Page 7 of Iron Shield
Great. She was dealing with a gambleranda possible killer. Worse, he had one of those lazy drawls that snagged her interest every single time.
“I want you to take it, go inside and get yourself some food. Sit where I can see you. I need to take care of this.”
She looked inside and saw cops crawling all over the restaurant.
“Sit where I can see you,” he ordered.
“Am I being detained?”
“Yes.”
The only reason she took the money was because she’d been running on the fumes of morning coffee, two French fries and rage since her shift started.
“I’m only agreeing because I’m hungry.”
“Good enough.”
By the time she settled at a table with a slice of pizza, the man joined her. When he took a seat across from her, she was struck again by his size.
“Do you know who died?” She picked at her slice of cheese pizza.
“Yes.” He looked more annoyed and his glower wasn’t helping her appetite.
She took a small bite and chewed slowly. “What’syourname?”
“Rome.”
“Rome? That sounds made up.”
“As made up as Stina Velez?”
Panic almost made her choke, then she realized her manager must have told him her name. She nibbled another bite.
“Why are you eating so slow?”
“If I stretch the food out, it lasts longer.”
His expression changed in a way she couldn’t read. It wasn’t pity, which was good. She hated pity. But it wasn’t a level of annoyance either. It looked like he didn’t know how to respond, so she helped him by moving to the questioning part.
“So who was he?”
“The dead man?”
“No, Rome. This pizza.” She held up the half-eaten triangle.
“Who do you think he was?”
She pushed the food away. “The FBI doesn’t show up for random dead people. It could be Jimmy D.” She leaned forward, lowering her voice. “He’s a drug dealer. If he says he’s going to deliver a pizza…” She gave Rome a wide-eyed look of knowing.
She leaned even closer and whispered, “Or it could be the new waitress. She’s missed so many shifts, but the manager still keeps her. Rumor is he keeps her because she’s a mafia princess and the family will…” She made a slicing motion across her throat.
He didn’t respond to anything she said, which only made her keep going. She named three more suspects, each more reasonable than the last in her opinion. He became increasingly annoyed with every guess.
Finally, he cut in. “Have you noticed anyone watching you?”
The pizza suddenly sat heavy in her stomach. “No.”
“Think.”
