She rounded the back of the SUV to slide into the passenger seat. Di seemed to ignore the discomfort of her sopping-wet clothes. They rode in silence to the rental house Rex had secured for them.
“Would you please go inside and grab a towel for me?” she asked. “It’s bad enough I got the car wet, I’d rather not do the same to the hardwood floors inside.”
“Yeah. Hang on.” He strode into the house and found the linen closet in the bathroom upstairs. Securing two towels, he returned to find Di standing right where he’d left her. He handed her one towel, then carried the other to the rental car to mop up the water from the floorboards and seat.
“I can do that,” she protested.
“I’ve got it. Go inside and change.” He watched as she wrapped the towel around her waist and headed inside. Then he continued wiping down the interior of the SUV.
He’d thought her stealing Levine’s cell phone was bad, but this latest stunt was a close second. What if that guy had seen her and started shooting? It was almost as if she didn’t care as much as he did about her safety. And she’d taken the risk for nothing since she hadn’t found anything worthwhile.
The only positive note was that they’d gotten a glimpse of the same guy going into the warehouse.
That alone didn’t mean he was a member of the K2 Bloods and running drugs, but it was worth checking out. And wryly acknowledged only Di could turn a foolish impulse into a possible lead.
When he finished with the rental car, he headed inside to pull up the rap sheet for Pablo Hernandez. Di joined him a few minutes later, freshly showered and wearing a clean set of clothes. She dropped into the chair beside him. “Did you want to grab lunch?”
He nodded and gestured to the screen. “Pablo only has a record for possession, and that was last year. He didn’t even have enough weight on him to qualify for intent to sell. Seems odd that he’d go from using drugs to being in charge of the K2 Bloods gang.”
“I don’t have enough experience with the drug business to know if that’s unusual,” she admitted. “It could simply mean he’s smart enough not to get caught.”
“Possible,” he admitted. He took a moment to pull up Terance Warren’s record. Prior to his most recent arrest, he only had a minor possession charge too. He wondered if the narcotics officers knew more about Pablo than they let on. Although he would have expected Ray Bond would have kept Di in the loop.
“Let’s grab a bite and decide our next steps.” He rose and closed the laptop. “I think your idea of watching the warehouse is a good one.”
“Okay.” She stood and followed him outside. “I don’t suppose I can convince you to stop at a café in gang territory.”
He arched a brow. “Really? You want to show your face there for Pablo or his foot soldiers to see?”
“It was just a thought.” She settled into the seat and latched her belt. “I’m concerned that we’ll spin our wheels the rest of the day until darkness falls. Drawing out the gunman seems a logical move.”
More like a death wish, but he kept that thought to himself. He drove through the park to the café on the other side. They were busy, but he found street parking a few blocks down from the café. They were able to grab a sandwich and soft drink to go. He’d intended to take their food to the car, but on the patio, a couple stood to leave. Changing his mind, he snared the empty table, gesturing for Di to sit across from him.
She didn’t move to unwrap her sandwich; instead, she bowed her head, waiting for him to say grace. He was touched by her action and leaned forward to pray so she could hear. “Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for keeping us safe in Your care. Please continue to guide us to the truth. Amen.”
“Amen.” Her response sounded genuine, although he sensed she was still resisting the idea of God sending His only Son to suffer for their sins.
It must be hard for her, he realized, to believe in something she couldn’t see or hear without having any experiences with church or people with faith. Maybe when this was over, he could convince her to attend services with him.
“We should do some research on the owner of the warehouse,” Di said, breaking into his thoughts.
“That’s a good idea.” He took a bite of his sandwich, wishing he’d brought the laptop along. “We can work from the safe house for a while.”
“I doubt Pablo owns the warehouse, and that makes me wonder if there’s someone else even higher on the food chain who is orchestrating the drug trafficking in the area.”
He frowned. “You’re not back on the possibility of someone inside the police department being involved.”
“No, but it does make sense that it’s someone with resources beyond your typical gang member.” She shrugged and took a sip of her soft drink. “Gang leaders come and go, but the drugs keep flowing, right?”
“That’s true.” He eyed her curiously, wondering why she once again sounded like a cop. Maybe part of the problem was that she was used to working alone. But really, she needed to consider the legal implications of what they were doing. Finding the guy who’d targeted her wouldn’t eliminate the threat against her if they couldn’t use the evidence they needed to lock him up behind bars.
“Maybe I was wrong about the boat,” she went on. “We need to get closer to the warehouse to see if we can get a positive ID on Pablo.”
“That guy could have been one of Pablo’s men,” he pointed out. “I agree that getting closer so we can get a few pictures would be good. I still have access to the police database, and we can try to get an ID off facial recognition.”
“That would be great.” She looked enthused about that idea. “We know the driver of the Chevy is involved in the attempts against me.”
“Too bad we didn’t get a good look at him.” He thought back to the drive-by shooting incident, but it had happened too fast for him to get more than a passing glimpse of a face under a mop of hair. He couldn’t even say for sure what race he was.
