Page 27 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

Ramon didn’t start the car right away. He waited for Chamberlain to pull out of the parking lot and turn west before he started the car and followed. If Drew had come this direction, the two of them would have had to duck down below the windows to remain out of sight. But thankfully, all they had to do was keep back enough that Drew wouldn’t see them.

“He’s probably just going home to sleep it off.” She sat forward a little in the seat, ready for action.

“With any luck, he’ll go to a retirement home and start harassing old ladies. Then we can really go to town.”

Zeyla snorted.

Ramon focused on following the firefighter, keeping back far enough that it didn’t look like they were obviously in pursuit.

As he did that, snaking through streets of businesses and passing an elementary school, he tried to reconcile Miguel and the threat against Zeyla with the need to take down a dangerous man. Every time they had gone up againstDominatus, Kenna and the whole of Banbury Investigations had wound up in over their heads. At every turn, things had become far more deadly than expected, even if, in the end, they had won. Jax had even managed to get Kenna back from them, but that didn’t necessarily feel like a victory.

Without Zeyla here, he could single-mindedly attack the problem.

Which meant that if he could get her the DNA and persuade her to leave town, Ramon would be able to stay and take down the Count of Shadows and his entire operation. If that was what was happening here. Right now, he didn’t have a lot more than supposition and stories, but someone was kidnapping young women with similar features, hair, and eye color, and even if it wasn’t the Count, then there was still a suspect to take down.

Either way, justice could be served.

It was something he could do to assure himself that he had done some good in the world.

“He’s pulling into the gas station.”

Ramon tapped his turn signal and did the same, finding Drew’s car alongside a pump. “How long does it take you to clone a phone?”

Drew exited the gas station store and wandered back over to his car, sidestepping a low slung Acura pumping loud music with the windows down.

“I guess we’ll find out.” Zeyla pushed her door open and climbed out, palming her cell phone as she moved. She turned back to him, laughing. “Is that all she did?” As if he’d been telling a hilarious story. After a second more of laughter, she said, “I wanna pump the gas!”

Ramon slammed his door shut and stared at her over the top of the car. “I suppose you want my credit card, though.” He set his elbows on the top of the car and held the card out. Beyond the gas pump, Drew Chamberlain glanced over. Ramon focused on Zeyla. “Jump and get it.”

He didn’t like pretending to be that type of guy, but if she needed Drew to trust her, the fastest way was for Ramon to play the bad guy and for Drew to be the rescuer.

Zeyla shot him a look, planted her boot on the hood of his car, and launched herself up to grab the credit card out of his hand, hopping down when she had it in her grasp.

“You better not have scratched my paint.” He barely managed to react the way he should have because that had been completely unexpected.

She turned away, grinning. Using the machine and then getting the pump going in the car’s fuel filler. As soon as it was pumping gas, he turned away and got on his phone. Acting completely distracted and ignoring her. Assuming that she wandered over and was going to start chatting up Drew Chamberlain. After all, she had to get pretty close to him to clone his phone.

“Nice car.” She gasped. “Are you a firefighter?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Oh my gosh, did you work that motel explosion today? That’s crazy. My girlfriend was staying on the top floor. Thankgoodness she was out with me getting into trouble instead.” She laughed, then immediately he heard an intake of breath. “Wow, you must work out.”

“Is your boyfriend gonna want you touching me?”

She made apfftsound with her lips. “Hon, he ain’t my boyfriend. But if you ask me nicely, maybe you could be.”

The gas pump clicked off on their car.

“Welp, it was nice talking to you and all that. Have fun saving the city.”

Ramon turned to her in time to see her hop off the center curb and pull the gas pump out. He eyed Drew, staking his claim without words that the guy was not to pursue Zeyla. Which, honestly, didn’t take a lot of acting. And it was mostly because the man’s DNA had been under the fingernails of a severed hand. The rest of it was about the mission he had come here to do.

They climbed in the car and pulled out, waiting down the street for Drew to do the same. As soon as the firefighter got back in his car, Zeyla said, “He’s making a call.”

She put it on speaker, and they listened to the phone ring.

“Yeah?”