Page 74 of Defender
Sixteen
That Sunday, Michael went to church for the first time in a long time. He spent the rest of the day with Dani, Josh and Lily, and their kids. He had his first full night’s sleep in forever. And he couldn’t stop smiling.
For once, he’d woken up happy this morning, and it didn’t matter that it was a Monday. The workday flew by, and he couldn’t wait to share the news he’d just received with Dani.
He left the office and drove to pick her up for their afternoon meeting with Victor Bellmont. She hopped into the passenger side of his car when he pulled up to SL Trucking.
“Ready for this?” he asked.
“Almost. We have time for a drive-through coffee, don’t we?” She batted her eyelashes.
“I will make time for afternoon coffee.”
Her grin and kiss on the cheek made the day that much better.
He waited until they left the parking lot. “Hey, we finally got a hit on the BOLO out for Colter McCord.”
“Really? I’ve been wondering about him. I messaged his old buddies, and no one got back to me.”
“Colter’s mom is worried. She called, and she hasn’t heard from him since that day either. She gave us his friend’s name though. Booker Wilson.”
“Who’s that?”
“He also works at RWM, but we know him from somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“The bouncer at that bar in Southwold. He had a matching leopard tattoo. There’s a whole gang of them that hang out there and work for the garbage company. Think your new friends would have any info for us if we stop at O’Malley’s after this?”
She grabbed his arm and squeezed. “Yes!” She dropped her hands. “Wait. I can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“My boss. If she finds out I’m investigating more than the numbers, I’m sunk. I’m supposed to, quote, ‘stay in my lane.’”
“What did you tell her about this interview?”
“I said I was assigned to write the Christmas newsletter and needed to do the interview to keep my cover. I kinda left out the part that it was self-assigned. But Shirley thought it was a great idea, and Silas was all for it.”
Michael hated going against an authority figure, but Dani was more capable than her boss realized. She shouldn’t be stuck with desk work when she was so good with people.
Still, he didn’t want Dani to get in trouble. “What can your boss do if you go out with your boyfriend and he happens to chat with Ron, Steve, and Denny at a bar? You’re not investigating so much as supporting me while I investigate my case.”
“True. Finding McCord is your case, not ours.”
“And Finn will meet us there. Once he heard there was an Irish pub in the city, I couldn’t keep him away if I wanted to.”
“So it’s set. After we interview Victor Bellmont, we’ll go to O’Malley’s.”
“Are you ready for Bellmont? We need to remember that you’re interviewing him like a reporter or journalist. Ask what sparked his interest in these particular charities. We won’t get too far, but I want to see his personality, how he handles these situations, so I might poke or prod a little to get a reaction.”
“Oooh, a little good cop, bad cop?”
“Something like that. I’ll go as your animal-loving boyfriend. I’ll gush a little, push a little, and we’ll see what makes this guy tick.”
“Sounds good.”
They parked in a large downtown garage, where Michael switched out his work shirt for a T-shirt and flannel. He mussed his hair like Dani had when they’d sneaked into RWM, then switched to hiking boots before they walked a block to one of the taller skyscrapers. Continental Transport’s office was on the seventeenth floor.
