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He wasn’t watching that droning news report any more than she was. He was wired, tense, waiting. Whatever Dawg and Rowdy had done that day evidently wasn’t going to have immediate results.
As she watched him, her cell phone beeped imperatively at her ear.
“Dane,” she answered the call, watching as Natches tensed further.
“You want to tell me what the hell your boyfriend’s cousins are up to?” Cranston snarled in her ear. “They just had a rather heated, if amusing, argument in the parking lot of Mackay Lumber. It seems they’ve had a bit of a falling out with their cousin over a fucking picture he found. ”
God, what were they doing?
She lifted her eyes as Natches sat up and turned to face her. His eyes narrowed as she stared back at him.
“I don’t know,” she finally answered. “And he’s not talking. ”
“Agent Dane, we don’t need fuckups here,” Cranston bit out. She could imagine him scowling, his face wrinkling like an irate bulldog’s. “Find out what the hell is going on. ”
“And you expect me to do that how?” she asked him, still watching Natches, fear building inside her. “Do you have the details of the conversation?”
“Oh, something along the lines of wiping their hands of him forever because he destroyed evidence against someone. A picture. One that implicated someone they didn’t name, but anyone with a brain could put it together. ”
She licked her lips nervously as Natches rose slowly to his feet and walked toward her. Her teeth clenched as he slipped the wireless unit from her ear and brought it to his own.
“Chaya’s rather busy right now, Timothy,” he said quietly. “Try again later. ”
He disconnected the call and tossed the unit to the table.
“Don’t answer it. ” He pointed his finger to the ringing phone, then turned and walked into the kitchen.
And Chaya had had enough. She stood to her feet, gathered the files she was working on, and pushed them into her case. Shutting her laptop down, she pushed it into the case as well and carried it to the door.
“Walk out that door and I’ll tie you to the bed. ” His voice ne
ver rose.
“I’m sick of that threat now. ” She sat down on the chair and pulled her socks on her feet before pulling her boots to her.
He pulled a beer from the fridge, opened it, and moved back to the living room, where he sat down on the couch and watched her, his green eyes intent, his expression carved from stone.
“I’m not Crista or Kelly,” she told him. “I won’t be pushed behind you and protected, nor play the helpless little woman. If that’s what you think, then you should sit down and rethink your options. That one isn’t working. ”
She pulled the first boot over her foot.
“He’ll be calling sometime tomorrow,” Natches stated. “Alex will be contacting Cranston tonight. At present, this marina, as well as the lumber store, is under surveillance by three of the men in that photo. ” He pointed to the picture laid out on the table. “If you walk out of here, you compromise me, is that what you want?”
She let the boot fall back to the floor.
“What have you done?” she whispered, staring back at him as she felt her chest clench with dread. She remembered the year before, the operation that had very nearly ended with Crista Jansen’s death because Dawg had played games with Johnny Grace. And now, Natches was setting himself up as a target.
“Everyone knows the Nauti Boys always stick together. Nothing comes between them. Now something has; there’s a division. Nadine glimpsed it that morning Dawg and I were arguing at the diner over you. Remember?”
She nodded, remembering the morning she had threatened to tell Crista on Dawg.
“They’ve seen us arguing more than once here lately, over you and this investigation. That worked in our favor. Now it appears that Dawg and Rowdy are arguing between them because I destroyed a picture that implicates someone in the investigation. And Dawg’s letting his opinion that ‘blood will tell’ be known. ”
Chaya shook her head slowly. “What kind of blood? What does he mean, ‘blood will tell’?”
“Meaning, Chaya, that evidently, when it comes right down to it, my loyalty is to the bastard that sired me rather than the family that raised me. ”
“And you’ve kept me in the dark about this for what reason?”
