and vent, I guess. I’m ready to go back and tackle the other half of those reference books now.”
“You didn’t saddle me with anything. You just saved me from putting up with Metcalf.” He smiled. “And I’d much rather rescue you from boredom. I regard that as an essential duty connected to being your partner.”
“But you’re not rescuing me, I’ll still go back and go through those books.”
“I know, rescuing you does have its difficulties. But you’ll at least know that I’m here for you.” He gave the tip of her nose a quick kiss and turned away. “So go rescue yourself by finding another couch in that library to catch a few hours’ sleep. I’ll get to work right away and try to have something to show for it in the morning if I can.”
She watched him stride away. Then she turned and walked back into the office.
But you’ll at least know that I’m here for you.
And she did know that. He’d always been there. It was probably why she’d called him tonight when she’d been so frustrated and depressed. She hadn’t wanted him to rescue her, she’d just wanted to be with him and share.
And instead he’d started to plot and plan to change what had upset her and craft it into what he wanted it to be. Typical Lynch. She could understand him going after Laurent. But that reference to his less-than-legal contacts in Sonora had disturbed her.
What the hell did he think he was going to find out in Sonora?
* * *
Sonora, Mexico
Next Day
Raul Delgado!
Tonight?
Lynch was cursing beneath his breath as he slammed out of the cantina and strode across the street to his rental car. No wonder Laurent had been playing cat and mouse and dangling just enough bait to keep Lynch interested. Delgado was a prize Laurent wouldn’t easily give up, and the bastard was balancing some very dangerous elements to keep under control.
As soon as he got in the car, he punched in Laurent’s number.
Laurent answered him immediately. “Hello, Lynch. What are you doing in Mexico?”
“I believe you know or your contact down here wouldn’t have let you know I might call you. Tell me about Raul Delgado.”
“An interesting man.”
“Don’t bullshit me. I want answers.”
“Answers can be expensive. I realize you can be a valuable resource, but you also have to cooperate. I want the credit for this. The FBI could get in my way.”
“I’m not the FBI. You work that out between you. I only want to know about Dietrich and I want to know now.”
“Because of your friend Kendra Michaels? I sympathize but I really can’t let her interfere. We’re too close to the objective. She’ll have to accept the risk.”
“No, she won’t. Because you’re going to tell me everything so that I can keep that risk away from her.” He lowered his voice to silky softness. “You don’t want me for an enemy, Laurent.”
Silence. Then Laurent said, “No, I don’t believe I do. So I’ll be agreeable and deal. But I’ll get what I want and a little on the side. I don’t care about Dietrich.”
“I do. So we’ll start with him as far as answers are concerned.” He paused. “Is it tonight or was that bullshit?”
“No bullshit. But we’re not really sure. All we know is that it’s going to go down soon. It could be tonight or tomorrow or the next day, but it will be very soon. Pedro gave you the worst-case scenario, because he’s afraid of you. You would have known Pedro was lying, he’s very transparent.” He added wryly, “But if it does turn out to be the worst-case scenario, you’d better ask your questions quickly, hadn’t you?”
* * *
Woodward Academy
6:40 P.M.
The first thing Kendra noticed was that Lynch was not driving his Lamborghini when he came up the driveway but a modest dark Volvo covered in dust.
“You’re late, you said you’d let me know this morning,” she said as she walked toward him. “Or maybe you said you’d try, but I was still worried.”
“And impatient,” he said. “Does that library have a refrigerator? I need a bottle of water. I feel as if I’ve been swallowing dust all the way from Sonora.”
“Sonora?” She led him inside and gave him a bottle of water from Allison’s compact office fridge. “I thought you were only going to call your contacts. Why did you go down there?”
“Dietrich would call it in-depth research.” He drank half the water in three swallows. “I spent half the night on the