“Even if we find out that all three guys had the same circle of friends, I doubt anyone would give away their source of the cocaine.”
“You’re right. It could mean a swift death for them if the dealer finds out. Do you have any ideas?” Grayson asked.
The problem was that he didn’t. “I’ve driven past Harrison Industries, and I have to say sneaking around there will be quite difficult.” He explained that the factory sat on about one-hundred acres, surrounded by nothing but flat land backed up against the side of a mountain.”
“Is it fenced and guarded?” Grayson asked.
“Yes, and there’s even barbed wire on top of the very tall cement wall.”
“It sounds like a prison.”
“It looks like one too.”
“How good are you at tailing people?” Grayson asked.
Rider wasn’t sure where Grayson was going with this line of questioning. “That’s hard to say, but I don’t think I’ve ever been detected. Why?”
“It’s a long shot, but the company has to deliver their drugs at some point. We could follow the trucks.”
That was more than a long shot. “How will we know which trucks contain legitimate drugs and which are the illegal ones? And who is to say they even truck the drugs out of the factory. They could be hand-delivered by some of the workers.”
“I see some things haven’t changed. You’re still good at shooting holes in my theories.”
Was that a compliment? “We can’t afford the time to follow each and every truck. That could take months. We might have to try to get a job at Harrison Industries, either as guards or as drivers.”
“Now it’s my turn to shoot a hole in your theory,” Grayson said. “If you were a company dealing in illegal drugs, would you trust two newcomers to handle something that important? It could jeopardize their entire income stream.”
Rider had forgotten how Grayson’s mind worked. “No. So what do you suggest?”
Grayson leaned back in the chair and reread the paper. “I say we check out a local bar and see if we learn anything.”
“Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”
CHAPTERTWO
Paris Mansfield pushed awayfrom her office desk, her eyes blurry from studying all of the invoices. She loved puzzles, but at times, the information all started to blend together.
It was five o’clock on Friday, and she needed a break despite having Wednesdays and Saturdays off. The week was still long, mostly because she hated failure—failure at finding proof that Harrison Industries wasn’t what they claimed to be. Not succeeding left a bad taste in her mouth, but she wasn’t going to give up. Paris would find the dirt on Richard Delancey if it was the last thing she did.
Her good friend, Jenna Tremont, who worked with her in the accounting/inventory department, understood why Paris was obsessed with wanting to expose the corrupt leadership at their company. The problem was that Jenna needed this job, which would make Paris feel a little guilty if she succeeded in shutting down the place.
Paris stepped over to Jenna’s desk. “Time to clock out. You up for a drink?”
“Is that a rhetorical question? I’m always up for a drink when Dan is out of town.” Dan was her wonderful husband.
Paris smiled. “Great. Then I’m ready when you are.”
As soon as Jenna shut down her computer and grabbed her purse, she stood. “Where would you like to go?”
It wasn’t like Ames had a lot of choices. One place they went to when Jenna was free was The Hunters’ Bar. While the bar/restaurant didn’t advertise its affinity for shifters—since the general population wasn’t aware werewolves existed—a lot frequented the place.
It was ironic that Paris chose that bar since she had a strong dislike for their kind, despite being half werewolf and half human herself. However, since Jenna was married to one, she was understandably fond of their kind.
Her friend might not be able to sense if someone was a shifter, but Paris could. So why go to this particular bar then? Because the best chance of hearing any gossip about any illegal goings on at the company would be where werewolves visited. Richard Delancey, the man who ran the company, was one himself. “The usual?”
“Sure.”
They both drove since she and Jenna lived in different parts of town. It was still rather early, so the place wouldn’t be busy—yet. However, the bar would fill up in an hour or so.