“Don’t start,” Ria warned him. “It was meant to be only temporary, okay?”
“I know. Did you get your test results?” Nicholas asked.
Ria nodded her head. “I failed. Lacey warned me it was too hard working full time and studying for the test. The only benefit for staying here is that I have plenty of time to study now. I’m taking the test again on Monday.” She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
She would deal with her problems tomorrow. Tonight, she wanted to enjoy being close to Nicholas. She wanted to pretend they were simply two people out on their third date and had gotten to know each other more intimately.
His hand rubbed her back, lessening the tension. “You were under a lot of pressure. You’ll pass it this time.” She heard the confidence he had in her that she had never had in herself.
Her resolve strengthened. She was going to get them out of this mess, without Nicholas getting further involved.
Chapter 15
“I want you to release Nicholas from the deal you made with him,” Ria stated firmly. She had driven to Emiliano’s house after she had taken her test for the second time. This time, she was much more confident that she had passed.
“No.” Emiliano laid down his pen, his face showing his displeasure. Ria didn’t let it stop her.
“Please, I’ll do anything you want.”
His face tightened even further. “You’re putting your heart in the wrong place. He has a reputation with women, one he had to take a restraining order out on.”
“It’s not his place to help me out,” Ria argued.
“That, I agree with. If you want your freedom, Ariel, show me this time you are more capable of handling it.”
She felt a brief spurt of hope only to have it dashed.
“Of course, Nicholas must fight the next three fights I have scheduled. I cannot change the schedule now. Many bets have already been placed.”
She had no choice. Three fights were better than watching him getting pounded until he could get control of his money away from his father.
“Ty needs some help. He has one that is proving evasive, so he cannot give other jobs the attention they need.” He opened his desk drawer, pulling out a file and sliding it across the desk to her.
She picked it up.
“I’m giving you a chance. Don’t disappoint me.”
“I won’t.”
Ria waited until she got back to her apartment before looking through the file. She was trying to find a twenty-five-year-old man named John Maxwell. He had been skimming money and drugs then skipped town. Ria’s task was to find out where he was and then report back to Mitchell. Once she gathered all the necessary information, someone else would go after him for the money. She could understand why Ty was so good at this job. With his street smarts, he knew where to search when someone was on the run.
She was relieved Emiliano was starting her off with a job that felt more like doing background checks than criminal activity. In reality, she wasn’t doing anything illegal, just doing research on a person’s whereabouts. What they did with that person after they found him or her was probably not so legal. She didn’t want to know.
Right now, all she knew was that he worked in an ice cream store. In this case, it was a perfect cover. He would put small amounts of the product in the bottom of the cones and his customers always overpaid for the ice cream in cash. He started getting greedy, keeping some to himself, and started falling behind in his payments to the cartel. Once he knew he was in over his head, he had skipped town.
She was parked outside the parlor but knew he wouldn’t be there. She thought of how she could possibly make one of the co-workers talk. She was just going to have to wing it once she went in.
She stepped out of the car and walked to the parlor. Inside was a man in his early twenties that seemed happy to see her. She was hoping she could use that to her advantage.
She smiled. “Hi,” she said as she looked at all the flavors.
“Hello. Can I offer you any samples?” Ria caught his eyes raking over her body.
“Actually, I was looking for an old friend, John. I heard he worked here. Do you know when he works again?” Ria asked.
“John quit over a week ago,” he stammered.
“Oh, that’s too bad. We’re old friends, and I’m only in town for a few days.” Ria pretended to pout. “Do you know where I can find him?”
“No, he took off,” the man replied, but Ria knew he had more information. He was acting anxious and nervous.
She had to figure out a way to make him talk. She had looked John up on the internet, but now that everyone had a cell phone, it wasn’t as easy to find someone’s address, and John Maxwell was a common name.