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“I like you. And so I need to say this.” She licked her lips. “I don’t have your lived experience, and I’m going to make mistakes and say the wrong things. I’ll learn with time. I hope I haven’t offended you so much that you’ll avoid me. It’s not my intention—"
“You know what, Olivia?” Nutsbe grinned. She liked him. “As long as you’re not crying, we can talk most anything out. Classified is off the table, of course.”
“Okay, how about we talk about why you keep looking in your rearview mirror like that?”
Chapter Twenty
Nutsbe
Should he tell her?
Olivia had handled everything else that day like a rockstar.
But he knew so little about her. People had their breaking points, and Nutsbe didn’t want to push Olivia past her capacity. Especially if this was a nothing burger.
What he had was that prickle across his scalp and Beowolf’s vigilance. With all the doggo yawns going on back there and the panting, Beowolf was stressed; Nutsbe got that.
What he hadn’t heard yet was a warning rumble.
“Right now, I’m driving with situational awareness.” That was true. “When we operate an Iniquus vehicle, we’re trained to do it tactically.” That was also true.
“What does that mean?”
“Have you heard of OODA loops?” Nutsbe asked, trying to check his mirrors without being obvious.
“OODA? No. Sounds like Udon noodles.”
“It’s a thought process they train into combat pilots. OODA: observe, orient, decide, act. It allows the pilot to make the split-second decision, overcome hesitation, and do what’s necessary: drop the bomb, evade the rocket, or pull the ejection lever.”
“You didn’t do that in Afghanistan when your plane failed, right? You said you landed it?”
“Landing is the preferred way to get down from the clouds. For about a third of pilots who attempt it, ejecting breaks their spine. It’s a doomsday scenario.”
Right now, Nutsbe was in the observational part of that OODA equation. Yup, he was pretty sure this pair of motorcycles had been following them from the courthouse.
“Hey, Olivia.” Nutsbe purposefully modulated his voice to sound casually conversational.
“Yes?” She glanced his way.
“Candace said she was hiding at that friend’s house because the perp has brothers.”
“He does. Two. And they’re every bit as menacing as Kyle Offsed. But Kyle is the only one Candace can identify as being at the crime scene. And he’s the only one I have enough evidence to bring to trial.” She looked out the side window while playing with the ring on her finger. “When they’re around, it’s almost like I can taste the latent violence.” She looked over at Nutsbe. “Even Judge Madison is concerned. That’s why I’m allowed to keep my phone on me at all times.” She paused. “I wonder what happened to cause him to leave with the family emergency. Of course, Judge Madison is an intensely private guy so unless the issue continues to interrupt court, I’ll never know.” She reached down and did something with her shoe. “It occurred to me that if we had been in court, we would have missed the whole sniper scene. Not knowing why the judge had to leave, one could start developing conspiracy theories. But I do know that his mom has been in and out of the hospital this last month. I’d lay money on something happening with his mother’s health.”
Nutsbe glanced at the red toggle and considered flipping it on as a precaution.
“What does your gut tell you?” Olivia focused on Nutsbe. “Do you think we’ll be back in court tomorrow? Oh, wait. Can you even go? I didn’t ask about your schedule. Beowolf is a last-minute dog, after all.”
Nutsbe tipped his head left and right, loosened his shoulders, and prepped his body. “Hang on to that thought. I want to focus on these Offsed brothers. Do you think that they might actually cause you harm?”
“They’re both on parole. They’d be back in jail for a very long time if they did.”
“Right. But in the meantime, you could be hurt or killed. And they’d have to be caught and tried. Do they happen to have motorcycles, do you know?”
“Yes. They do. Candace thinks she’s spotted them near her house, that’s why she’s staying at her friend’s house. Are you thinking about the last few nights of noise? It occurred to me that they were trying to intimidate me. But that’s pretty far-fetched.” Her hand shot out and gripped Nutsbe’s arm. “Do you think that’s what Mickey needed to talk to me about? Do you think that’s who beat the crap out of him the night you were arrested?”
“No idea,” Nutsbe said. Well, this wasn’t good news. It would be nice to ask Mickey, though. “Do you know if they’ve taken Mickey into custody yet?”
“My office is supposed to text me if word comes in. And there’s been nothing about it.”
