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“Far enough that no one should find you there.” Rhy reached for the phone. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to remind his boss that he’d made the arrangements for the City Central suite too. Then again, they had been safe until this morning.
He really wished he knew how they’d been found.
The meeting with Feldman had been a bust. Sure, he’d given them the location of Grotto’s Third Ward hideout, but they likely would have gotten that information from him regardless of Harper being there. And there was also the fact that Feldman should have given them that information long before today.
He kicked himself for allowing her to sway him into agreeing to the interview. This was what happened when you let a victim get too close. He was making the same mistake Joe had with Elly.
Maybe having Harper go into witness protection would be the best option for her.
Rhy’s phone rang. His boss answered it, then looked up at Steele. “Brady’s returning your call. I’ll put him on speaker.”
“Hey, Brady, that was quick.”
“Yeah, well, I was curious about the case too. The truth is that Otterson is a suspect related to the murder of a federal agent two years ago. The problem is there’s no evidence linking him to the guy’s death.”
“And that relates to his current charges, how?” he asked.
“I think the feds pressured the DA’s office to throw serious charges at him to buy time to dig into the case further. My take? They think the slaying of the two kids is related to other illegal activity.”
He met Harper’s shocked gaze. Illegal activity?
Like buying and selling guns?
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Goose bumps rose along her skin. Harper hadn’t taken Steele’s concerns about Neil Otterson seriously, but maybe there was a connection. It still didn’t make sense that the guy would come after her, though. She was only an administrative assistant for Trent Gibson. Not even a paralegal, something she’d once planned to return to school for until learning she was pregnant. Yes, she had access to sensitive files, but if Neil Otterson really thought she’d violated his privacy, he’d have her fired.
Not try to kidnap and kill her.
Yet for the first time, she felt apprehensive about the possibility of Trent prevailing in court, getting Neil Otterson acquitted and allowing the guy to go free.
“Thanks, Brady.” She glanced up as Steele disconnected from the call. She frowned, realizing she’d missed the tail end of the phone call between Steele and Brady.
“That’s interesting,” Rhy mused.
“Yeah.” Steele looked thoughtful for a long moment. “I’ll see if there’s anything else I can dig up on the two Hispanic victims.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll talk to Michaels and Jina about possibly drawing the shooter out too.” Rhy narrowed his gaze. “No promises, though.”
“I understand.” Steele glanced at her. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
She nodded and rose to her feet. Steele placed his hand beneath her elbow to help steady her. She wanted to reiterate that having Jina pretending to be her was a bad idea but decided to keep quiet. It sounded as if Rhy wasn’t enthused about the plan anyway.
“Lead the way, Brock,” Steele said. “We’ll go out the same way we came in.”
She remained silent as they wove their way through the cubicles toward the rear exit. The more she thought about it, she couldn’t link the attacks against her to Neil Otterson.
The explosion of their rental SUV had badly shaken her. She couldn’t become paralyzed by fear. Neil Otterson was a client of Gibson and Roberts, not a threat.
Brock opened the door and glanced around for a long moment before stepping outside. She followed his lead, keeping herself positioned behind him as he led the way to the vehicle. She slid into the back, leaving the two men to sit in the front.
“Was it worth it?” Brock’s question had her lifting her gaze to the rearview mirror. “Did you get what you wanted out of the interview with your ex-husband?”
“No.” She looked away, wishing she hadn’t been so eager to face off with Jake. The frank surprise in his gaze when he realized she was pregnant replayed in her brain. “I guess Steele was right all along. Nothing good came from this meeting.”
Another long uncomfortable silence fell between them. She noticed the series of glances Brock and Steele exchanged but ignored them.
