Page 19 of Under Fire

Locke grinned. He doubted Karl intended for his fiancée to spend a lot of her time in the kitchen. “I’ll give it some thought.”

“Yes, Danger, you do that. As I said, Quasar, Stonewall, and I are okay with it. Besides, we hope you’ll have this case wrapped up before June, so all of us can attend that wedding.”

The wedding Striker was referring to was that of his wife’s uncle, wealthy industrialist Frazier Connelly. “I’ll do my best.”

After ending the call with Striker, Locke called Nyla Roker.

***

Hollis had driven a couple of blocks when she noticed a car sliding in traffic behind her from a side street. At that moment she knew she was being followed again. She decided that this time she would lead the person to a totally different location.

Ten minutes later, she saw the car was still behind her as she pulled into the parking lot of an abandoned movie theater. She chose this area because all the stores in this particular mall weren’t vacant. She sat, waited, and figured the person in the other car would eventually approach. There was no way she would get out and confront him. He was the one who had followed her, so the next move would be his.

Not knowing what to expect, she placed Charlie beside her. She had no problem using him if she had to. When he reached her door, she placed her hand on her Glock as she slowly rolled down the window, making him aware that she was armed and ready.

She met the man’s gaze. “Is there a reason you’re following me, Detective Connors?”

CHAPTER 8

Detective Myron Connors crouched down in the open window. “I take it you remember me now, Special Agent Calloway.”

Hollis met his gaze, which was now at eye level with hers. “If you’re referring to me not recalling that we attended the academy together over ten years ago until today, then yes, I do remember you now.”

Although everyone was told he quit the academy because of a family emergency, Hollis knew few believed it. Instead of studying hard like the rest of them, he was the class’s slacker and wanna-be Casanova. Very few liked him and considered him rather annoying. Especially the women. Granted, he was nice-looking, but she recalled that he had been full of himself. She wondered if he still was.

So far, all she had seen was his professional side, and detectives were known to be hard-nosed and tough. She had often heard FBI agents described the same way, so his grittiness didn’t bother her any.

“I no longer work for the FBI, so please refrain from referring to me as Special Agent Calloway. Now that you know I remember you, is there a reason you were following me?” she asked, deciding to cut through the BS.

He smiled, and if he thought that smile did anything for her, he was sadly mistaken. “This is a big case we’re working on,” he said.

“And?”

“And for old times’ sake, you know, maybe we could help each other.”

There was no old times’ sake for them when they barely knew each other. Other than those flirty smiles he would often give her ─ like he did most of the women ─ and that one time he asked her out, and she’d turned him down, their relationship had been as casual as one could get. She much preferred him not to rewrite history and paint it as something more.

Based on what he had said so far, she had a feeling where this conversation was headed, but she wanted to make sure. “Help each other how?”

His smile widened, as if he honestly thought she was interested. “You tell me what the defense is looking at, and I might let you in on what we’re not looking at.”

She stared at him for a moment and wondered if this was one of those ‘setting you up to discredit you in some way’ situations that Locke had warned her about. In case it was, she knew she had to choose her words carefully.

“First of all, Detective Connors, there’s no old times’ sake for us. We barely knew each other while we were at the academy. Secondly. I am working to assist in Karl Halifax’s defense while you’re investigating the case for the police.”

The smile on his face faded somewhat. “I’d think our mission is the same. Namely to find out the truth of what happened,” he said.

“I’m hopeful that it is, and if I discover anything that will clear Karl Halifax, I’m sure Attorney Locke Dangerfield will make sure that law enforcement knows it.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment before standing to his full height. He then stared down at her, obviously frustrated. “You undoubtedly assume I believe Halifax is guilty. Well, I have a feeling he might not be.”

He hadn’t said that he had a gut feeling, but a feeling. The two were different. She was about to ask why he felt that way when his phone went off. He quickly pulled it off his belt. “Yes, Tomlin?”

Whatever Tomlin was telling him seemed to ease his frustration. “Glad her parents tracked the call. I’ll meet you there.”

He returned the phone to his belt, looked at her, and mumbled, “I got to go.” Then he quickly walked back to his car, got in, and sped off.

Hollis watched him leave, wondering what that was about. Did it have anything to do with Karl’s case? She knew detectives worked multiple cases at once, so probably not. She turned on the car’s ignition and drove off, heading home.