not sitting by her bedside for hours on end."
"He doesn't have hours on end. His schedule is packed. And to be fair, he and Samantha have only been dating for a few months. I think he cares about her, but I don't know how deep their relationship is."
"I sometimes wonder why she was dating him," Kara murmured. "She's not his type; he's not her type. I wonder if she had a hidden agenda, like maybe she suspected he was involved in something illegal."
"Maybe. Who knows? Their relationship doesn't make sense, but sometimes the best ones don't make sense."
"That's true. Sometimes you catch feelings when you shouldn't."
He wondered if she was talking about her feelings about someone in particular…maybe even him. There was a spark between them. And they had connected on a much more personal level now. But he was the wrong man for her, and she was the wrong woman for him. At least right now. Maybe one day when he'd accomplished his mission, when he'd vanquished his demons, maybe then…or maybe not. Because who knew if that would ever happen.
Chapter Fifteen
Kara knew she should take Max home instead of to her apartment, but he wanted to work on the case together, and she was tired of living in her own head. He might also have insight that she didn't have. He might not be FBI, but he was well-trained in intelligence gathering, and she trusted him to be honest about what made sense and what didn't. It felt a little wrong that she wanted to work with him more than with her own team, but after what had happened at the safe house, she needed to keep things tight.
Tyler's words still rang through her head. He'd pointed out that Max had known the address of the safe house. He'd been there with her. He'd seen the agents, knew how many they were, and how they were positioned. She couldn't deny that he'd actually had more information than her own team, although there were many people at 26 Fed who would have known that address and that protocol.
She just had to go with her gut, and for now, her instincts were telling her that Max was on the right side. Until they told her otherwise, she was going to go with that belief.
Her apartment was just as she'd left it, including the pillow and blanket that Max had used the night before when he'd slept on her couch.
She moved over to her dining table and opened her laptop computer while Max sat down across from her, pulling out his phone. "What are you searching for?"
"Information on Wexler Properties and the Meridien Tower. You?"
"Same, but I'm also going to finish my search through Samantha's case files. I've already gone through five years, but maybe there's something further back, something to do with Meridien Tower."
For the next half hour, they worked in comfortable silence. It didn't feel nearly as boring knowing Max was trying to help her find the answers she desperately needed.
Finally, she found the case she was looking for. "Here we go," she said. "Seven years ago, Samantha prosecuted a case against Redstone Technologies, a company that made smart systems for high-rise buildings. But that system failed in the Meridien Tower, resulting in an explosion on the nineteenth floor and a fire that killed six people and injured seven others." Her gaze skimmed the cover page. "The Meridien Tower was owned by Wexler Properties."
"What happened? Did anyone go to jail?" Max asked.
She shook her head. "No. The defendants made plea deals, and a civil case resulted in a significant cash settlement to the affected families."
