Nickel City Crossfire by Gary Ross (popular romance novels .txt) 📗

suspected of having committed wasn’t sloppy enough to take a shot at me in a restaurant full of people, especially when he had to know I’d be carrying too. Besides, there was no reason to kill me. My last case had nothing to do with his employer, whose illegal enterprises certainly included drug trafficking. Now, however, I wondered if Spider had been following Ileana. Or was he there to keep an eye on someone else at our table? What if he—or, more specifically, Lorenzo Quick—was the one looking for Keisha? Had Spider Tolliver jabbed the needle into her arm on Quick’s orders? Of course, maybe he had come in just for lunch and noticed me across the room.

Right.

“Okay, Gideon,” Ileana said, snapping me back. “Tell us how we can help.”

Unless our table was bugged, Spider would be unable to hear what we said halfway across the dining room. A bug was unlikely unless Cassidy or Yvonne had brought it, which meant Quick’s reach was farther than I had imagined. The absence of wires did not preclude Spider from having a wireless earbud. Momentarily, I drummed my fingernails on the wood tabletop and glanced at him for a reaction to the noise. Nothing. Then, taking a deep breath, I explained to Yvonne and Cassidy the idea I had shared with Ileana the night before: Keisha was on the run from someone because she was a witness and marked for murder.

Eyes widening, both women looked at Ileana, who confirmed my story with a nod.

“I think she’s always on the move.” Again I glanced at Spider for any sign he could hear us. His face remained impassive as a server set a cup of coffee in front of him, but he was still looking at us. “She tries not to be in one place too long,” I continued, lowering my voice even more. “Maybe she spends the occasional night in a homeless shelter. Maybe not.” I took three large notecards from my shirt pocket and spread them on the table. “Last night Ileana gave me the names and addresses of nine homeless shelters where Keisha might crash for a night. These are the places I need you to watch.”

“Three each,” Cassidy said. “How are we supposed to be in three places at once?”

“No, five for you and four for Ileana,” I said, sliding a card to each.

“What am I supposed to do?” Yvonne asked before the objection could come from Cassidy’s parted lips.

“I’ll get to that. First, the shelters.” I looked from Ileana to Cassidy and back. “I don’t want either of you to spend all night anywhere. You’re not on a stakeout. Just drive by each place a time or two every night over the next few days and look.”

“Just look?” Cassidy asked.

“At the people coming and going,” I said. “Stop once or twice and take a peek inside, within an hour of closing time if you can. See if Keisha’s there. If she is, don’t go to her. If possible, don’t even let her see you. Text me, I’ll come. I’ve given each shelter a two-letter code so I’ll know exactly where to go. Text the code, period. Talk to Keisha only if she sees you and tries to leave.”

“To slow her down,” Ileana said, nodding. “Should we follow her?”

I shook my head, mainly for Cassidy’s benefit. No matter what I said, Ileana, I knew, would follow Keisha, even if it meant straight into the arms of a killer. “Just remember which direction she was headed when you last saw her.”

“What about me?” Yvonne’s voice held a note of impatience.

“You’re the one on stakeout.” I slid the last card to her. “Know where that is?”

“Not far from my apartment.” She narrowed her eyes at me and grinned. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“I want you to drive by or walk by or sit nearby in your car off and on the next few evenings. Always take a good look up the driveway. I think there’s an apartment over the garage in back. There are two upstairs windows. If you see lights in either one, call me.”

“Call? Not text?”

“Call, and wait for me to get there.”

Just then Mia brought our order and handed Ileana a menu. As we ate, I added all their phone numbers to my cell’s contacts list. Then we sent quick texts to each other to establish threads. Cassidy’s message was a thumbs-up emoji. Yvonne texted, Meet LJ? I replied, After K found. Right now LJ was prepping for exams and then working on Keisha’s documents. He didn’t need an attractive distraction.

When the lunch and small talk ended and the cell phones were back in purses and pockets, I told Cassidy and Yvonne they were free to leave but asked Ileana to stay behind for a minute so we could discuss another matter. The two young women rose and put on their coats. Cassidy shook my hand again and thanked me. Yvonne flashed a smile that made me want to introduce her to LJ. They went out together, laughing after Cassidy said something I couldn’t quite hear.

Spider never even glanced in their direction.

I thought about that as I looked at Ileana and shook my head. “What am I going to do with you?”

“What?” she said, a now cold French fry suspended a few inches from her mouth.

“If you see Keisha, you’re going to follow her, aren’t you?”

She lowered then raised her eyes. “Well, I can’t just let her walk away.”

“Even if it brings you face to face with whoever wants to kill her?”

She dropped the fry on her plate and let out a long breath. “She’s my friend.”

“I know,” I said. “I know too you can take care of yourself. But if these people are cold-blooded enough to force somebody into a heroin overdose, they won’t hesitate to kill you.” I watched her face tighten. Good. It meant she was taking me seriously.

“So what should I do?” she asked after a moment.

“Take out your cell phone.” I produced