The man’s nameplate readOfficer Marcum.
“You can start by telling me what you’re doing here,” Officer Marcum said. His gaze shifted to Carys.
“I’m sorry, sir. This is my fault,” she said, taking the lead. She reached over to touch Blaize’s arm. “My fiancé didn’t get much sleep last night after me being in the hospital, so I asked him if we could stop off and rest before making the drive back to Dallas.”
Blaize had no idea where any of this was coming from, but he wasn’t about to argue.
Marcum’s gaze shifted from Carys to him. “Are you aware that it’s not advisable to sleep in a parking lot?”
“Yes, sir. I am now.” He rubbed his eyes.
Carys patted her stomach. “We had a scare. I started spotting, and we thought…” Her chin quivered. “That maybe we were about to lose this little bean.”
Damn. She was good at this.
“Sorry to hear that, ma’am.” Marcum’s intensity scaled down a few notches.
“Is there a convenient place to grab coffee for my fiancé nearby before we head out?” she asked. She played the role to perfection. Blaize needed to ask if she had any acting in her background.
“Convenience store is on the corner,” he said. “Go straight this way.”
“Will do. Thanks.”
Officer Marcum turned to Blaize. “License and insurance, please. Before you head out.”
“My insurance is on my phone. Hold on.” He grabbed his cell and then located the card before showing the officer the screen.When Marcum nodded, Blaize fished out his wallet and then produced his license.
The cop took it and examined it. He excused himself and walked back to his vehicle. He was punching in the information on a laptop that looked like it was attached to the dashboard on a moveable tray. He must have been satisfied with what he found because he strolled over and handed the ID back. “Y’all be safe on the road.”
“Will do.” Carys beamed. “Thank you, Officer.”
Marcum gave a small salute before disappearing around the back of the Jeep and back to his own vehicle. Blaize turned on the engine after rolling up his window.
“What should we do?” she asked.
“Circle the block a few times. Park farther from the bar. He was probably expecting one or both of us to be drunk and unable to drive.” He navigated out of the parking lot and onto the road, moving in the direction of the convenience store the officer had mentioned to make it look good. The cop sat in his vehicle, typing away on the laptop as they drove off.
Avoiding a second encounter with the same officer would be ideal. There were enough people around they should be able to blend in.
“You don’t think we’re being set up, do you?” Carys asked as he turned right at the end of the street. “By the barback?”
“We should come up with a plan, just in case.”
“You’re right,” she said.
“How long was I asleep?” He glanced at the time, muttered a curse. Too long. They only had twenty minutes until the meetup. “We’ll have to figure out a parking spot fast and a plan even faster.” Parking was a joke in downtown Austin. Try parking illegally and you could end up towed. Not having transportation would be complicated, especially if this was a setup.
“Tell me again what happened,” she said. After the cop encounter, he realized how good she was at thinking under pressure. “We can start there.”
“A young guy, early twenties, walked past while I was showing Stephanie’s picture to the female bartender. I noticed him because he seemed interested. He came around the bar and caught my arm when I walked toward your side. Said he couldn’t talk right now but that I should meet him closer to closing time.”
“I don’t like this,” she said.
“He wants me to meet. He’s not a big guy. If it’s just him, I’m not worried.”
“If he has information about Stephanie, why ask you to come back? Why not tell you what he knows right then?”
“Those are good questions,” he said, banking a left. “I don’t have answers. All I have is someone who wants to tell me something about the person in the picture. With two of us, we can figure out a failsafe if the guy is up to something.”
