Reed is mad at me. And if I’m to be honest, he has every reason to be. The thing is—what I can’t tell him—Daria already knew where Tremblay was going to be through her own sources. And her deciding to go to the restaurant and bring Quinn is her own gig, not ours. She has added information that has led her to believe Tremblay had something to do with her sister’s disappearance and death. And she’s usually not wrong with things like that.
But I can’t admit any of that to Reed because he’ll start piecing other things together. Like the criminals who disappear after they are acquitted, or the information that I get from “a hacker friend of a friend.” I don’t know how he’ll puzzle it out, but he will. I’d rather let him believe that I broke protocol and told Daria than have him suspect her of anything.
I know that having Quinn there is going to mess with his head, but there’s nothing I can do about that. It’s high time he starts learning how to perform in such situations anyway. It’s what I’ve had to do for a year where Daria is concerned. I mean, not entirely the same thing since she’s not often at a stakeout or a crime scene, but close enough.
Plus, if what Daria has said is any indication, Quinn got enough of the bug after helping us at the party that she wants to be involved in all operations. Even if just as a distraction. It’s not a bad idea, I just don’t know how to implement it and keep her safe. Or how to explain it to Reed.
I return my focus back to him; he’s still pacing between the cars and mumbling under his breath. “Ready?” I ask.
He nods and moves to get into the passenger seat of the SUV. We still have to meet David in another location to fit him with the wire before letting him move onto his date. I still wonder what it is that he tells Laurel in situations like this.
“Hey.” I turn to Reed once we’re on the road. “Where does Laurel think Tremblay is in the evenings? When he’s on these dates?”
Reed shrugs. “Working? Not sure. I know he would be expected to be at dinner if he was home, because he’s told me about it. Apparently, Laurel’s family does it up with cocktails beforehand, paired wines during, and brandy after. They even dress for the occasion. Sounds fancy.”
I whistle at that. “I can’t even imagine, dude.”
“You and me both.”
We’re meeting David across town, in the parking lot of a city park that is near the restaurant. Lucky for him, he’s already there when we arrive.
“Let’s get this over with,” David says before we are barely out of the car. “I’ve got a ton of shit to do tonight and this isn’t exactly convenient so close to the wedding and all.”
“Did you hear something, Reed?” I ask. “I thought maybe I heard something, but I can’t be sure. I mean, no way in hell would Tremblay be so stupid as to think he could bark out orders, right?”
Reed runs his forefinger and thumb along either side of his jaw. “I can’t imagine that he would, Mack, no. But shit, I also didn’t think he was low-life cocksucker who abused women, so.” He shrugs.
“Fuckface,” Tremblay mumbles.
I elbow him in the gut. Hard. Causing him to bend over with a loud “oomph” sound.
“Asshole,” he wheezes.
“Do you not learn?” I ask as I bring my knee up to his face, knocking his torso straight and his head back.
This is normally about the time that Reed would be pulling me back, reminding me about procedure and undue roughness with perpetrators. But instead, he just watches me and keeps silent. I look at him, eyebrows raised. His face stays impassive.
“Ready for the wire?” Reed asks Tremblay.
Instead of answering, Tremblay pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and dabs at his lip where I split it open with my knee. Reed motions for Tremblay to unbutton his shirt. When he doesn’t Reed moves forward as though to do it for him.
Tremblay pushes Reed’s hands away. “I got it, Jesus, hang on a second.”
Once we get Tremblay mic’d up, we go over the plan one more time. What he can and can’t do at the restaurant, the route he’s going to take to the drop house, and what will happen after that. Unfortunately, we must go along with him drugging the girl, but nothing beyond that. She never leaves the car. Once we apprehend the guys at the drop house, we can make sure she gets home safely, as well as get any other women stashed there back to their own families too.
The girl is pretty, in a very natural way. She wears her dishwater blond hair long and wavy, a flower tucked behind her ear on one side, a long skirt with a flat sandal, and a billowy shirt that falls off her shoulders. Despite the loose fit of her clothing, it’s obvious she’s got a rocking body underneath.
David, as instructed, is sitting at a table on the edge of the patio where Reed and I can see him clearly from our parked SUV.
“He’s not that attractive, right?” Reed motions to David while asking me the question. “I mean, how does he get these chicks?”
“Beats the fuck outta me. We read his profile; it was lame as shit. And no, he’s not that attractive.”
“Yes, he is,” Daria says as she passes by the open car window on her way to the restaurant. Quinn waves her fingers at us as she trails behind.
“Holy shit.” Reed throws his hands in the air, hitting the roof of the car. “This is a fucking joke, Mack, with the talking and waving. How did she even hear us?”
“Eagle fucking ears, man. The woman has eagle fucking ears.”
I watch Daria and Quinn find a table on the patio, within view of David’s, but not too close. He hasn’t seen them yet; I can tell by the way he’s still talking to his date. His posture is relaxed and his tone is even, not at all excited or nervous. Which is what I’m betting it will be once he sees Daria.
She looks amazing, but then to me she always does. Dressed in low riding jeans that hug her hips and ass, a belt with a big buckle, and a low-cut, loose T-shirt, tucked in at the front. With, of course, a heeled boot. The look is sexy as fuck but still casual. She’s wearing her hair down and it falls in waves beyond her shoulders. Looking so soft I want to run my fingers through it.
Reed groans from his side of the car. “My god, how was I ever friends with this guy? Do these lines really work on women?”
I tune back in to hear David telling his date that she should be a model in one of those fitness magazines since she’s so effortlessly beautiful.
“Should we take notes, try some of them out?”
Reed rolls his eyes at me.
David and the woman continue to make small talk, each ordering a cocktail and sharing an appetizer. To his credit, David is a decent and complimentary date. If you don’t count the fact that he plans to drug her and sell her into the sex slave trade later.