Kira glanced at Jeremy. “Okay, so . . . you think maybe he owed people money?”
“Not so much. He’s got his old man’s money to back him up. Anatoly Markov.” Sanchez leaned back in the booth. “Now, that guy you want to watch out for.”
“Why?”
He shook his head. “Serbian-born businessman. Been over here almost thirty years. Started out small-time, and now he’s got some big business on the ship channel.”
“Xavier Shipping. He imports oil-drilling equipment,” Kira said. “I read up on it.”
“Yeah, I hear that’s a front for some other imports, you know what I’m saying? Other thing you probably didn’t read about is Markov’s business practices.” Sanchez glanced at Jeremy. “You do not want to cross this guy.”
“Markov Senior,” Kira clarified.
“Anatoly, yeah. Word is he’s connected, he’s violent, and he holds a grudge. If you work for Anatoly and you fuck up, you’re liable to take a ride on a barge and never come back.”
Kira shuddered beside him. “He have an arrest record?” she asked.
“Yeah, but it’s old. He’s been keeping his nose clean. Or maybe he’s paying people off.”
A teenage waiter appeared with a tray full of food. He unloaded red plastic baskets heaped with burgers and onion rings, then put two tall milkshakes and two waters in front of them.
“Anything else?”
Kira smiled. “We’re good, thanks.”
When the kid walked away, Sanchez checked his watch. “I gotta go.” He slid to the edge of the booth.
“Thanks for this.” Kira put her hand over his. “I really appreciate it.”
“De nada.”
Kira pulled her hand away, and Sanchez nodded at Jeremy. “Later, chief.”
“Later.”
When he was gone, Jeremy looked at Kira.
“You were right.” She took a deep breath. “A crime syndicate, like you predicted. We guessed Markov was shady, and now we have confirmation. What I still don’t know is why was Ollie obsessed with young Markov’s court case on the day he died? I feel like that’s key to everything, and when I know that, I’ll know why all this is happening.”
Jeremy watched her, trying to get a read. He sensed that this info from Sanchez bothered her more than she was letting on.
She plucked the toothpick from the top of her burger and picked it up with both hands.
“Who’s Guillermo?” Jeremy asked.
“Emilio’s skip tracer. He’s good.”
She chomped into her burger and closed her eyes as a look of bliss came over her face. Jeremy ignored the powerful shot of lust.
He needed to get a handle on this thing with her. Kira was his client. Full stop. She needed him for protection, and he couldn’t get distracted by her legs or her mouth. Or by watching her eat dinner, for Christ’s sake. He scanned the crowded restaurant and tried to rein in his thoughts.
Kira was right about the food. Everything was good and greasy, and for a while they didn’t talk. Jeremy enjoyed the quiet almost as much as he enjoyed watching her take down a half-pound hamburger, no problem, along with most of the onion rings. Midway through, she paused to scroll through her email and tap out a message to someone on her team.
Jeremy admired her commitment. She worked days and nights, weekdays and weekends. Since the moment he’d met her, she’d been running full speed. She was driven, and he didn’t know if it was because this case was personal or if she tackled every case this way.
She glanced up at him and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “What is it?”
He ate an onion ring. “Do you trust that guy?”
“Who? Sanchez?”
“Yeah.”
“Absolutely.”
No hesitation. She was certain, and she was a good judge of people, supposedly. A human lie detector. And evidently, Logan thought she was good enough to be his jury consultant.
Jeremy wasn’t sure why that irked him, but it did. Actually, he did know why. He didn’t like the guy around Kira. The man was rich and successful and manipulative, and Jeremy had clients like that all the time. He hoped Kira was smart enough not to fall for his bullshit.
She picked up her shake. “Why do you ask?”
“There’s something off about him.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re being paranoid.”
Jeremy shook his head. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but that didn’t matter. When it came to people, he’d learned to trust his instincts.
Kira seemed to read his mind, because she started shaking her head.
“You’re wrong,” she said. “Sanchez is solid. I mean, yeah, he comes off kind of sleazy, but that’s because of the business he’s in. He’s a stand-up guy. Has five kids and another one on the way.”
“You ever checked him out?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact. He’s clean, okay?”
Jeremy nodded. “Glad to hear it.”
She picked up the last onion ring. “Mind?”
“No.”
He pushed his basket away, and Kira checked her watch. “Ready?” she asked, sliding out of the booth.
They returned to his truck in silence, and he scanned the shadows in the parking lot as he opened the door for her. Dusk was coming early again tonight after an evening drizzle, and the air felt steamy. Jeremy cataloged the various vehicles in the parking lot, taking note of a black Jeep like one he’d noticed yesterday.
He hitched himself behind the wheel and drove past the Jeep as they exited the parking lot.
“What is it?” Kira asked.
“Nothing.”
“It’s the Jeep Wrangler, isn’t it? I noticed it yesterday.”
He glanced at her and lifted an eyebrow. She was more observant than he gave her credit for, and she was already tapping the tag number into her phone.
“I’ll look it up,” she said.
Jeremy planned to do the same.
“So where to?” he asked. “The hotel?”
“I need to swing by Ollie’s first.”
He pulled up to a stoplight and looked at her. “Home or work?”
“Work.”
“Not happening.”’
“What do you mean, not happening? I need to check something.”
“What?”
“None of your beeswax.”
He looked at her.
“I need his Rolodex,” she said. “I’m trying to run down that name from his surveillance notes. Someone called ‘LH’? This person’s all over his notes, and I want to find out who it is.”
“He really uses a Rolodex?” Jeremy hung a right on the street leading back to the hotel, and she glared at him.
“Um, hello? You agreed not to infringe on my work. Remember that? We need to stop by Ollie’s office.”
“I’ll go by there.”
“What about me? We’re together. If you go, I go.”
“I’ll drop you at the hotel first.”
“Why?”
Jeremy took out his phone and sent a quick text to Erik. He glanced at Kira, whose eyes flashed with temper as she waited for an answer.
“The first time we went by Ollie’s office, it was under surveillance by an unknown person,” he said. “The second time we went there, it had just been ransacked. Ollie’s office is not a safe location for you to be snooping around, and I’m not taking you over there.”
She muttered something and looked away.
“What’s that?”
“You’re being paranoid. And anyway, you are my security detail right now. I should go where you go.”
“I’ll drop you off with Erik at the hotel.”