Page 65 of Armed ’N’ Ready

The only man she smiled at was Eric, who came up to them first. “You guys both look like I feel—like crap. Get any sleep last night?”

“Some,” Nick said, noting the flush on Andi’s cheeks.

Their conversation hadn’t gone unheard. Wolinski sent him a sly grin. Nick gritted his teeth. Stomping down the urge to kiss her then and there—branding her as his—was quickly becoming a habit. But this wasn’t the place or the time to start acting on his impulses.

Focus.

“The lab guys should get started on Matteo’s phone dump today,” Cox said. “I’ve asked for geocoding on that photo. If they can give us the date, time, and location where it was taken, it may help us figure out who wound up with it after it was stolen from Myer’s house. I’d like to nail down this guy’s identity before we bring Myer in.”

“Agreed.” Nick nodded. “Once we arrest him, the gangs will want to stay as far as possible from the center of this investigation.”

“Gentlemen.” AUSA Bennett held open one of the inner doors. “And lady.” He tipped his head to Andi. “We’re in Conference Room A. Conference Room B is empty, and Ms. Hardt can wait there.”

Nick escorted her to the other conference room, located in the far wing of the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught SAC Wolinski and his ASAC watching them. Watching Andi, more likely.

Conference Room B was cavernous, with giant floor-to-ceiling concrete pillars in the center. Bookcases crammed with law books lined two walls, while a bank of windows overlooked the courtyard below.

“Want coffee?”

She shook her head, then turned her back to him, staring out the row of horizontal windows. “How long will you be?”

He came to stand behind her, gently rubbing her arms, but she stepped from his reach. “A couple hours.” Maybe more, but he hoped not. When she groaned, he handed her a remote sitting on the long table in between two of the columns. “You can watch TV.”

“Thanks,” she answered, staring at the remote in her hand.

He watched her, feeling totally helpless. Not for the first time in his life, he wished he could turn back the clock for a do-over because, minute by minute, she was shutting him out and it was killing him. What he needed was more time to explain to her all the shit that was cluttering up his mind. Today, there wasn’t a second to spare. Giving her space was the only thing he could do. “I’ll see you later.” Before she could skirt away, he dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head, then left.

Back in Conference Room A, he closed the door behind him and sat at the opposite end of the table from AUSA Bennett.

“Everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice.” Bennett pushed his wire-rimmed glasses higher on his nose then pulled a legal pad from a stack of papers in front of him. “Nick will fill everyone in on what’s happened.”

All sets of eyes turned to him.

“Early this morning,” he began, “Myer returned my call. He’s ready to turn himself in.”

A chorus of murmurs went around the table.

“What changed his mind?” Wolinski crossed his arms over his dark-gray suit jacket. “Last I heard, he was holed up with no indication of showing his face anytime soon.”

He met the older man’s eyes. “I let him know gang members tried to kidnap his ex-girlfriend, most likely at the direction of whoever he was laundering money for. I made it clear they were going to use her to get to him.”

“She’s a hot-looking woman.” Wolinski grinned sleazily again, leaving Nick wondering if the man had any other facial expressions. “If anyone could draw him out of hiding, she could. With a body and a face like hers, she could make a man do just about anything.” He chuckled, but no one laughed with him.

Nick clenched his jaw. Every second he spent in that arrogant little prick’s presence made him want to launch across the table and strangle the man.

Eric alternated between eyeing the FBI SAC with disgust and shooting Nick warning glances not to act on what he was thinking.

“Where is he now?” Bennett asked.

“Canada,” Nick replied.

“Canada?” Wolinski huffed. “How did he get across the border without us knowing? Didn’t anyone notify DHS?”

“We did.” With every word out of this prick’s mouth, Nick was getting more and more irritated. Didn’t this asshole read Cox’s reports? “Somehow he got through a border crossing without getting grabbed.”

“Stuff happens.” Bennett made a few notes on his pad. “We can whine about the holes in our borders all night, but it won’t do us any good today. Luckily, this time it’s irrelevant, since he’s turning himself in.”

“How’d you leave it with him?” Cox asked.