"So the fact that he knocked up your sister is completely okay with you? Brown skin and all?" Drew decided he was suicidal after all. Nathan's growl did nothing to calm his fears or suspicions.
"And Nat and I are visibly one-quarter Cherokee, or have you missed that little detail? And for the record, I'd be pissed at the whitest of white men for knocking up my sister. She's my sister. And lover or not, I'll clock you if you use that term in regard to Natalie again."
Drew had to stop for a moment. The word lover almost like a punch to the gut. Nathan kept walking. His long legs moving him deliberately farther and farther away from Drew and the word that shouldn't have been said.
This wasn't what he wanted. His heart and his brain waged war. He needed to follow. He had a job to do. Even if he'd been relieved of duty, this was why he was here. To find out all he could about the who's, why's, and so forth.
The word lover from the man he loved shouldn't have thrown him.
No," he said, hoping to pull himself together. He smoothed his hair back and straightened his clothing. "Not this time."
It wasn't worth losing his reputation and possibly his job over an affair.
This was business. He told himself that for the one millionth time since he'd driven down that dirt road-he'd forgotten how many days ago. "Just business."
Nathan had gone through the door marked Employees Only. Drew didn't have the security card anymore. He pulled, expecting the door to be locked. It buzzed, then opened easily.
"Nathan said to buzz you in when you were ready," the security guard said. He'd been waiting and watching. Drew felt like a fool.
"Thanks," Drew replied as if he hadn't just been caught falling apart by a stranger.
"He's just down in the break room if you remember the way, Agent Dominguez."
"Walker. Agent Walker." Drew remembered the guy. Mid-forties, dark hair starting to show silver. Stocky-but-fit build, mean eyes. Yeah, Drew remembered him. He hadn't been in the polo shirt and chinos Truman Steel uniform that day at the gas station. He looked like an older version of the asshole deputy who'd slammed him against the hood. He wasn't the nicest person he'd ever had to deal with. Far from it.
"What was your name again?" Drew could read his name tag clearly. He wanted the guy to know that he wasn't worth a spot in Drew's memory.
"Chisholm. Not sure we were introduced properly when you were pretending to be one of them." Victor Chisholm, that was his name. Drew remembered now. They called him Vick.
Drew stepped closer, squaring his shoulders as he moved into Vick's personal space. Vick had to look up and he didn't like that, but he didn't step back. He stood his ground.
"I am one of them," Drew said for the fuck-all of it. "Tell me everything you know about Alonzo Ortiz and where I might find him."
The man didn't expect that. His eyes turned wary, losing the mean. He still didn't back away. "Lonnie didn't do anything. He's a good man."
Despite being one of them. Drew didn't give voice to the thought. "He's missing. We're hoping he's missing of his own volition. But … "
"He fits the profile," Vick said, real fear entering his eyes. "Jesus, not Lonnie, he's good people."
"What time did he leave here this morning?" Drew was the one to take the first step back and was relieved when the man visibly relaxed.
"I wasn't here this morning. I just came on duty an hour ago. We're about to do a shift change. I came in early to release Brewster because his wife went into labor."
Drew pulled his notebook out and jotted that down. Probably wouldn't matter, but right now he had no fucking clue as to exactly what would matter.
"Miss Truman reported that he received a call about an alarm. She wasn't clear as to what the problem was. What you know about an alarm?"
The man seemed confused, but something seemed to lurk behind his eyes- Drew couldn't tell what-before he composed himself. "If there had been an emergency, you would hear the alarm halfway back to town. We have security alarms all over the place. But if one of them had gone off, it would have been handled by security onsite, or the Sheriff's Office would have been called. I didn't see anything in the log about an alarm. And I sure didn't hear anything. I was having a late lunch at the deli at the Q Mart. We would have heard something there. If it was you know, a real emergency."
Drew jotted the pertinent details in shorthand. Something wasn't right. "Would someone casually driving by out on the road hear a door alarm or any on-site alarm?"