She gripped his hand more tightly, and he squeezed her fingers, hoping to reassure her. Knowing he probably couldn’t.
“Can’t you use my computer to trace back the spyware?” she said, and she sounded desperate. Overwhelmed. He heard too many conflicting emotions in her voice. “Figure out who’s looking at it?”
“You said your friend Zoe is working on that, and I’m pretty sure Mel is, too. And she’s good -- she’ll figure it out eventually. But we need to attack this on multiple fronts. Someone’s broken into your home -- twice. You’ve been attacked physically -- the incident with the bus. And there’s trouble at your restaurant. I suspect your hostess and maybe one or two of your servers are stealing from you. Your stove stopped working on a busy night. Now, maybe those aren’t all connected. Maybe the problems at Madeline’s are separate from the rest. But that seems too coincidental for me. So I need to dig deep.”
He glanced at his watch. Then back at her. “What time do your employees start showing up?”
She flopped back against her chair. “Between twelve and one.” She picked up her phone to check the time. “Delia will be there in a couple of hours. The line cooks a couple hours after that.”
“Then let’s take off.” He nodded at her barely-eaten meal. “Are you finished with that?”
“Yeah.” She pulled out her wallet and left cash on the table. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Julia stared out the windshield as Nico drove to Madeline’s. Why had Nico brought up her parents’ and brother’s deaths? He’d dredged up all that pain, and for what? A tragedy that happened almost fifteen years ago? How could that have anything to do with her current problems?
As if he’d read her mind, Nico said, “Anything else you can tell me about the explosion?”
“The fire investigators said it was an accident.” She clenched her teeth. “That someone hadn’t turned off the stove completely, and gas leaked out slowly. Built up until it filled the house. Everyone was probably asleep when the house exploded.” She glanced at him, then looked back at the road. “How could an accident be connected with this stuff?”
“I don’t know, Julia,” he said. “I need lots more information before I can start putting the pieces together.”
He glanced over at her, then back to the street as he drove. “I’m going to bring in another operative from Blackhawk,” he said. “I need to stay with you. But, after last night’s break-in, I want someone at the house when we’re at the restaurant, and at the restaurant when we’re at your house. Is that okay with you?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” She knew she sounded cranky. Irritated. She’d lost control of her life. Decisions were out of her hands. After answering to no one for so many years, she hated feeling like a child again.
He didn’t say anything for a few moments. Finally, he said, “I guess it was a rhetorical question. I think we need another person on this. But I didn’t want to have someone show up without talking to you first.”
“I appreciate that,” she said, and she knew her voice sounded stiff. Pissed off. She drew a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Nico. I’m used to running my own life, and I don’t like being boxed in.”
“And I’m putting you into smaller and smaller boxes,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
He reached over and brushed his fingers over her hand, and that tiny zing of reaction buzzed through her. It happened every time he touched her, and she was both intrigued and irritated by it.
“You’re doing your job,” she finally said, blowing out a breath. “Exactly what I’m paying you for. Don’t apologize.”
“I am sorry your life’s being disrupted,” he said.
He turned into the parking lot beside Madeline’s and pulled around to the back of the building. “You’re not the one disrupting it,” she said. “Whoever’s behind all this is the one doing that.”
“You’re right,” he said. He opened his door and stepped out of the car. “Looks like we’re the first ones here. Let’s take a look at your ordering system before Delia shows up.”
Swallowing the frustration and regret that she couldn’t act on the attraction between her and Nico, she slammed the car door and began to reach for the keys in Nico’s hand. Curled her fingers into her palm as his knuckles tightened on them. He shot her a sympathetic glance, and she wanted to claw the keys out of his hand. Instead, she stood back and let him unlock the door.
She couldn’t even open the door to her own damn restaurant.