Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            Tom didn’t like that. “Leaving Belmont free to stalk Mercy while Pastor recuperates? That could be weeks. Where is DJ now?”

            “We don’t know,” Raeburn admitted. “The van lost him a few minutes after he took the nurse from the rehab center. He might have gone back inside or he might have run.”

            Croft sighed. “Dammit. Who is Kowalski?”

            Raeburn brightened a fraction. “That’s the good news. He’s a local gang leader.”

            Croft’s eyes lit up. “Of the Chicos?”

            “We hope so. The Chicos have become insular and a lot harder to pin down since the men at the top were taken down a few years ago. No one seems to know much about their new power structure. Local PDs had heard his name but knew nothing more. No photos or even a description. I’ve got a team searching for him now.”

            “What do you need from us?” Tom asked. He thought of Dixie Serratt and wondered if they should have pushed harder. She knew what Kowalski looked like. Tom was sure of it.

            “I need you to find a way to get audio and video from Pastor’s room. Find out if they’ve got a leaky faucet or a broken window. Anything that would require the services of an outside contractor. We’ll get one of ours in that way. That Belmont doesn’t know that we were behind the bugs buys us some time, but I think the Sunnyside employees will be hyperaware of anyone approaching them the way Gaynor was approached. We can’t try turning one of theirs again.”

            Tom was already considering the possibilities. “I could manufacture an IT crisis.”

            “Do it fast,” Raeburn warned. “And thank you, Hunter. That would be most helpful.”

            “And me?” Croft asked.

            “You’re with me. I want a description of Kowalski. I’m betting on him being with the Chicos, so I’m bringing the Serratt woman in for an interview. I want you to lead it. She doesn’t leave until she tells us what the man looks like.”

            “We’re more likely to get information out of her if we can offer protection,” Croft murmured. “She seemed genuinely terrified for her life.”

            “I’ve already started the paperwork for protection,” Raeburn said. “And I’ll have the state’s attorney involved. We may be able to offer her a reduced parole period. You’ve got your assignments.”

            Tom knew that Raeburn was right. But he also had a gut feeling about Pastor’s wife. At a minimum, the woman could fill in a number of unknowns. He gave his boss and his partner a nod and started back for the field office so that he could return the Bureau’s SUV and get his own back. He already had ideas on how to manufacture a network failure that would force Sunnyside to call for IT help.

            Once he was on the road, he dialed Liza’s number again. This time it rang a few times before going to voice mail. Which meant she’d directed it there. Which still stung, but at least she was actively involved in avoiding him, so that meant she was okay.

            He hoped. He needed to know. Using the SUV’s handsfree, he dialed Irina’s number, hoping she’d be more helpful than she’d been earlier in the day.

            “Yes, Tom?” she answered, sounding like his mother before she’d grounded him as a kid.

            “Just tell me if she’s all right.” There were voices in the background. It seemed they were having fun. He listened hard for Liza’s voice, but then Irina spoke again.

            “Hold on.” A minute later the background noise became hushed. “She is fine.”

            Tom sighed in relief, then tensed. “Who is she with?”

            “I am not TMZ, Agent Hunter. I do not give out titillating sound bites and call them facts.”

            “Titillating?” He frowned. “What’s titillating? Who’s with her?” Don’t be Mike the Groper. Please don’t be Mike the Groper. “Is it that Mike the Groper?” Dammit.

            Irina coughed, but had clearly covered a laugh. “Mike the Groper?”

            Tom’s cheeks flamed. “Well, is he with her?”

            Irina sighed. “I think you should talk to Liza.”