Page 52 of Hawk

I walked over to her and leaned down to give her a hug. “Thank you.”

Hawk

Mika’s employer was something else. The last thing I’d expected today was to be called into the house to be interrogated—not only about my ability to keep Mika safe but also my intentions with him.

Before I’d been called inside, I’d been researching crimes the Iron Jackals had been suspects in, and to my surprise, it was fairly limited. But then I remembered what Mika had said about them having local law enforcement in their pocket, so I shifted my focus off of them and onto the local sheriff.

I’d started to piece together a suspicious pattern of spending by the man when I got Mika’s text asking me to come inside. As soon as I got back in the car, I pulled out my laptop and went right back to it. I scrolled through the man’s social media, looking for new cars, boats, homes, or vacations. Most people didn’t give any thought to what they shared, which made posts and tweets a gold mine for investigators.

The party Mika had insisted on helping with was after lunch, so I had a few hours to kill. Or at least I thought I did. I hadn’t expected another text from Mika.

Mouse

She’s sending me home. Should I just come out or do you need to check things first?

I was proud of him for checking with me first. That told me he was taking this seriously—which was a good thing. He needed to. The more I learned about these guys, the more concerned I was.

I stepped out of the car and quickly scanned the area around us. I hadn’t seen anything that made me think there was any danger, but I had gone inside for a short time, so I wanted to be sure. Once I was confident that the area was secure, I sent him a text letting him know it was safe to come to the car.

I opened his door for him, and he hurried out and hopped in with no hesitation. I closed his door, then went around to the driver’s side and got back in.

“What about the party?” I asked.

“She agreed that it would be best if I took some time off and stayed somewhere safe. We’d already done most of the work on the party ahead of time.”

“She seems pretty capable for a woman in her eighties.”

“Oh, she is. Truth is, she doesn’t really need me here. She just enjoys having someone around. It hasn’t been that long since her husband passed away, and I think it helps to have me there to talk to.” He reached up and rubbed the pendant he wore. “He was a nice man. I’m glad she had him in her life for so long.”

I reached for his hand and twined our fingers together. “Let’s head home. I have some work to do, anyway.”

A short time later, I pulled into the parking garage at Three Bears.

“Are you going to be working here in the building?” he asked.

“I’ll be in my office on the seventh floor. You’re welcome to hang out down there if you want.”

“I think I’ll go on up to the condo, if that’s okay?”

“Mika, you can do whatever you prefer. This whole building is a safe zone for you. We’ve got the gym where we do self-defense class, the ninth floor is where the others hang out, and then, of course, you know where I’ll be. You don’t have to be cooped up in one place. If you need to get some air, you can always go up on the roof.”

“The roof? Why would I go on the roof?”

I chuckled because that was when I realized I hadn’t told him about the private rooftop area Wolfe, Gator, and I shared.

“Come with me, and I’ll show you.”

He followed me into the laundry room and gasped when I opened the door to reveal a set of stairs going up.

“When I was snooping around, I just assumed that was like a linen closet or something.”

“There’s a set in each of our condos that goes to the roof.”

We went up the stairs and out onto the top of the building. We’d had grand plans of turning this into our own little oasis, but running a business takes a lot of time, and none of the three of us had followed through. We’d made it as far as three Adirondack chairs and a small fire pit.

Mika stood there looking around for a minute. “Oh wow. This place up here could be fabulous. Some plants, maybe some lights, oh, and an outdoor kitchen. Maybe a pergola for shade.”

“That’s kind of what we were thinking. We just haven’t gotten around to doing it.”

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