killed in an explosion in his lab that he may have intentionally set when he was alerted that the sheriffs were on their way to arrest him.
She owned this eight-unit apartment building, and lived in a unit on the top floor. She wasn’t home—at least, the car registered in her name wasn’t on the street or in the carport behind the building.
Nate wasn’t confident that Aggie was right that Aunt Rita would give Mitts refuge, but she’d made a compelling argument, so he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. She’d taken the information she knew about the Saints, what Marie Ynez told her, and information she’d pulled from Mitts’ extensive rap sheet.
Nate wasn’t sure why he had a problem with Aggie. He’d been thinking about it all afternoon and into the evening—it was after nine—ever since she’d picked him up at SAPD.
It wasn’t that she was young or female. Aggie was Lucy’s age, and Nate didn’t have a problem working with Lucy. He preferred it, because she was smart and focused and well-trained. Plus, he liked her.
Aggie was smart, but in a different way. She was tech-savvy and analytical. But she was chatty and couldn’t stay still.
And Nate had never worked with her.
There was a trust that he’d built up with Lucy and even Brad. A trust he’d built with Sean and Jack and Kane. When he was in the Army, he learned to trust his squad. He knew them, inside and out. It was so deeply ingrained he knew when one was in pain, or his commander had doubts, or when they looked at each other and knew they were going back to save a civilian even in the face of danger.
Trust took time. It took working together and learning the other person. How they would respond to any situation. How they thought and processed intel.
He’d never worked with Aggie. He’d met her a handful of times—the talkative geek analyst at the DEA.
Agent. She’s a DEA agent and you’d better remember that.
But agent or not, he’d never worked with her. He felt protective because that was his background. Protect the weak, the innocent, the civilians. He didn’t know her skill set or how she would react in the face of adversity. Which meant that he was on edge; tense and watchful.
And Aggie fidgeted constantly.
It was annoying. And a little endearing, if they weren’t on a long stake-out. She’d taken her long white blonde hair down from a messy bun and braided it down her back. Then ten minutes later she’d undone the braid and wrapped her hair on the top of her head. He’d threatened to cut it off if she couldn’t keep still.
“He’s not coming,” Nate said after more than two hours.
“He will. I should have bought more food. I’m starving.”
He couldn’t imagine she had any more room in her stomach. They’d had hamburgers and fries from Whataburger, then she’d stopped at a mini-mart for water, chips, sunflower seeds, and bananas. Everything was gone.
“You don’t know that he will. It’s a guess.”
“An educated guess.”
“What about the Merides brothers?” he said. “Earlier you said they would be more apt to talk, and I concurred.”
“I don’t know where they are. I have some ideas, but we don’t have the manpower to check them all out. Mitts will be here. He doesn’t have many places he can go.”
“Unless he left San Antonio all together.”
“Possible. Unlikely.”
“Why?”
“Because this is all he knows. He doesn’t have contacts all over the state or country. He’s American through and through, he’d be eaten for lunch in Mexico if he tried to work something with the cartels. He’s going to stay in his comfort zone.”
She sounded positive, not one doubt. Nate wasn’t so certain, but this was her job. He had to try to find a way to trust her. Lucy had brought her in. Brad trusted her.
Aggie continued, her mind clearly working through all the possibilities. “Mitts stole the drugs and planted them in your truck because he was hired to do so—not because he was in a gang, but because he was one of the few left. Meaning, whoever hired him only knows the Saints.” She was nodding to herself.
She made a lot of sense, especially if Elise Hunt was behind this.
But a stakeout could take all night. Days. They’d been here for three hours now and hadn’t seen anything but two drug deals.
“We need more information and a better plan,” Nate said.
“He’ll be here. It’s the only place he can