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“Right.” No way was Ox buying it was eye strain.
There was definitely something going on with Cass. Did she know she could come to him if she needed help?
He wanted to tell her just that, but not with their audience—teammates or not.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Cass prompted after a few moments.
Ox straightened and stepped away, feeling Eveline’s gaze studying him, her face blank, as if all emotion had been wiped from it.
What the hell?
What’d happened while he and Cass had been talking?
Had one of the guys said anything to her? Made her feel like she wasn’t welcome?
If one of them had, they’d be getting an earful.
Ox was torn between getting the meeting started and making sure Eveline was okay. He strode over to where she stood in the corner by the credenza that held the coffee machine and some snacks. “What happened?” he demanded. “Do I need to have a word with one of my staff members?”
She jolted as if she wasn’t aware that come to her. “What? I’m fine.” Eveline plastered a smile on. It was as fake as the ones he’d seen on women in beauty pageants who said they were happy for their fellow contestant when they’d won.
He couldn’t question her on it, not when everyone was waiting for him to get started. “We’ll discuss this later. Please take a seat.”
Ox led her from where she stood to the table, and like he’d done with Cass, he held out the chair for her, giving it a gentle push when she sat.
Once he was sure she was okay, he faced the small group. “Thank you all for dropping everything and meeting me and Eveline. There’s been a development in her case, and it’s not sitting right with me.”
Over the next fifteen minutes, he gave them a quick rundown of the most recent events and his phone call with Detective Joe Watson.
“Cass, I need you to find out everything you can about Randall Maxwell. Any connections he has to any of the local gangs. His police record. Bank accounts. You know what I need. Also, if you can access any pictures from the morgue and the coroner’s report when it becomes available.”
“On it. I’ve scoured the footage from Eveline’s attack and there’s nothing solid. Even with me working my magic. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, I know if you found anything you’d let me know. I’m guessing it’s the same outcome at her apartment building?”
“I’m still processing that footage, but now with this information I’m sure I’ll just confirm that Randall was at the scene. But I can see if he was alone or someone else helped him out. Do you want me to check to see if he has any connection to the Ramirez Cartel?”
Ox froze at the mention of the Cartel. Astrid had been targeted by Ramirez when she’d witnessed an argument and then heard a murder. The most surprising thing had been that a couple weeks after she and Growler were chased and shot at, the news had broken that she was to be left alone and was of no interest to the Cartel anymore.
“Do you think there’s a connection?” Angel asked before he got the chance.
“Not sure, but considering what they did with Astrid and their about-face, I think we should give it serious thought.” Cass tapped her tablet pen against the tabletop. “There’s been no chatter, but we can’t discount that someone’s gone rogue again like Pedro did.”
“I think, for this particular case, the Cartel isn’t involved, but let’s not rule them out,” Ox said.
“Gerald doesn’t have anything to do with Cartels. He said they’re more hassle than they’re worth,” Eveline commented.
Ox went on high alert. One of the things he hadn’t considered was if Gerald and Triple Z were involved with any cartels. Or human trafficking. Being in a security company was a good cover if anyone wanted to present one image, while doing the actual opposite in terms of business.
“Have they approached him in the past? Why would he say that if they hadn’t?” Ox pierced Eveline with a look.
She shifted as if uncomfortable with his questions. Was she hiding something?
Not wanting to let the doubts he’d squashed a while ago come back in, he kept an open mind and waited for her to say what she needed to say.
“He didn’t outright say it to me. I overheard him talking on the phone. I was in the filing room, and he stopped out the front of it. I’m sure if he saw me, he would’ve continued to his office. I don’t even know why he didn’t. Anyway, he told whoever he was speaking to on the phone what I just told you. He was pretty adamant about it.”
Considering what Ox knew about Gerald and how he ran his business, he was surprised at Gerald’s stance. But that didn’t mean things had changed. “Is it possible that the Cartel didn’t like that and are sending a message?”
