a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. As he sat back down at the table and handed one to her, she smiled. “Is this going to be a wine kind of conversation?”
A chuckle rumbled from deep inside his chest. “It might be. I thought about coffee, but we both want to be able to sleep tonight. I figured wine was the way to go.”
Her lips curved, and she lifted the glass, taking a sip before murmuring in appreciation. “This is really good. I should have known with your many talents, picking a good wine would be one of them.”
Pulling out his phone, he began scrolling through the information Josh had sent to him. His gaze lifted to hers, and she read indecision in his eyes.
“Keeping me in the dark does no good. I can’t protect myself if I don’t know what possible threats are out there,” she said.
“I know you’re right, but I don’t know how happy you’re going to be with where some of the investigation is going.”
Huffing, she leaned back in her chair. “I’m smart enough to know that you’re having to investigate everybody who has anything to do with the clinic. I know that includes my coworkers, and even though I like them and trust them, I know you have to look at them through a different perspective.”
“I like your candor, babe.” Pulling out his tablet, he tapped through several screens and then scooted his chair so that he was next to her. “First off, I did talk to my fellow Keepers at LSI. Then I called Tate for a more private conversation between friends.”
She pondered the information, her gaze never wavering. “You always manage to offer so much information with just a few sentences. I’m so curious as to why your coworkers are called Keepers, but that can be a conversation for another time. I do want to know what they’re working on, and while I’m curious about your private conversation with your friend, I understand it’s just that… private.”
“I’ll tell you all about LSI some time, but you’re right, let’s start with the information that you need to know. Let me just say that I’m having everyone in your orbit investigated. What I mean by that is everyone at the clinic because they know what Caesar did for you and that he’s missing. I’m letting my boss fill in your father as necessary, but when I first met him, there were two of his aides that were present. Your father trusts them, but I’d rather they not know. It’s his call, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re persons of interest.”
“Dad’s aides?”
“Josie, you have to know that just because someone is in politics or an attorney doesn’t mean they are above reproach.”
She snorted. “Believe me, I know. I’m really glad that my father was just an attorney when I was young. It was hard enough to be the teenage daughter of a man running for office. He loves the life. He loves being in the public eye, but it’s just not my thing. I’ve certainly met enough to know that politicians are no different than anyone else… some wonderful and some not so good. A few, absolutely rotten.”
“For full disclosure, I’ll tell you that the two in the room were Carmen Martinez and Tahoma Starr.”
“Carmen? Tahoma? I don’t know them well enough to imagine either of them being involved.”
“Mr. Starr seemed very suspicious of me with your father. I don’t know if he was just curious why I was there. Maybe he looks at everyone that way.”
“I’ve only met him a couple of times, and he’s hard to get a read on because he seems rather closed off. I know he was originally from the Jicarilla Apache Reservation and left to go to college and law school. The times I’ve been around him, my dad seems to have a lot of respect for him, but Tahoma rarely smiles, always seemed suspicious of everyone around him. I just figured that was his personality. ”
Cobb nodded, jotting down a few notes as she spoke. Looking up, he continued. “Ms. Martinez struck me as a woman who knew what she wanted and didn’t mind going after it. She approached me with a speculative look in her eye—”
“I’m not surprised.” Josie rolled her eyes. “I might not know her well, but I’ve certainly seen her at a few functions. She’s a smart woman, navigates a room to find the most attractive or wealthy men in the room. I