She took a bite of the ice cream she’d bought. Well, technically she hadn’t bought it, because as she’d tried to pay, the kid working the stand had smiled and refused her money. He’d still been dazzled when Jack had grabbed cash from his pocket and shoved it in the kid’s hand, daring him not to take it.
“Let’s see. There was that sabbatical after college; then the time I spent in San Francisco before the Eternal Sun Resort and transferring to school to Florida. Hi, John,” she greeted the guy who crossed their path waving at her. “Then the couple of semesters I took off to get my physiotherapy degree. And—”
“You a physiotherapist?”
“Not a licensed one; I didn’t show up for the last exam. I didn’t need it. I already knew all I had to. And by then I was into teaching English for foreigners, so I jumped into that. It’s a great way to travel the world and earn money.”
That explained why she was twenty-eight and just finishing her studies. Because she wasn’t able to keep on track even if her life depended on it.
“Was that before the snake-charming studies or after becoming a bounty hunter?”
She threw him another dirty look. “No, it was before the class on lifeguarding if you must know. No snake charming, but the bounty hunting is interesting. I’ll look into that. You can never have too many hobbies.”
Yes, one could, obviously.
“And what are we studying now?” he asked mockingly.
“Astronomy.”
That stopped him dead in his tracks. Astrology, sure. Astronomy? Never in a million years would he have guessed. That explained all the geeks around though.
If she was dangerous enough working at an airport, he didn’t want to know what she could do at NASA.
When the irony of it dawned on him, he felt his lips quirking up.
“What?” she asked impatiently.
“I remembered your fear of flying. I hope you aren’t planning on any deep-space exploring.”
“Very funny, Borg. I’ll call Eve and get some of her blue pills.”
“Hi, Elle,” another schmuck interrupted, waving at her.
“Hi, sweetie,” she answered, offering him a smile. Jack turned to her and she shrugged and whispered, “Can’t remember his name, but he makes to-die-for daiquiris. And knows all the names of the pulsars.”
“Are you acquainted with every-fucking-body here?” Which was amazing, considering all her extracurricular activities and how much time she actually spent away.
“I’m friendly and talk to people, not like others.”
“I’m friendly enough,” Jack muttered.
“Sure, for a bloodthirsty, inarticulate terminator you are,” she said, going in the direction opposite from where the car was parked.
“Now what?”
“A short stop.”
“A detour to learn how to restore old buildings?”
“Ha-ha. I agreed to get a mani with the girls. It’s just here around the corner.”
“I don’t think so,” Jack growled, but his cell rang, and when he saw that the caller was Mullen, he decided that fighting with Elle had to wait.
“Jack here,” he said, answering the call while she sprinted to the beauty salon. “Any news?”
“Maldonado is back in the US. We subpoenaed all the videos from the airport. We’ve placed Aalto at the airport, but not near Maldonado’s jet, which, by the way, was spotless.”
No surprise there. The second he realized the body had been found, he must have started covering his bases. Major criminals didn’t make it that long without taking precautions.
“We’re going through Aalto’s computers with a fine-tooth comb, but so far we haven’t found anything.”
“Using Elle is not an option,” Jack warned, already foreseeing where Mullen was heading.
“You know she would want to testify. Bring her friend’s killer to justice.”
“Please spare me the bullshit. What about the two bodyguards? Have you turned the heat up on them?”
“Escudero and his niece have disappeared.”
If Elle would be more agreeable, Jack would consider leaving her under someone else’s watch and go to Florida himself to sort that mess out. He was not a cop, so he didn’t have to play by the same rules; he would get results much faster. Too bad Elle would eat her keeper alive. She’d smile and bat her eyelashes, and the poor devil would be doing her bidding in no time.
He knew firsthand; he was waiting outside a beauty salon. How fucked up was that? He hadn’t done shit like that since Ronnie.
“And the autopsy? Any leads there?”
“No bullets recovered if that’s what you are asking. They couldn’t find any injury inconsistent with plunging twelve thousand feet at a hundred twenty-five miles per hour. There wasn’t a single bone unbroken.”
Fuck.
“Oh and Copeland?” Mullen said from the other side of the line, taking Jack out of his musing. “The NSA is sniffing around, extremely interested in getting Maldonado. So far the FBI is coordinating the whole operation, but if they decide to take over, we will have to hand the whole investigation to them.”
That wouldn’t happen. Jack would make sure of it. Having the NSA involved would mean more people knowing about Elle. Unacceptable.
After disconnecting the call, he took a deep breath and entered the beauty salon.