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Hallie nearly rolled her eyes at the whole nice guy routine. The sweet talking. She definitely smelled a scheme. Finn was always planning something and while his plans didn’t usually pan out, it was just another thing that made her nervous around him. Though now that they weren’t together, she was kind of curious to see where he was going with this. “I don’t know if we can be friends,” she said. “I mean we dated for over three months.” Not to mention he wasn’t the kind of person she’d ever be friends with.
“I know,” he said. “And I thought we had something special. I mean, I was falling in love with you, Hallie.”
She swallowed hard at those words. Never in a million years did she suspect Finn had those kinds of feelings for her. And a part of her wondered if this wasn’t all part of his ploy. Finn wasn’t a touchy feely, emotional kind of guy. He was too busy climbing the corporate ladder, and his idea of fun while they were dating was taking jabs at Hallie and getting upset when she didn’t react in a lighthearted way.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have dropped that bombshell on you, but you deserve to know that you really meant a lot to me. That’s why when I started taking stock of my life, and the people in it, you were at the top of my list. I knew I wanted you back in my life.”
Hallie’s head was spinning. She took several sips of the mediocre latte and stared at a point over his shoulder, not really seeing what was there. She had no idea what to say. She was never in love with him, not even close. “So, what is it exactly you want from me?” She asked, hoping he’d finally get to the point of this whole visit.
“Have lunch with me,” he said. “I mean let’s face it, this place was never that good, and the Chinese restaurant we both love is just around the corner. We could walk.”
At the thought of lunch and Chinese food, Hallie’s stomach rumbled and her hand instinctively flew to her belly. She wasn’t sure what his deal was, but she wasn’t naive enough to believe Finn was on the level. Still, the only thing waiting for her back home was a pile of laundry and endless thoughts of Caden. “Fine.”
They walked to the Chinese place in silence. After being seated, they ordered their usual. The weird deja vu wasn’t lost on Hallie, but she was too hungry now to give it much credence. When the food arrived, which it always came within minutes at this place, Finn took out his phone and insisted on taking some pictures of it because it looked so good. “I started a new social media account where I post pictures of various foods,” he explained.
This was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever taken part in, but it was helping her not think about Caden, so she’d let it play out for now. As soon as they dug into their food, Finn barely said two words to her, which she found strange since he’d just told her that he’d missed her and wanted to catch up. Once the meal was over, he tried paying for her, but Hallie refused once again. She had no idea what the point of all this was, but it seemed to end innocently enough when they walked back together and went their separate ways.
The rest of the day progressed without incident. Hallie went to The Mystic Cow at two, and an hour later, stood outside chatting with Alicia and Meg during the afternoon slump when no one seemed to be shopping. A few packages came with new inventory and she caught up on some mail and bills.
Her thoughts were never far from Caden, though she did her best to push him out of her mind. When her phone buzzed a few minutes before closing time, she jumped, hoping it was Caden. It wasn’t.
Finn: I had a good time today. Thanks for coming out with me.
Hallie stared at her phone, not sure how to reply. Then a customer came in looking to pick up a book they had waiting on order, followed by another customer who was in desperate need of a birthday gift for someone tonight. Last minute shoppers always amused her, but that was why she kept her store well stocked with various items.
By the time she closed the store and drove home, Hallie had forgotten all about Finn’s text and didn’t look at her phone again until she plugged it into the charger before going to bed. That’s when she noticed another text from him.
Finn: Goodnight, Hallie.
Chapter 13
Caden held his gun at the ready as he crouched behind a dumpster. The alley wreaked of spoiled food and urine. Forcing shallow breaths through his mouth to keep from gagging, he remained perfectly still. His gaze andweapon were focused on the back door of the rundown auto body shop a team of agents just breached. They had reason to believe an international drug lord holed up here was wanted in connection with the same drug ring the laundromat owner across from The Mystic Cow was involved with.
Caden’s chest tightened at the thought of The Mystic Cow and Hallie, but he refocused his attention on the back door. He’d been stuck in this crouched position for a while now. His knees and back were aching, and his shoulders were stiff. But it was a satisfying culmination to a tedious and hellish week.
After reassigning Hallie’s case, Avery placed him on a team that was hot on the heels of Jorge Alonzoro, the international drug lord the team was supposed to be emerging with at any moment. They’d overturned every stone, searched over a dozen vacant parking garages, several abandoned buildings and finally got a tip that paid off when an informant reported suspicious activity in this body shop. Traffic cameras confirmed drug cartel activity and unmistakably caught a glimpse of Jorge as he was leaving, unaware of the traffic camera on the corner that had been rotated a few days earlier to show the shop instead of passing cars.
A commotion erupted inside, followed by multiple gunshots, and his earpiece came alive with the sounds of agents calling for medics, directing orders, and then finally, an all-clear was issued.
The back door flew open as Agent Danfield struggled to maintain control of the one and only Jorge Alonzoro. Caden ran to Danfield to assist. He grabbed Jorge and slammed him against one of the FBI vehicles.
“Calm down,” Caden warned, bending the other man’s arm behind his back.
The man said something to him in Spanish and laughed.
“We both know you speak perfect English, Jorge, so don’t try that bullshit with me.” Caden cuffed him and gave the chain a strong pull to make sure the cuffs were securely locked in place. They’d grown up in the same neighborhood, went to the same high school, but Jorge had turned to drugs and gangs around the same time Ethan had.
“Hey, how about you go easy on me and maybe I’ll tell you a little something about your brother,” Jorge teased, looking back with a grin that made Caden want to knock out all his pretty white teeth.
“What do you know?” Caden ground out, spinning him around until Jorge was facing him. Caden had gone over his brother’s case with a fine-tooth comb and Jorge’s name never came up.
Jorge winked. “I know things. We should talk. Maybe for a lighter sentence. What do you say? For old time’s sake.”
Not dignifying him with a response, Caden shoved Jorge into the back of the vehicle, slamming the door shut as soon as all of Jorge’s limbs were safely inside. He was about to give Jorge the middle finger when gunshots exploded inside the autobody shop again.
Danfield turned to Caden looking for direction. “Stay here,” Caden ordered. “Do not let this guy out of your sight.”
“Got it,” Danfield replied, but Caden was already running for the door, yelling for status into his headset. When no one answered, he reached for the handle just as the door swung open and Agent Steven Beeker came out, blood seeping over his Kevlar vest.
