“Nothing.”
“Thank you for tonight,” she said. “No matter what happens between us, I will take this to my grave.”
He pulled into Emerson’s driveway and cut the engine.They went in through the garage and were greeted by an excited Pima.
Meow-meow-meoooow.
Up the stairs he flew. In the kitchen, he paraded back and forth in front of his dish.
“Check it out,” Stryker said, “He ate the dry food.”
“No, he didn’t. I dumped it and gave him moist food.” Emerson sat at the island. “How do you make peace with what just happened?”
“You don’t,” he replied, matter-of-factly.
Stryker shook the container of cat treats and Pima started doing his possessed two-legged dance. Rather than give him the treats, he pulled out a handful of dry kibble and dropped them into his dish.
Pima ate one, then another.
“Only you,” Emerson said.
Stryker patted the cat, which elicited his bizarre purr-meow combo. “Good boy, Pima.” He stroked the cat, poured himself a scotch, and sat beside Emerson.
She said nothing while he sipped his liquor. After he’d finished, he dragged over his laptop. “If Barca was telling the truth, Spinetti has people on the outside running his drug ring.”
“Isn’t he in a minimum-security camp?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Hack in and see if he’s had any visitors.”
Stryker got busy trying to access the prison’s surveillance systems. He lost track of time, but when Emerson set a plate of chicken and pasta with red sauce in front of him, along with a side salad, he stopped working.
“We didn’t eat dinner,” she said.
He’d been so laser focused, he didn’t realize she’d been cooking for the past forty minutes. “Thanks, baby.” He dug in. “Delicious.”
She peered at his screen. “How are you doing?”
He continued typing, then shot her a smile. “I’m in.”
Using a mugshot of Spinetti, Stryker ran his IDware going back six months. While the search ran, he ate.
“Why aren’t you eating?” he asked.
“I can’t stomach anything. I’m still processing what happened.”
“Babe—”
“I’ll eat tomorrow, when my guts aren’t tied in knots.”
He turned back to the computer. “When the Bureau asked me to help with the Internet scams, I found nothing connecting Spinetti to a drug ring.”
“He’s got wide-reaching tentacles.” She poured herself a glass of water and stood beside him.
He put his arm around her and rubbed her back.
Ping!
