“See.” She leaned down and pointed to the slice in the tire. “But look here.” She pointed to a bulge in the sidewall of her tire. “It could have erupted.”
“No. Someone slashed your tire. The line is too clean. If it had exploded, it would have torn the rubber and made jagged edges. This isn’t jagged.” He ran his finger along the sharp edge.
“But why would someone want to do that?” She stood and put her hands on her hips.
“I couldn’t tell you. I’m going to call Alston Repair and Towing. He’ll come get this old girl. Four new tires?”
She swung around and grabbed his arm. “And a spare, oh, and maybe a jack, too.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t have a jack?”
“I did until about four months ago. I gave it to Tara. Some guy from the shelter needed one, and I wasn’t using it.”
He blinked at her. “Does that make sense when you say it out loud?”
She turned to look at him and burst out laughing. “Not in the slightest.”
He released an exaggerated sigh, “Thank God. I was worried I’d fallen in love with a ditz.” He dodged a quick flick of her hand toward his bicep.
“I’m not a ditz. I was planning on getting a new one.”
He nodded and stared at the tire. “I’m sure you were.”
She hip-checked him and then leaned into his side. She felt wonderful against him. “Do you need to go anywhere today?”
“Yeah, I have a couple things I need to do, but I’ll call an Uber.”
“Text me with the information.”
She snorted. “I will not get Uber-snatched.”
He tugged her in and kissed the top of her head, filling his senses with the scent of her citrus shampoo. “Everyone should have someone who knows where they are and where they’re going. Safety isn’t something I can compromise on. If you don’t want to text me, text your sister or your mom. Just make sure someone knows, okay?”
“Okay.” She tipped her head back, and he kissed her again, lingering in the solitude of the quiet alleyway.
“Consider getting a camera for above the back door. They are inexpensive and most of them store footage in the cloud for a year at a time.”
“Isn’t that overkill?” She glanced at the back door of the building.
He sighed. “Think about it this way. What if this had happened to Roger or one of the others who park here? What if whoever did that was still there when one of your employees went home? Having a camera back here pointed at the cars would provide additional security for them and for you.”
Brie gave him a small nudge with her elbow. “Stop making sense, will you?”
“Not when it comes to your safety. Sorry.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ll forgive you. Do you have time for a cup of coffee?”
He looked over her shoulder at his watch. “No, I have a meeting with a federal prosecutor this morning. I’ll walk you to the door and wait until you get inside, but then I’ve got to go.”
They meandered to the steps. He kissed her on the bottom step and again on the top. “I’ll call you and let you know when Alston will come to pick the old girl up.”
“Thank you.” She pushed up on her toes and he bent down to kiss her again. “I love you.” Her soft words sent a million joules of electricity through him.
Feeling like he could take on the entire city and win, he smiled down at her. “I love you, too. Be safe.” He spun her and patted her on her perfectly pert ass.
She gave an indignant huff and slid the key into the top lock, then the middle, and finally, the third. She smiled and blew him a kiss as she walked in the door and shut it behind her. He heard the key lock being thrown and then the chirping as she deactivated the interior alarm system. He jogged down the stairs and headed to his sedan. Today was starting off one hell of a lot better than yesterday.
Maybe.
He stared at Mouse. The woman was twitching. She’d showered thirty minutes ago, not that you could tell. She was a wash of sweat and looked like death warmed over. “Detoxing hard. When do the feds show up?”
Terrence glanced at his watch. “Any time now. They pushed it back because a meeting they were in was running long.” He leaned back against the table in the observation room. “Mouse can keep it together. She’s fighting for her life right now. She knows it.”
“We can try to get a doc here and give her a dose of Methadone.”
Terrence shook his head. “If the feds come in and she can’t form a coherent sentence, she won’t get her deal.”
“I talked to her about treatment. I’ve lined up a rehab facility in New York. Pulled in a fuckton of favors to get her into a bed tomorrow. She’ll keep it together.” He hoped.
Brody opened the interrogation room door. “Captain, Detective McBride is here. He has some information on Artog, Inc.”
He nodded toward Mouse. “Monitor her?”
Terrence clapped him on the back. “Sure, I’ll take my paperwork in there and do it. We’ll get her through this. She’s the key to Peña.”
He followed Brody. “Your office?” Brody motioned to Detective McBride when he grunted and headed toward his desk.
The men came in and Brody shut the door behind him. “Have a seat.” He waited until the detectives sat down before he leaned his forearms on his desk and pegged McBride with a stare. “We are working a possible conduit of cocaine into the city. According to my detectives, one entity that keeps bubbling to the top is a shipping company called Artog Shipping. When I briefed my major on it this morning, he indicated you might be able to provide some
