Technical Threat (Westin Force #4) - Julie Trettel Page 0,32
She’s mighty pretty. I’ve never seen you so captivated by a female before.”
I shrugged. I wanted to deny it. It made me feel vulnerable that Nonna knew me well enough to notice. I liked to believe I was good at keeping my thoughts and emotions to myself. I was the cool, laid back one of the team. I was the one that always kept a level head and stayed mission focused. Sitting there, watching her from across the room, I couldn’t even say why I was in Womack, Idaho to begin with.
“Look,” Nonna said. “Someone just pulled up.”
I forced myself to turn away from Susan and look. I had seen that car leave shortly after we arrived. I jotted down the time of return next to where I had written the description in my notes.
I was waiting for evening to go to the house. I’d already decided a direct approach was best. It stood to reason that the majority of the residents would likely be there in the evening. There was always the chance that someone worked a night shift, but especially in a small town like Womack, it wasn’t very likely.
I had considered that perhaps that was why the hacker had stopped. She liked to work at night, so maybe these nights that she dropped out, were nights she worked. I tried to go back and work up a pattern to depict that, but I had been so sleep deprived that I hadn’t kept those details, and didn’t trust my memory to not jump to a conclusion, so I wanted to see the truth instead.
It wasn’t easy to just sit there. I was anxious and fidgety. Nonna looked thoroughly entertained by my discomfort.
When the lunch rush passed and the lull between meals started to settle in, she finally spoke up.
“Will you just go and make your move already? Because I don’t believe for even a second that you can’t take your eyes off that girl because she’s your mark.”
“My mark?” I asked trying to hide my smile.
“Yeah, your target, the reason we’re here. Or have you forgotten the mission?” she whispered knowingly.
I sighed. “She could be part of the mission. I haven’t ruled anyone out yet.”
Nonna laughed so loud that people started looking our way. “Well, the prudent thing to do would be to go and interview her then. I watch those cop shows on the television. I know how this goes down.”
I snorted. “I’m not a cop, Nonna.”
“I know, but it’s similar.”
It wasn’t, but if that’s what she needed to believe, I wasn’t going to correct her.
“Things have slowed down, so go talk to her already.”
She was going to be relentless on this. I’d seen her in action trying to set me up with women before. I could only imagine how much worse it could get since I was unable to hide my attraction from her. She was going to be like a dog with a bone until I talked to the girl. I was certain of it.
“Go,” she encouraged. “Make that girl’s day. Besides, I came to see you in action.”
I laughed. “Not that kind of action.”
“Oh, you dirty boy. I simply said rule her out as a suspect.” There was a gleeful look in her eyes. “Now, go.”
I didn’t stop to think, I just obeyed as I got up and walked across the room feeling like I was stalking my prey.
Susan
Chapter 12
I had been hovering around the cash register as I needed to take a full count of petty cash and how much was in the drawer for the day. I had the uneasy feeling that Shay would show up at some point and demand to take it all.
I’d already had to place several calls to my lawyer, and another to the bank authorizing a transaction to cover the back mortgage owed. I wasn’t happy about it but there was no way I was going to let my sisters go homeless because of her selfishness. Shay clearly had a problem. I didn’t know what to do to get her help, but I was going to talk to our local council about it soon.
The council was a team of fox shifters that oversaw shifter politics and disputes that otherwise couldn’t be dealt with in human courts. I hoped they would be able to get her the help she clearly needed.
“Go take a break,” I told Courtney.
Now that the rush was over, I could get to work on my task so I could get out of the spotlight