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She nods and we sit together on the love seat. When she tucks her feet under her with her knees brushing against me, I balance my plate on my lap and squeeze her thigh affectionately.
“Have you found anymore better angles of our mystery man yet?” I ask Owen after everyone is settled.
He nods. “That’s why we’re all here. Figured it was a safe place to talk.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Do we have an ID?”
“Oh boy, do we,” Matteo says, anger brimming in his tone.
This ought to be good.
He picks up a folder I didn’t notice and tosses it my direction.
Zara gasps when I open it.
“Senator Pratchett,” she whispers.
“You know him?” I ask as I stare down at the familiar face.
Her face goes red, and she nods sheepishly before putting her forehead against my shoulder.
“He was a client,” I murmur. “Why didn’t you say something when he came into the sandwich shop the other day?”
She shakes her head. “It didn’t seem right to point that out to you, given how you feel about my clients.”
That’s fair. Her clients do piss me off.
“And he was at the nightclub that night,” she says, her voice still barely above a whisper. “I don’t think he saw me, though.”
“He definitely saw me. We even had a conversation. I can’t believe I’m just now putting it together.”
“Do you think he was in on the assassination?” Victor asks.
“It seems unfathomable,” I say. “He’s dirty, sure, but nothing in his file indicates he would plot a sitting mayor’s murder. But he’s involved somehow.”
Zara is tense beside me, and I can tell she’s got something on her mind. I turn and tuck a hand under her chin. “What is it?”
She bites her lip. “He and I didn’t exactly part ways on the best of terms. Turns out, he’s one of the violent ones. So, he’s on my permanent ban list and I warn anyone he tries to work with who asks me for a referral that they shouldn’t work with him. What if he isn’t in on it, but he’s working with your father?”
I frown and stroke her jawline with my thumb. “I’m not sure I follow, Flower. Break it down for me.”
“You tell your father that you let me go. He threatens to find me himself. Your father knows I was in New York that night and may have even snapped a photo of me at some point. What if when Jamie realized Pratchett was there, he sent him to Vegas to feel you out and find me? If Pratchett is dirty, then he has to know who your family is, and he wouldn’t be above playing both sides.”
I set my plate aside and wrap an arm around her. “It’s a possibility. Feels like a long shot, but we will look into it. Could be that he heard about Jamie having feelers out to look for you, and when he saw you, he went to him and then Jamie told him to smoke you out.”
Either way, I would make sure Chuck Pratchett paid for hurting Zara. I may not be able to hunt down all of her clients, but I can damn sure make sure one of the violent ones doesn’t hurt anyone else.
I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do about my growing feelings for Zara. But I know I’ll have to figure it out soon.
“What are you thinking?” she murmurs, and I realize I’m clenching my fist in my lap and scowling.
“Nothing good, Flower.”
Owen clears his throat. “We questioned Monica one more time, too. Whatever Pratchett told her about Matteo, he told her at the same time he brought Zara to her attention. The story about Zara was only on one or two gossip sites and the one talk show, so we’re going to have a friendly chat with the producer for the show and see if we can find out where they got the tip.”
Zara is trembling, and I pull her into my lap. “It’s going to be OK, lass.”
“Can we go back upstairs?” she whispers.
