She smiled at Crawford before climbing into the back seat of his black Cadillac. With his own sleazy grin, Crawford dipped his head on his way inside. The door shut; the parking lights disengaged, and a few seconds later, they were gone.
As they drove away, Coulter put on his best Cole Morris mask as he approached the valet attendant eagerly waiting at the podium near the door. Once he was locked in tight behind the wheel of his borrowed car, he took off in the same direction as Alex and Crawford.
He didn’t wait long before retrieving the tiny earpiece from his pocket and securing it inside his left ear. There was a slight crackling sound before the reception became clear. Once it did, he could hear everything the couple was saying thanks to the bracelet on Alex’s wrist.
“I hope you’re hungry.” Crawford’s deep voice filledCoulter’s ear. “Chez Martine has the most exquisite food.”
“I am.” Alex’s tone was a bit softer than usual. “Trying new restaurants is one of my favorite things about traveling.”
Coulter could hear the slight tilt in her voice as she spoke. It was the smallest change, but he’d been around her enough to tell when the woman was nervous.
You should have tried harder to convince her to cancel. You should have called this whole thing off.
But he hadn’t, so all he could do now was wait for the evening to end. Before he got too far down the road, Coulter used the car’s hands-free option to send an expected text:
They’re on the move.
Twenty-seven minutes later, he was pulling up to the curb in front of Chez Martine. Tossing his keys to the valet, he took the small card with his customer number to hand back to the kid when he was ready to leave.
Rather than going inside, he waited for his car to drive off before making his way to the white panel van parked several yards down the block. To anyone else, it would appear as if it was merely one of the city’s maintenance vehicles. To Coulter, it was the perfect place to keep tabs on Alex and Crawford.
He stepped from the curb and gave a couple hard slaps against the van’s side as he approached the back bumper. “It’s me.”
Seconds later, the right portion of the split doors swung open and a familiar face appeared.
“They just got seated at their table.” Agent Lisa Swensen greeted him before moving out of his way.
Climbing inside, Coulter pulled the door shut behind him. He scanned their immediate area as he did to ensure no one was watching.
“You said they’re at the table?”
The curly-haired brunette nodded, pointing to one of the vehicle’s six screens. Three on his left, three to the right. Each with a different view of the restaurant’s interior, courtesy of the establishment’s own security feed.
He sat down in one of two swivel chairs mounted to the van’s floor. With the long, narrow, built-in desk before him, he used the mouse and keyboard to gain access to the preferred camera view.
His heart kicked harder when he caught sight of Alex’s sparkly, red dress, and Coulter zoomed in for a closer look.
“You never did say who this woman is to you.”
“You’re right.” He made another slight adjustment. “Sure didn’t.”
Her long, frustrated sigh was impossible to miss. “So that’s how you want to play this?”
“I’m not playing at anything, Agent Swensen. I’m simply trying to do my job.”
“As am I.”
“Good. Glad to see we’re both on the same page. Now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to listen.”
He wasn’t purposely trying to be a dick. From the few times they’d worked together, Lisa had proven herself to be a solid field agent. But his personalconnection to Alex was irrelevant to their investigation into Crawford’s illegal doings.
And unless, or until, it became an issue, he preferred to keep his private life just that. Private. Especially when, unfortunately for him, there was nothing remotely romantic happening between him and Alex.
“Fine.” Agent Swensen took a seat in the chair to his left. “Let’s see what our target and his mystery date have to say.”
“I must say, Alexandria,” Gordan began. “That is quite a dress.”
Alex sent the billionaire a smile from across the small, rectangular table. “I’m happy you approve.”
