She started to answer with something snarky, but nothing came out as she realized shehadnoticed somebody watching her.
“There was a black car…parked near my apartment a few times. I saw the driver. Then I saw him sitting in my section three nights straight. And—” She swallowed hard.
Rome watched her, not saying a word.
“The same guy questioned my coworkers about me. And I got a few hang-up phone calls.” She finished and waved a hand to dismiss everything she just told him.
“It was nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, Stina.” He leaned in.
None of this was abouther.She was only a waitress. She didn’t have anything to do with the dead man outside or any reason for this man to be questioning her.
Except…shehadreceived that photo earlier today.
“It’s probably a creepy customer. Or an angry ex. Or some guy I rejected who couldn’t handle it.” She waved a hand. She wasn’t going to let one dead man, a bossy gambler and several FBI jackets turn her life into a conspiracy.
A couple began arguing near the counter, and Stina turned her head. The woman stormed away, chin lifted. The man stood frozen by the table.
Stina pushed to her feet.
Rome’s eyes narrowed. “Where are you going?”
“To fix that before he makes it worse.”
She crossed the room, told the guy to buy the woman the house special martini and apologize without using the word. By the time Stina returned, the woman had come back to the table to find a martini waiting for her, and the disaster had been downgraded to a minor event.
Rome watched her closely as she sat.
“What?” she asked.
“You just counseled strangers in the middle of being questioned about a murdered agent.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have anything to do with that.”
Rome stood, all trace of humor gone. “Time to go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Why?”
His stare moved over her face, hard and focused and far too serious for the bubble of denial she was trying to keep around herself.
“Because whoever killed that man thinks he removed your protection.”
The room noise dulled. The sirens faded.
Rome leaned closer, voice low enough that only she could hear.
“And I’m not leaving you here long enough for him to find out he’s wrong.”
TWO
Rome had protected a lot of people over the years. Most of them became cooperative the moment someone tried to kill them.
Stina Velez apparently wasn’t most people.