Magnolia’s head swings toward Jules, and I could punch him in the face right now. “He tortured her?”
I use my hand to steer her worried face back to me. “Hey. Don’t think about that shit. Not any of it.”
“But ... but if he torturedher—”She blinks up at me, and I already know what the fuck she’s imagining before she says it. “What the hell would he do to—”
I press my lips to hers before she can finish the sentence, but her eyes are on mine and I see the concern in them.
When I pull back, I match her head-on. “No one’s getting their hands on you. You hear me?”
She exhales and then lifts her chin. “I hear you. But we gotta find whoever the fuck it is so we can take him out. How are we gonna do that?”
“Wonder if Ortiz left a car behind,” Jules says, swiping a hand over his jaw.
I latch onto what might be the first good lead we’ve had. “That’s a damn good question.” I release Magnolia and point at Trey. “Can you see if Cavender found one?”
Trey nods, and his fingers go flying again as he brings up the case file for Ortiz’s unsolved murder. A murder that’ll remain unsolved for a long fucking time, if it’s up to me.
“There’s no mention of a car. Nothing but forensics and Cavender’s notes. He definitely wants to pin it on Magnolia, but he’s only got the location working in his favor.”
I drum my fingers on the island as I concentrate. “Anything towed or impounded recently from nearby? Abandoned cars?”
“Oh, good idea.” It’s a few minutes before Trey speaks again. “Okay, we might have something. One car was impounded yesterday. Abandoned.”
“What kind of car, and how far away from Magnolia’s condo?” I ask, walking over to him as he types the address in and calculates the distance.
“Mustang. Two-tenths of a mile.” He looks up at me with a grin. “We might’ve just gotten lucky.”
“Y’all can thank me later,” Jules says as he raises his hand in the air.
“It’s still at the impound?” I ask Trey.
“Damn right it is. So ... how the hell are we going to get to it?”
Magnolia pauses, lifting the lid off the pot. “The city impound lot? I know a cop who works there.”
All eyes in the room swing to her.
“Well. I don’tknow him, but I know who he is. He always wanted to get better acquainted, if you catch my drift.”
“Caught it, mama. Think he’ll do you a favor?”
She grimaces with a shake of her head. “I’m not so sure about a favor, but I could definitely go with you and distract him if I need to.”
The thought of putting her in that position rings warning bells inside me. She’s more than capable, but her safety is paramount. “If we’re breaking into the impound lot, you aren’t involved. Hard no.”
She crosses her arms over her chest. “This is to find the person who’s afterme. A person who might’ve tortured some jealous woman. You really think me going along in case you need a diversion is more dangerous than the target on my back?”
“She’s got a point there, boss.”
I glare at Jules when he agrees with her. “I don’t like it.”
“And I don’t like not knowing who the hell is looking for me,” Magnolia snaps back. “We’ll go tonight. Maybe you won’t even need me. But if you do, I’ll be there. Can Trey cut the camera feeds so no one sees you going in or out?”
“Yes, Trey can,” Trey says in agreement.
All three of them look at me, the odd one out who doesn’t want Magnolia involved in anything that could possibly go sideways.
I take a slow, deep breath and let it out. “Fine. You can come along, but youonlyjump in as a last resort. Jules and I can handle ourselves. I’m not taking a chance that any of this blows back on you. Cavender is too fucking interested in you, and I don’t want to hand him another reason to look closer. Got it?”