FORTY-NINE
At least Bar Wars wasn’t the seedy kind of bar she’d imagined. With all the Star Wars memorabilia, it could even rank as family friendly. Unfortunately, too many heads had turned her way when she walked in. She would not walk through to check out all the decorations and draw more attention. Instead, she found a corner from which she could watch the entire place and quickly took in the far back booth in the shadows, a man already sitting there. The pilot?
A waitress approached. “What’ll it be?”
“I’ll have a club soda with lime.”
The woman arched a brow. “Suit yourself.”
Terra dropped her cell and picked it up from under the table. Then she sat up and started a text to Jack like she told him she would. A man pulled out a chair and sat at her table.
“Excuse me, but I’m waiting on a friend,” she said.
The guy winked. “I can be your friend.”
Oh brother.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“I can work around that.”
Really. “Look, I’m not interested.”
The waitress approached with Terra’s club soda. “This guy bothering you?”
Terra did not want to make a scene. She wanted to blend in. Maybe this had been a bad idea, after all. “I can handle him.”
The waitress laughed. “Bobby, go find another lady to hit on. This one’s too classy for you.”
“Look, I—”
Another man approached the table wearing a leather bomber jacket and a cap. She did a double take and realized it was Jack. He pressed his index finger on the table in front of Bobby. “This one’s taken, buddy.”
Bobby glanced up as if he would argue, then thought better of it. He lifted his hands in surrender. “Sorry, dude. You can’t blame me for trying. You’re a lucky guy.”
He exited the seat.
And Jack slid into it, his back to the booth where their person of interest was sitting in the shadows.
“What are you doing here?”
“Saving you.” He leaned forward. He looked too good. With the jacket, the cap, and the more arrogant demeanor, she had to admit that he didn’t look at all like a cop or a local detective.
Her mouth went dry, and she’d never been so grateful for a club soda. She took a few sips, then said, “I had it under control, thank you very much.”
“I’m sure you did. I’m here because there’s been a change in our plans.”
Terra glanced at the booth at the back, and someone was now sitting across from the man already seated. She’d missed his entrance. His back was to her, so she couldn’t see who it was. Terra inwardly groaned.
“Who’s sitting with him?”
Jack’s lips flattened. “Owen’s friend Leif. I spotted him walking in not long after you did.”
Leif? Terra’s pulse jumped. Oh, please, God, don’t let him be involved in this. “Do you think he saw me?”
“My guess is that he missed you since he’s now in the meeting with the man who took Blevins’s place.”
“Or he isn’t committing a crime so he has nothing to hide by sitting with our subject.”