Page 72 of Breached

He poured my drink and spoke as calmly as if he was asking about the weather. “Who did we spot?”

“Two guys in the corner. One has a red jacket and black spiky hair. I’m doing a walk around to see if I see anyone else I might recognize.”

“And?” he asked.

“I haven’t had much time to look yet.”

He handed me my drink and came around to stand in front of me with his back to the room. “Careful. Scan the place, but if they’re half as good as the teams, they might be able to read lips,” he warned. “Tell me about what you like on the walls of this place.”

“I like all the coasters you put up.” I mindlessly talked about the kinds of beers while taking in the faces of the people behind him. “Those beams remind me of the church I was raised in as a child.” I stopped when I saw a face I thought I might know. Zack touched my hand.

“I see you think you recognize someone else?”

“I’m not sure, but the table the waitress is talking to now, I think I know the guy in the black shirt. I might be overthinking.”

“Okay, time to go back to your table. Let me check into them.” Zack smiled and gave me a little push.

I went to sit back down with Paul and let him know what Zack was up to. “Do you think he should be doing that?” I licked my lips in concern that the lovely restaurant owner might get himself into trouble.

Paul smiled. “Zack can look after himself, believe me.” He took a sip of water. “Here he comes now.”

“Okay, your time of showing your faces in town is over.” Zack put a hand on my shoulder then picked up my plate. “They’re carrying, and not your run-of-the-mill weapons. Something stinks here, my friend.” He eyed Paul.

“Thanks, Zack. Thought I saw a couple more over by the post office. Guess this confirms it.”

“I’ll let Cole know.” Zack whisked away.

Paul handed me my coat and somehow made us look like we weren’t in a rush at all as he helped me into it. He took my hand and led me through the crowded room and out the door.

Once outside, we headed for the car. Paul slowed when he saw Liza standing next to our blue Chevy with a phone to her ear.

“You take the lead,” Paul whispered without moving his lips. “Play it cool,” he warned.

“Liza?” I looked at her in surprise as we approached. It took everything in me not to toss a punch at her. “How are you?”

“Nicole?” Her face drained of color. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting us to come outside just then. “Hi, Paul.” She gave a weak wave as she lowered her phone, but I noticed she hadn’t hung up. My stomach twisted at the idea that Bruno could be on the other end. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Hi, Liza.” Paul nodded at her.

“We just stopped in to get something to eat.” I smiled at Paul, who returned the warm gesture. “It’s hard to find alone time, given how busy everyone always is these days.”

“Speaking of that, I heard some of the wives and kids left town. Is everything okay?” she casually asked like we were friends having girl talk. This ain’t no girls’ talk.

“They took some of the kids on a hike down to Deke’s Creek, but they’ll be back tonight. I was jealous, but I had to work, or I’d be there too. I’m a sucker for zip lining and bungee jumping.”

Paul tapped his phone. “Gotta go, darlin’.”

“Oh, shoot, we’ve got to hurry, Liza! Paul and I have a couple’s mud bath at Zorah’s spa in an hour, and something tells me we’re not going to make it to our massage afterward.” I laughed heartily so whoever was on the other end of her phone could hear me. “I’ll say hi to Keith for you!” Paul opened the door of the truck, and as I hopped in, I caught her reflection in the window. She had the phone back up to her ear. That’s right, bitch, make sure you tell him how happy we look.

Paul started the engine and rubbed his face, then let out a long huff before looking at me. “You played that well.”

“You know that was most likely Bruno on the other end.”

“I do. Mud bath, huh?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I wanted that image in his head.”

He let out a dark laugh that faded away as the weight of what was happening settled back in around us. He pulled away from the sidewalk and headed toward the middle of town.