Page 5 of Protecting Maggie
Preacher winced. Smiley was a little rough around the edges, he’d probably scare the crap out of Fake Adina…which was probably Kevlar’s intention. By the time the ride was over tomorrow, the woman would definitely think twice about whatever illegal scheme she was perpetrating. “Maybe Safe or MacGyver would be better?”
“No. I want this woman intimidated. I want her to regret what she’s done. She can’t go around using someone else’s name and car to steal. And who knows how deep this goes.”
“Should we try to get a hold of Adina?” Preacher asked.
“I will. After tomorrow,” Kevlar said.
“All right. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Thanks for listening and not telling me I’m crazy or too overprotective of Remi,” Kevlar said.
“You are both of those things,” Preacher said with a laugh. “But if Remi doesn’t mind, why should I?”
Kevlar chuckled. “True. Later.”
Preacher clicked off his phone and pressed his lips together. His mind was whirling with the info Kevlar had just shared. None of them really knew Adina, they just worked with her in a professional capacity. But knowing she was deployed and someone was taking advantage of herdidn’t sit well with him, just as it hadn’t with Kevlar. Tomorrow, they’d figure out what the hell was going on and take whatever steps were necessary to stop the fraud.
Maggie had been surprised to hear from Remi so soon, especially after she’d admitted that she didn’t use ride shares all that often. But she was happy to get the return business. Today had been slow, and everyone she’d given a ride to had been a stingy tipper. It was depressing to only get a dollar tip on a fifteen-dollar ride, but it wasn’t as if she could do anything about it.
She’d already spent most of the tip money Remi had gifted her yesterday, but she’d managed to get quite a few groceries. Tuna, generic cereal, some bread that was on sale, some dented cans of vegetables, and she’d splurged on some hamburger and made a huge cheesy casserole the night before, along with one of the best salads she’d had in ages, which should last her for several meals.
Adina’s car desperately needed a tune-up, and that was next up on Maggie’s list of things to do. Without the car, she’d be dead in the water, literally. It was the only thing keeping her from starving.
Remi had asked to be picked up near the gates of the huge naval base, and when Maggie pulled up to the curb outside the pawn shop where Remi had said she’d be waiting out front, she didn’t immediately see her.
Instead, as soon as she stopped, Maggie saw three menwalking down the sidewalk with purpose in their steps. All three were wearing the blue camouflage uniforms the Navy issued their personnel.
It wasn’t until it was too late to take the car out of gear and step on the gas that she realized they were coming towardher.
One of the men got into the front seat, and the other two got into the back. Maggie’s heart was pounding so hard it almost hurt. She’d been in some close calls over the last three months, but she’d never felt as threatened as she did right this minute. These men could easily overpower her. If they wanted to hurt her, there wouldn’t be anything she could do about it.
“I don’t have any cash on me,” she said quickly, “but you can have the car.”
“We aren’t going to hurt you or rob you. We just want to talk,” said the man who was sitting next to her in the passenger seat. He had green eyes, wavy dark hair, and a closely trimmed beard and mustache. The men in the back had frowns on their faces and were staring at her with looks so intense and scary, it was all Maggie could do to keep breathing.
Her hand was on the door handle, and she was two seconds away from bailing and running as fast as she could. But leaving Adina’s car would be a disaster…so she hesitated.
“Talk?” Maggie managed to squeak out.
“Yeah. What’s your name?” the man sitting directly behind her asked.
Looking in the rearview mirror, Maggie saw him staring at her. He was leaning forward as he spoke, while the other man in the backseat was taking a picture of the Uber license affixed to the headrest. It had Adina’s information on it, except for the phone number, which Maggie had taped over with her own. She didn’t like the way he was scrutinizing the license—and suddenly she had a feeling these men had figured out she wasn’t who she said she was.
“Adina,” she stammered out. “Adina Cornett.”
“Bullshit,” the man behind her barked. “We know Adina. We work with her on the base. She’s almost ten years younger than you, blonde, has blue eyes, and is several inches taller than you, as well. And she just happens to be floating around the Middle East on a ship right about now. So you need to start talking—fast. Why are you pretending to be her, driving her car, and doing who knows what the hell else withhername?”
Maggie swallowed hard. She knew this day would come. Riverton was a fairly large city, but it wasn’t LA. She was bound to come across someone who knew Adina at some point. Her friend had a fairly unique name, and the man was right, Maggie looked nothing like her.
She tried to come up with a rebuttal. To figure out what she could say that would get these men out of her car and to leave her alone, but nothing plausible came to mind.
“Well?” the other, kind of mean-looking guy in the backseat, asked. He’d taken his attention from Adina’s license and was now staring at her as well.
Maggie opened her mouth to say something, she hadno idea what, but the normally reliable Accord took that moment to sputter and die. The engine cut off—and the silence that filled the car was almost oppressive.
It was the last straw. Maggie had no idea what was wrong with the car, just that without it, she was totally screwed.
She gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead, trying really hard not to burst into tears. She didn’t figure it would help her cause with these men. “Maggie. My name is Maggie Lionetti.”
