Gleason.
Dean was cordial, but firm. “You can see where we are having a problem believing you didn’t alert someone to our investigation.”
“I see what you’re saying, really, but I didn’t talk to anyone. I answered your questions, worked here until eight, nine at night, went home, and came back at eight this morning. This is a busy time of year for us.”
He was telling the truth about his whereabouts, Sonia knew, because they had had an agent sitting on him all night. But she didn’t believe for a second that he hadn’t told someone.
“Three women are dead,” Dean said calmly. “In a warehouse owned by Weber Trucking.”
“That’s awful.”
“They were illegal Chinese immigrants,” Sonia snapped. “Kidnapped and brought to this country by Omega Shipping-another of your dead boss’s clients. Where does that leave you? Either dead, or an accessory. So tell us exactly who you talked to and what you said.”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree.”
He was lying. His skin was pale except for his bright-red cheeks. He tapped his fingers on the table and kept looking from Dean to Sonia and back to Dean with a wide-eyed innocent stare. Sonia wasn’t buying it. But nothing she said could make him talk. It infuriated her. She was usually much better at getting suspects to tell her everything they knew.
Maybe Toni was right; she was too close to the case. Yesterday, Gleason had hit on her. She should have played off that; instead, she’d let her anger and dislike of the man impede her judgment. Why hadn’t she seen it before?
Her phone vibrated. She glanced down at the number. It was restricted.
“Get your cell phone and call your phone company to give us permission to access your phone records here and at home, or we’ll get a warrant.” Gleason shifted uncomfortably. “Now,” she commanded.
Gleason jumped out of his chair and scurried from the room.
“Sonia-”
“I have a call. He doesn’t need to listen in.” She answered. “Hello.”
“I gave you everything I have.”
“I need to meet with you.”
“You can’t believe I’d fall for the oldest trick in the book.”
“Charlie, I’m not going to arrest you. I give you my word. I need ten minutes, that’s it. I have a picture taken in Mexico. I think you can help me identify these people.”
“How can I trust you?”
Sonia wanted to scream. Instead she said, “Think back, Charlie. Have I ever lied to you?
She took a deep breath. Dean was staring at her, an odd look on his face, and it made her feel uncomfortable. As if he had just now seen the real Sonia Knight and didn’t like what he saw. She turned her back to him. She didn’t want to blow it with Dean, there was something about him she couldn’t shake, but she couldn’t change who she was. She didn’t think she’d ever find anyone who could look at her and accept her, warts and all. Did she think Dean might be the exception just because he knew so much about her and hadn’t already walked away?
Right now, she would do or say nearly anything to get Charlie to look at the photo of her father and the others and identify the man, or woman, who’d killed Jones and the Vegas. That person was starting up a far more ruthless human trafficking ring than even the vile Xavier Jones had created. Her experience and the little evidence they had told Sonia her instincts were right. And trusting her instincts had saved her life, and her career, many times over. Her instincts were all she had left to trust.
“Where are you?” Charlie asked.
“Downtown.”
“Twenty minutes, Raley Field. River Cat dugout. Don’t be late, there’s a game tonight. I’ll be gone in thirty, and I’m not coming back.”
“Charlie, please-”
He hung up.
Sonia swore. “He’ll meet.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Of course! We need that information.”
“Where?”
Sonia didn’t want to ask, but she had to. She’d promised Charlie that she would give him a pass this time. She had to believe that Dean would support her decision. “You’re not going to try anything?”
Dean’s lips tightened. “I told you I wouldn’t.”
“I’m sorry, I just-”
“You don’t trust anyone.”
“That’s not true.” But he was right. She had a hard time with trust.
“Then it’s just me you don’t trust?” She felt the hurt and anger behind his softly spoken words.
“Of course I trust you.” She wanted to. God, she wanted to. “More than anyone,” she added honestly.
“Then you need to trust my word.”
Was trusting Dean that hard for her? Hadn’t he proven himself? Why was she fighting it? Not everyone was Charlie. Not everyone was her father.
“Raley Field. Twenty minutes.” She saw that her brief hesitation hurt Dean. She wouldn’t have hurt him for the world-and now, she didn’t know if she could take it back. God, she wanted to. She didn’t want him angry with her. “Dean-”
He interrupted. “We’d better get over there. Is it close by?”
“A couple minutes.” She took his hand, squeezed, and dropped it as Gleason walked back into the room with two cell phones and said, “I gave Pac Bell permission to talk to you and faxed them the signed authorization. I swear, I didn’t talk to anyone with Weber Trucking yesterday. You’ll see.”
“Thank you,” Sonia said. “We’ll be in touch.” She walked out, and Dean followed.
In the elevator, he said, “I have your back, Sonia.”
She tensed. Charlie had said the exact same thing to her before he had sold her.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you, you know that,” Dean said.
“I know,” she said softly.
“What is it then?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me. Don’t clam up. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Sonia didn’t like being yelled at or ordered around. She stood toe to toe with Dean Hooper and said in a low growl, “Charlie told me he had my back, too, and look what happened there.”
His face darkened. “I can’t believe you’re comparing me to that bastard.”
Sonia stepped back. She couldn’t believe she had said that either, especially on the heels of their recent conversation upstairs. She hadn’t meant it. God, she didn’t mean it. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled lamely.
The elevator doors opened and they walked out in silence. Sonia didn’t know what to say or do to fix it, but she feared she’d lost something important.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The River Cats minor league baseball team was playing at six that evening at Raley Field, and at three in the afternoon there were already employees and vendors showing up. Along the main entrance were places to eat and
