His phone rang, and he looked down. “Hi, Wolfe. What’s up?” His team had better be safe outside of Boston.
“Just doing a perimeter search around the motel,” Wolfe said over the traffic sounds in the distance. “I think Coonan is still searching the water for bodies, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts looking in Boston soon. We’ll be out of here around dawn, so he won’t know anything until we contact him. Any news on the journal?”
“No,” Angus said, wiping his eyes. “It wasn’t in the grave Banaghan claimed, and he gave a good imitation of a shocked man.” But the guy was a former mob enforcer and surely knew how to lie. “If I didn’t know his background, I’d believe him.”
“What now?” A siren sounded in the far distance across the phone line.
“I have him under guard for the night. The cemetery was flooded about ten years ago, and things shifted both above and beneath ground.” Which wouldn’t be a terrible problem if Angus had any juice with the HDD, but he didn’t. “I have Mal working on getting a court order to let us sweep the cemetery or at least use equipment that can search underground for what Sean promises is a box.”
Wolfe was silent for a moment. “You think he’s jerking us around?”
“It’s possible,” Angus admitted, his attention caught by the German shepherd as he whimpered and started running in his sleep, his legs twitching. “Banaghan doesn’t trust us, that’s for sure.” The guy had been stonily silent after Brigid and Raider had gone on mission. “He’s not going to do anything until his daughter is in front of his face.” It was Angus’s last chance with Sean. “Maybe she can talk him into working with us.” It pissed Angus off that he wasn’t sure whether Sean was lying or not. He was a fucking profiler, or used to be, anyway.
“I don’t think we could beat it out of him,” Wolfe said, as if discussing pizza toppings.
“Agreed,” Angus said. Oh, every man had a breaking point, but Sean Banaghan’s wasn’t physical. His daughter was his weakness, and Angus had to be careful there. Not only was she part of his team, he liked the young hacker. But if he had to, he’d use her to motivate her father. “How are Brigid and Raider?”
“Wet and exhausted, and I sewed up Raider’s hip. The guy is solid, man. Gets the job done.”
Angus nodded. Raider was definitely solid, if obsessed with taking down the Irish organization. He should probably feel bad about using that obsession, but Angus felt an impending deadline in his gut. There was a reason Coonan was making a move now, and he had to figure out what it was before all hell broke loose. “Are Brigid and Raider working together or in opposition?” That was a serious concern, especially since he’d need Brigid’s hacking skills soon.
Wolfe sighed. “Well, being nearly blown up bonded them, but you’re talking family relationships versus revenge obsession. They’re getting along right now, but who knows if that’ll last. If things go south, it’s gonna be ugly.”
Angus had already determined that. “The only way to keep things from going south is to get Sean Banaghan to work with us, and I may have to use Brigid.”
“Do what you have to do,” Wolfe returned, seeing only black and white, as usual. “They’re in this business and not weaving serapes somewhere. They chose their paths.”
Weaving serapes? Man, sometimes Wolfe’s brain worked at odd angles. “Any news from your reporter?” Angus asked.
“No. She gave us intel but doesn’t have anything new. If we find enough evidence to take down the Coonan organization, I’ll give her an exclusive.”
“You trust her?” Angus asked.
“Yep.” Wolfe’s footsteps increased in pace.
The elevator door dinged in the other room, and heels clipped across the rough cement. “Call in with anything else,” Angus said, clicking off. He turned as Nari Zhang strode into the room. “What the hell are you doing here at three in the morning?”
Her fine eyebrows arched. “Hello to you, too.”
The dog awoke and yawned, his ears picking up.
“Hi, sweetie.” Nari strode for the dog and handed him a bone from her leather purse. She turned around. “I’ve been reading the profile and all records on Sean Banaghan and figured you’d be here.”
Where else would he be at three in the morning? Angus studied the shrink. She wore dark pressed jeans, a white sweater, and black boots that had made that clipping sound. Her dark hair was secured at the top of her head with some sort of clip, and tendrils rained down in a casual manner that looked cool. Her dusky skin was free of makeup, her lips a light rose, and her deep brown eyes tired. “Why are you here, Nari?”
She blinked and drew out a chair. “I told you.”
“No. At the HDD. I know you were sent in to report back on us, but what did you do to get here?” He’d wondered for a while but didn’t have access to her files.
She gave a sardonic cough. “I volunteered for this one. Needed a change, saw you were all on the edge, and figured a shrink would keep this place from imploding.” Her gaze moved to the dog munching happily on his bone. “Then I decided I like it here.” She looked around the dingy room. “Well, not here, but I like the people. A nicer office would be better for all of us.”
Right. That wasn’t going to happen. “What did you determine from Banaghan’s file?” They needed to stick to business, and his eyes had to stop dropping to her petite body.
She sighed. “He’s lying. The first chance he gets, he’s making a break for it to handle things on his own. And my guess? Taking out Eddie Coonan is the first item on his to-do list.”
* * *
Raider awoke after the best few hours of sleep he’d had in a couple of years. His face ached, his hip burned, and his body just plain and simple hurt. But damn, he felt good.
