Trail of Secrets(36)

                “We are going to work together to find out who Hope is, but the attempts on your and Dan’s lives are another matter. That is police business that would put you directly in harm’s way. I’m not about to take you into the middle of a police stakeout.”

                “But I won’t let you do this. I’ll...”

                “You won’t do anything,” he interrupted. “I’m going to take you back to my house and get a police officer stationed outside to guard you, then I’m going to headquarters and set up a stakeout for tonight. I’ll let you know when I get home if anything happened or not.”

                Her face flamed with anger. “When you get home?”

                He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands at his sides. “Yes. You’re not going with me. Now let’s get out of here before somebody comes by and recognizes me.”

                She started to say something else, but after a moment she whirled around and stormed toward the car. She climbed inside and slammed the door closed. Seth hesitated a moment and stared at her through the windshield, but she refused to look him in the eye.

                Her anger was understandable. She wanted the person caught who had tried to kill her and her uncle. He wanted that, too, but not at the expense of putting her life in danger again. Carlos Allen had been on his way to a lifetime career in crime when Seth had first encountered him. It surprised him to think that somehow he had managed to stay under the radar all these years, enough to keep out of jail. Being picked for hit jobs wasn’t something that went to inexperienced guys, so he must have been active in criminal circles all this time.

                If so, why hadn’t he surfaced before now? Finding out what he’d been doing for the past few years was just one more secret to be unraveled. Seth hoped the stakeout he planned for tonight would lead to many questions being answered.

                * * *

                Callie took a bite of the cheeseburger on her plate, washed it down with a sip of her soft drink and glanced around the room. The proprietor, whose name tag identified him as Sam, had frowned when she’d first walked in. With its high-carb, high-fat menu, the single women who came in here probably weren’t his favorite customers, but he had lightened up some when she ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Lucky for her this place was a grill as well as a bar. She’d never been a drinker and wouldn’t have known what to say if all Sam served was alcohol.

                Now she sat in the back booth and kept a watch on every patron who walked in the door of Sam’s Bar and Grill. So far most of those who had entered didn’t come close to matching what she remembered about Carlos’s size and appearance. Even if she was able to recognize him, she had no idea what she would do. She couldn’t walk up to him and accuse him of trying to kill her.

                But then, what if he recognized her? Her heart lurched at the thought. Maybe coming here hadn’t been such a good idea after all. She would never have done it if Seth had just given in and let her accompany him, maybe sit in a police car around the corner. When he’d refused, she’d become so angry that she was determined she was going to be at Sam’s Bar and Grill to see firsthand what went down on a police sting operation.

                She’d no sooner completed the thought than the door opened, and Seth walked inside. As his gaze drifted over the room, she slid down in the booth in hopes he wouldn’t see her, but this wasn’t her lucky day.

                His eyes locked on her, and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Callie squirmed in her seat as his lips thinned into an angry expression, and his eyes darkened. With fists clenched at his side, he strode across the room and stopped at her booth.

                “What are you doing here?” he demanded.