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Jesus. Those things must be hell on the environment.
“Is this the first time you’ve had to follow a kid?” Holt asked from the back seat.
“Not the first,” Mauz said. “But it’s not common.”
“Every now and then a celebrity or politician will hire us to keep an eye on their kids,” Jag said from the passenger seat. “But then we’re usually dealing with a deranged stalker, someone working alone.”
“So this is different then?” Holt asked. “Because of the bratva?”
Mauz looked at Holt in the rearview mirror, trying to get a handle on whether the tension in his voice was fear or excitement. Neither would be great, but Mauz would prefer fear.
Fear said he understood what was at stake.
“You know how it works. You’ve been through the training,“ Mauz said, returning his eyes to the road. “Threat assessment is where it’s at. When you’re dealing with organized crime, the threats are many and varied, unpredictable. That’s what makes them tricky.”
“Right, right,” Holt said.
Jag cut Mauz a look in the front seat and Mauz stifled a sigh. Six months out of training and the kid was still as green as an oak in spring.
They slowed down as the aquarium came into sight and got into the line of cars waiting to get into the aquarium lot. Up ahead, the bus was in line with several other buses, inching its way forward.
“You sure you want me to take the aquarium beat?” Jag asked. "I could wait here while you go in.”
Mauz looked at him. “Any reason you think you can’t handle it?”
“I just thought because the kid is…” He hesitated, and the incongruity of such a big man looking nervous almost made Mauz laugh. “You know.”
Mauz had known it would get out. Logan hadn’t exactly been careful, sleeping inside Gabriella Perez’s house when Beck and Ryker were already on duty, driving the kid to school with Jag and the nanny, returning to the penthouse for a change of clothes before heading back to Lake Forest.
All the Imperium men in Chicago probably knew the job was personal by now, even if they didn’t know how Logan knew Gabriella Perez.
“This is a job,” Mauz said firmly, “like any other job. Besides, Logan agrees it’s best if you tail the kid.”
Jag nodded. “Okay."
“Good. You’ve been driving him around for the last week. Logan trusts you with him. So do I.”
They snaked their way up the drive leading to the aquarium and Mauz staked out a spot to park where he could see the front entrance.
“Take one of the headsets in the glove box,” Mauz said to Jag.
He opened the glove box and attached the tiny earpiece to his ear, then clipped the mic inside his shirt.
“Follow the kid, but not too close, you got it?” Mauz asked. “Remember that any man is going to look like a creep if he pays too much attention to a little kid. The teacher has been told the kid has a detail, but that doesn’t account for the chaperones or aquarium security or the other people inside.”
“Got it,” Jag said.
He was calm, his dark eyes steady. He could do this.
“I’ll be out here watching the entrance, running plates on anyone who looks suspicious,” Mauz said. “I’ll let you know if I think you need to keep an eye out for anyone in particular.”
“Sounds good.” Jag reached for the door handle and got out of the car.
“Now what?” Holt asked as Mauz watched Jag move toward the aquarium entrance.
“Now we watch,” Mauz said, scanning the parking lot. “And wait.”
* * *
