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Grayson laughed. “You saw through my bravado. I might have exaggerated a bit. I am a little rusty. If we do spar, I’d appreciate any pointers. But for now, how about a raincheck?”
“You got it.”
“How about you call her since it’s your idea?” Rider gave Grayson Paris’ number.
“What if she says no?”
Rider smiled. “Unless the accident permanently deleted your charm, women never turn you down.”
“You say the nicest things.” He called the number, but when he shook his head, it meant she wasn’t picking up. Her answering machine clicked on. “Hey, Paris, it’s Grayson. Rider and I were wondering if you’d be up for a business meeting tonight? We need to eat and you probably do too, so maybe The Fresh Seafood Grill in Ames? Give me a call.”
Seconds later, Grayson’s cell rang. “Hello?”
“Grayson?”
“That’s me!” His friend put the phone on speaker.
“Sorry. My phone was in another room. Dinner sounds great. What time?”
“How about we pick you up at seven?”
She chuckled. “Nice try. How about I meet you at the restaurant?”
She was a tough one all right, but that was for the best. Paris needed to be cautious, especially if they planned on going after Richard Delancey and his company.
Rider nodded. “Seven it is. See you there,” Grayson disconnected. “She actually sounded excited.”
“Of course, she did. You said I’d be going.”
“You’re delusional. She was very interested in me when we were at the bar,” he defended.
The few times they’d shared a woman in the past, Grayson never showed any jealousy, and Rider doubted he would now. “I’m sure that’s it. How nice is this seafood place? Is it a jeans kind of place or are slacks better? I’m sure you checked it out.”
“I did. From the website, it looks nice. White tablecloths and candles on every table.”
“Why the hell did you pick that place? She’ll think we just want to jump into bed with her. I told you, she made it clear that she’ll help if we keep it low key.”
“You made that promise, not me,” Grayson said.
“Then good luck. We have time before dinner, and I need to do some work. How about meeting back here at twenty to seven?”
Grayson saluted and left.
Once Rider was alone, he pulled up Google maps. He wanted to see where Harrison Industries was in relation to the town of Ames and Chesterfield. If this company was making drugs at their plant, would they do it in plain sight of all of their workers? Or were there areas in the building that were off limits—ones that required a key code or eye scanner to enter?
From what he’d seen from Miller’s Ridge, the one-hundred-acre plot was mostly devoid of trees. No extra warehouse was anywhere in sight.
The warehouse that Harrison Industries had purchased for Dr. Elkhart would have been perfect for manufacturing illegal drugs, yet that hadn’t been its purpose. Last he heard, Mick McLaughlin and his brother Connally were going to buy the warehouse in order to expand Mick’s business of doing government intel work. It probably wouldn’t be up and running for a few months, which was a shame. Fast, reliable information was always appreciated. It was always possible Grayson had expanded into hacking too instead of just coding, which would come in handy.
The map of the area appeared on the screen, but nothing out of the ordinary jumped out at him either.Damn.
Rider dragged a hand down his jaw trying to decide where he would produce drugs—assuming Harrison Industries was involved—if he were in charge? The general was well aware that Delancey was in thick with those who were kidnapping women. Add in the fact he was related to Paul Statler and the fact there had been a lot of the overdoses in the area, drugs made the most sense.
Most likely, Delancey’s company could either have some off-site place or have a secret area where the work was done. Personally, keeping the illegal stuff as far away from the legal part of the business would be the smartest move, but if Richard Delancey had grown up with the evil Paul Statler, no telling how smart he was.
CHAPTERSIX
Paris wassurprised when she pulled in front of the restaurant that her two dates were waiting for her. She was usually the early one. Once she parked, Paris checked the overhead mirror to make sure her lipstick was on straight before getting out.
