It was then the people who’d been surrounding Dario turned to us. They started speaking at once again, which was not going to work at all for me.
I gave a sharp whistle. The entire lobby area went still.
“You’ll speak one at a time. Yelling at him doesn’t make shit go faster. If it’s urgent, we’ll get it handled. If it can wait, then understand it will be handled when there is time.” I kept my voice firm, without crossing into wants to murder you territory.
See, Daddy. I could learn.
I tossed a look Henny’s way to make sure he’d seen and heard me. He smiled and shook his head.
The workers were better after that, taking their time to list out the issues in a way that was manageable. Dario stuck around to help while I worked through the footage on Henny’s tablet. I was never more than a few steps away from him at any moment. It didn’t feel right to leave his side.
As I scanned faces for the person intent on hurting Ricardo, my phone rang. I answered blindly.
“Talk to me.”
“Pip, it’s me. Ricardo’s fully awake. He’s still high on the pain meds, but he’s aware enough to know I’m here. Tell me you’ve got some kind of movement on who did this.”
I grunted. “Not yet. I’m close though. I can feel it.”
He didn’t ask me to expand on the words. Rel knew me. He knew that sometimes my internal feelings were the best guide to figure shit out.
“Keep me updated.”
With that, he hung up. I chuckled at the move. Anyone else and I’d have been pissed. Rel was family though. It was nothing when he did it.
As I moved to tuck my phone away, a particular face caught my eye. “Is that you?”
Tracking the man was simple once I locked on him. The way he kept his head on a swivel showed his nerves. But then he must have seen what he needed to because he froze for a second before tearing through the crowd like an angry bull.
Seconds later, he passed by Ricardo. The rest was stuff I already knew. I kept watching up until the point I saw myself getting involved.
To be sure, I replayed the video three more times. By the end, I knew beyond any doubt this was who we were looking for. Now I just needed to find out who the fuck he was.
Henny approached with a raised brow. “Someone looks happy.”
“Yep,” I replied, popping the ‘p’ for effect. “I found Mister McStabby. Now I just need to get him into some facial recognition software, and we’ll be good to go.”
“I trust you’ve got it handled. Are you going to head up to the room or my office? I’m sure you want to spread out.”
Shaking my head, I tucked the tablet against my chest and crossed my arms. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Absolutely not. I’d glue you to my side right now if I thought I could get away with it.” He sighed. “But I also know this place has to be distracting you. I don’t want you hanging around because you think you have to.”
“It’s never a have to with you, Daddy.” I moved closer, making sure the words were just for us.
Heat flashed in his eyes as he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck. “I’ve already taken you once tonight. Don’t tell me you want more.”
“I always want more of you.” I pressed a quick kiss to his lips, then stepped away. “You might be on to something though. I do need to spread out. And I need a paper map to mark off search areas. If this guy was that efficient with his attack, then he’s probably not hiding in plain sight.”
Henny nodded. “You’re right. I’ll come find you when I’m done here.”
It took six days,four hours, and nine minutes to find the guy.
And once I did, it was over.
In a matter of hours, he’d be dead, the boss would be avenged, and hopefully we’d have answers about who the fuck was on our backs now.
Maybe then we’d get some peace.
