He caught Quinn and Cassie up to speed on Caryn and Kevin, and placed two calls-first to the police to report the break-in, then to arrange to have the glass in his back door replaced.
James scooped up the jacket he'd pulled off Baldy, found no ID but did find a cell phone.
Quinn got a plastic bag to preserve prints for a later check, then took it with him into the kitchen. "I'll deal with this."
"What do you think, Jamey?" Cassie asked. "Was the guy after this paperwork in particular or anything he could get his hands on?"
"My guess is he's connected to Caryn, or rather Paul, somehow."
"But she paid them off."
"Someone else he owed money to, maybe? Something altogether different? Baldy would've had to have been watching her place and saw her put the boxes in the car. How else would he know where to find them?"
"Baldy?"
"For lack of a another name," he said.
"Are you going to tell Caryn?"
"Yes." He rubbed his forehead. He wanted to sort through the papers again and really dig in now. There had to be something to give him a clue, something Caryn had overlooked.
"Does she need protection?" Cassie asked.
He'd been wondering the same thing. And if she was in danger, so was Kevin. And now that James had chased off Baldy, would they bring someone else in? Someone who would take more violent action?
"Maybe," he said to Cassie.
"You should move them in here."
Quinn stormed into the office. "Can't release that information, my ass," he said, apparently to himself. "I need to use your computer."
James and Cassie smiled at his belligerence. Quinn was probably trying to get information on Baldy's cell phone by going through legal channels, something he'd been doing for only a year, since he'd become a legitimate P.I. instead of a shadow man who straddled legal and illegal as necessary to do the job. "Have at it," James said then turned to Cassie. "Baldy wasn't staking out Caryn."
"This morning he wasn't."
"Let's go take a look at the car," he said.
"It's a rental," Quinn said as he typed. "I already checked it out."
"Rented by John Doe?" Cassie asked.
"John Deer." He grinned. "The cleverness of crooks." His expression turned serious again as he searched for information.
"The only way I could get Caryn and Kevin to move in here is if Caryn told him the truth about his father's debts."
"It's a hard thing to find out about your father, but he's eighteen, Jamey. Maybe it'll be his ounce of prevention."
"Yeah." He looked around the room blindly. "I need to talk to Caryn. I need to make sure she isn't being targeted."
"Go," Cassie said. "I'll wait for the cops and the window guy. Give me your alarm code. We'll call when Quinn's done his magic and found out who owns the cell phone."
"Don't do anything you could lose your license over," James said after he wrote down the code for Cassie, then left.
He wished he had his bike, but he'd even turned in the loaner since that job was done.
After fighting traffic he finally pulled into the GGC parking lot and then walked to a spot where he could see into the dining room. He spotted Venus, who smiled and waved. He mouthed Caryn's name. In a minute she came to the window and held up both hands as if to say ten minutes. He went to the employee entrance to wait for her.
She was pulling on a sweater as she came through the door. He hadn't realized how chilly it was. His adrenaline heated him as if a dial was turned to high.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Kevin-?"
"He's fine." James had already called him on a ridiculous pretext, had woken him up. James told Caryn what had happened.
She shivered, drew her sweater closer. "The same people, you think? Or different ones? There could be more?"
"I don't know yet. Cass and Quinn are working on it, too. We'll get to the bottom of it, I promise you that." Idly he rubbed her arms, trying to warm her. She continued to shake. "Caryn-"
"I don't like the sound of that."
"I haven't said anything."
"You're about to say something I'm not going to like."
"You need to tell Kevin."
"No."
"Yes. Because you and Kevin need to move in with me until we have answers."
She went rigid. "No."
"Yes." He loosened his hold as she tried to pull away. "I can't guarantee your safety, otherwise."
"What makes you so sure we're in any kind of danger?"
"I don't know for certain, but I'm sure as hell not taking any chances."
Caryn jumped at his tone of voice, uncompromising and commanding, with maybe a little fear tossed in. He already felt responsible for her and her son.
His cell phone rang. She walked away from him as he talked. Move in with him? Tell Kevin? She dragged her hands down her face. Life was supposed to be settling down! she wanted to scream to the heavens.
"Caryn."
She spun around.
"That was my boss, Quinn. He says the cell phone belongs to a business in L.A. He's checking out the company, but it's probably a front for something."
"Was he able to trace his calls?"
"He can't do that. If he got caught trying-hacking-he'd lose his license. He'd have to go deeper than he did to get the ownership info, and it's a much higher risk to track numbers. Anyway, we had to call the police, and the D.A. can probably get the information."
"You called the police?"
"Of course I did." He gentled his tone. "It doesn't mean we stop investigating on our own." He touched her cheek.
She wanted to lean against him. To feel his arms around her. She was so grateful she wasn't dealing with this whole mess alone anymore. Still, she didn't want to tell Kevin, to ruin his memory of his father.
"Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of Paul's death," she said.
James did sweep her into his arms then. Tears sprang, burned. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"Isn't it enough for him to deal with?" she asked. "The anniversary?"
"I'm sorry about the timing. But he needs to be told. For his own sake, he needs to be told."
She felt his lips graze her hair. His leather jacket smelled comforting, of all things.
He moved her back but didn't release her. "After your shift, you're off for the weekend, right? And no school for Kevin, either."
"His new job?"
"I don't think it's a good idea for him to be working where there are guns."
"He's going to be so upset."
"You have to help me make him see there's no choice. The job will be held for him."
"All right." What else could she say? "I'll talk to him this afternoon."
"We'll talk to him. I'll be in the parking lot when you're done with work and follow you home. Cassie will track down Kevin after his last class and follow him. You can't tell anyone. Not even Venus."
"Okay."
For a second she thought he was going to kiss her. Was it just last night he'd kissed her like there was no tomorrow? And just look what tomorrow brought … .
"Everything will be fine," he said.
She tried to lighten the moment. "I bet you say that to all your … " She wasn't sure what word to use. Victims? Clients? Women?
"Friends," she finally said.
"You're more than a friend."
She stared at him. He cupped her face. "I don't know how that happened so fast, but it did."
"As Kevin's mother?"
"As my … Mysterious."
She swallowed. "That's kind of a big complication."
"No kidding." He brushed her lips with his, deepened the kiss slightly, then pulled her close as he changed angles.
The door opened against Caryn's back, startling her. He caught her arm, keeping her from falling.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Venus said, her eyes shining. "I didn't realize … . I'll tell Rafael you need an extra minute." She disappeared.
"I have to go," Caryn said, angry at herself that she'd forgotten where she was, worried as she was about Kevin, and confused and yet happy about James.
"I'll see you at three," he said.
She nodded, then slipped inside the building.
"Oooh," Venus said with a grin. "Hot stuff, huh? You're so cute together."
Caryn smiled, despite the uncertainties she faced. "Get back to work," she ordered Venus playfully.
"Yes, ma'am. Lovebird, ma'am."
Lovebird? No, not love. Not yet. But something powerful enough to allow her to trust him when she didn't think she would ever trust anyone again.
It felt good.