Though difficult to watch, Gabriel played the video again, this time homing in on how the hitman walked, how he gripped the gun. Then, he reviewed the surveillance video from the camera attached to the streetlamp at the far end of the parking lot.
A steady stream of cars drove in and out. From what he could see, everyone who parked in the lot made their way into the restaurant. None masked, none armed. Then, someone drove in and parked in the darkest corner. When they emerged, their mask was already in place. He rewound to right after the car turned in and stopped the video. From what he could see, the person wasn’t masked. He captured the image and uploaded it to IDware, a proprietary facial recognition system designed by cybersecurity genius, Stryker Truman.
While the program searched for a match, Gabriel made his way toward the dining room. There, he found a smattering of early dinner guests. After saying hello and making sure they were good, he pulled up to the bar and ordered a San Pelligrino.
Tara joined him. “I didn’t see you come in.” Her cheeks pinkened.
“Back entrance. Things still good?”
“Busy here. How was your lunch with your grandmother?”
“It was nice.”
“She’s very sweet.” Tara paused. “Um, I was wondering if you’d… um… ever want to have coffee with me sometime?” Her cheeks flushed with color.
“Absolutely.” But he didn’t want to mislead her, so he clasped her hand in his. “Tara, my life is in Italy, you know that, right?”
She was staring at his hand. “Uh-huh.”
“We can never be more than good friends.”
She flicked her gaze to his, the disappointment in her eyes slashing through him. “I know, but I had to ask.”
He kissed her cheek, then her other. “We go after what we want. I admire that in you. I know you can domuchbetter than me.”
That made her smile. “You’d probably break my heart.”
“No,” he replied. “You would break mine.”
“Hey!” Teddy boomed behind them. “Two of my fave people. What’s the word?”
“I just came from Angelo’s funeral,” Gabriel said.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tara said.
One of the servers hurried over. “Excuse me. There’s a gentleman asking for you, Tara.”
“What’s wrong?” Tara asked.
“Nothing,” the server replied. “He wanted me to ask if you could have a cup of coffee with him before it gets busy.”
All three glanced over the server’s shoulder.
“He’s a regular,” said the waiter. “I think he’s been lunching here pretty much daily because of you.”
“Like I said,” Gabriel added, “you can do much better than me.” He tossed her a nod. “We’re here to protect you. Go talk to him.”
“I definitely agree that Tara can do better than you.” Teddy grinned. “I’ll come with you Tara.”
Tara shot them a smile. “I got this. I got fooled once, never again.”
“Lessons are best learned the hard way,” Gabriel said.
“I’ll keep an eye on you,” Teddy replied before Tara returned with the server to say hello to her admirer.
Teddy kept a watchful eye on his employee before he flicked his gaze to Gabriel. “How was the funeral?”
“The Morettis hate me.” Gabriel drank down the glass of San Pelligrino. “You want some?”
