Page 14 of Shadow Strike
He watched her almost deflect it, and then she didn’t.“I bit him,” she said with grim satisfaction.“I kicked and bit and… Not that it did any good.”
He smiled.“I figured you for a fighter.Sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”
“Absolutely not.I’m bruised and angry.I want a hot shower and my own bed.But I’m fine.”
He raised a brow.
She sighed.“I will be fine.”
He suspected she hadn’t been fine in a long time.“When did you last eat?”
The brief pause before she answered told him everything.“It’s been a while.”
“Right.”He stood.“I’ll be back in ten.Stay put.”
The cafeteria was quiet at this hour.He put together a plate with a sandwich and grabbed a protein shake from the cooler.
“Eat,” he said, putting the tray in front of her before he sat back down.
He expected an argument, but didn’t get one.
She didn’t talk while she ate, and he didn’t push for conversation.He was careful not to stare at her hair, now down around her shoulders since she’d lost her holder in the fight.Or watch her lips as she licked them after taking a drink.Or wonder if she had any more tatts hiding under her clothes.
She was most of the way through the plate when she said, “I want to make a deal.”
He sat back.This ought to be good.“I’m listening.”
“Mom’s been asking me to bring someone on for months, and I need to keep her safe.”She set down the drink.“I want you to pose as a bartender.”
“To protect your mom.”
She nodded and finished off the last bite of the sandwich.“My bar.My rules.Every operational decision goes through me.You’re there to keep Mom safe, but don’t let on that’s why I hired you.”
She paused as if waiting for his agreement.
“Okay.”
Regan fiddled with the drink bottle.“She’s the priority.The second priority is to help me protect the bar.I know the threats are going to escalate even more.I need to do what I can to make sure we keep it.”Her voice dropped.“It’s all she has left of my dad.”
That would be tougher.It was easy to set a building on fire.To shoot out its windows, break a water line to flood it, pull strings to have it condemned.He’d have to be creative.“Agreed.”
She waited, clearly expecting more.“That’s it?No negotiating?Do you even know anything about mixing drinks?”
“You’re asking me to go undercover as a bartender to keep your mother safe.You’re the boss, I answer to you.Those are reasonable terms.And yes, I make a mean espresso martini.”
She blinked a couple of times.“Okay, then.We need to talk about your fees.I don’t have a lot of extra money.”
He waved a hand in dismissal.“SPS offers payment plans.We’ll work it out.”
“There’s something else I should tell you,” she said.
Her tone suggested he should brace himself.“Shoot.”
She looked at the tray and drew a deep breath.“I’ve been building another season of the podcast around an investigation on the Canon Outlaws that’s bigger than the Ray Briggs series.The full picture of what they’ve been doing under Ryder’s leadership.”
Everything inside CB went still.
She kept going.“Extortion, obviously.But also money laundering through three front businesses, a chop shop operation outside of the county, and connections to a supply chain I’m still tracing.I have sources.I have documents.I have recorded conversations.”She paused.“I’m telling you because you should know what you’re walking into.And because if you’re going to be in my bar, you’re going to see me working on it.”
