Page 43 of In Her Blood
She did her best to shove that frustration aside as Otto reached past her and pulled open the door. She led the way inside, obligingly stepping wide enough to allow him to shadow her in and move in front of her while he scrutinized the interior. It was what he did, even when they had no reason to suspect a location. She’d long since stopped fighting it.
Eventually, Otto moved a hand to her back and guided her forward.
Evelina reached up and curled one hand around the strap of her heavier-than-usual purse. She’d brought everything she imagined she might need for this. Not that she had any experience hiring a PI.
She flicked a glance at a small sitting room that looked like a cross between a lobby and a tea room and reminded herself to be strong.Woman-in-charge, remember?She made a conscious effort to raise her chin as she walked and square her shoulders properly, willing herself to exude the confidence of the image in her mind.You are going to be pakhan. Own every space you walk into.Her father certainly had, and in that, she could stand to learn from him.
They passed a partially open door to a toilet room and came to a closed door with a frosted glass panel and stenciled lettering spelling out the name of the man she’d come to meet—Raul Campo. No voices drifted out, so Evelina dropped her knuckles against the wood frame and held herself still.
“Come in,” a male voice called seconds later.
Otto reached around her and pushed open the door, holding it wide.
Evelina strode inside, far enough that Otto could follow before shutting the door again, and briefly swept her gaze around the room.
It was probably a third the size of her father’s study, surprisingly well lit, and almost overwhelmingly cluttered. File cabinets stood like castle towers on either side of the window, a bookcase crammed full of books, notebooks, and looseleaf papers in seeming random order occupied most of the wallbetween the door and the desk, and a large map of the continental United States was pinned to the wall behind the man at that desk. The desk itself was metal, not wood, and had a stack of file folders on one corner opposite the angled flatscreen monitor on the other. More predictable paraphernalia scattered across the top, including a plain planner and a tablet. Two uninviting-looking chairs faced the desk, taking up startlingly little floorspace, so Evelina opted to step up until she was standing behind one.
The man at the desk had leaned back in his chair, eyeing both of them as he rolled a toothpick around in his mouth. He looked every bit of the mid-fifties his online profile had said him to be, if not more, with the lines on his face and amount of gray in his receding hairline. But his dark eyes were still sharp, revealing a fully functional mind. “We don’t have an appointment,” he finally said.
Evelina offered a smile. “Your business page said walk-ins were welcome.”
The corners of his eyes crinkled and he inclined his head. “Well, if you went out of your way to look me up.” He motioned to the chairs as if they hadn’t seen them. “What is it you need found?”
It was stupid how loaded that question felt, but nonetheless, Evelina had to draw one more steadying breath. “Before I tell you, I need to confirm something.”
His dark brow pinched for a brief moment but he inclined his head. “If I can.”
“How confidential areyour services?”
Raul Campo was silent for several seconds. He never took his eyes from her. “I comply with all properly written and presented warrants in the event the law gets involved,” he said. “I don’t testify in court unless I’m formally subpoenaed.” He propped one ankle over a knee and made an absent gesture with his hand. “If I agree to take on a job, my clients sign a very specific contract, which gives them room to tell me when and with whom I can or cannot share information. For example, you could specify that I am only to talk to you, or authorize me to talk to your friend there in your place if you are unavailable. You could specify face-to-face only, or merely indicate that your emails are monitored so that option is no good.” He paused, seemingly studying her expression. “There is also a clause to cover how information is handled in the event of either mine or the client’s death, as a precaution.”
Evelina nodded as she processed his words. “So, if say a relative of mine contacted you and insisted that I had asked them to reach out on my behalf for an update, you wouldn’t just take their word for it?”
Campo scoffed. “Only an amateur falls for a setup like that. Half the job is digging up dirt on family, you know.” His lips tipped up in a flash of a smirk like he’d said something funny.
What he had said, though, was music to her ears.
She couldn’t quite stop her smile when she spoke again. “Please forgive me for blundering around with this. I very recently learned about an extended familial connection I’m trying to make contact with, but all I have is a name and general idea of area of residence. And some old pictures, if that helps. Is that the kind of work you can take on?”
He tipped his head to the side. “You wanna make contact with this person? So basically, you want contact information—addresses, emails, phone numbers, media accounts?”
She wanted those things, and so much more, but Evelina recognized it might be bad form to cyberstalk her estranged relatives and then forcefully introduce herself. Particularly if they were still mafia.
Is that what Otets would do?The thought crossed her mind, and she immediately shoved it down. She was not going to become her father.
Evelina tapped her nails briefly over the strap of her purse before finally replying, “At the bare minimum, please.”
Campo rolled forward and reached for a drawer on his desk. “Simple enough. I do charge travel, which means international fees are higher by design.” He dug into a hanging file and pulled out a pre-stabled set of papers. “All that’s explained in the contract. Of course, I’ll make ya copies before you leave.”
Evelina accepted her fate and adjusted to drop into the chair, schooling her features not to show her displeasure at the feel of the firm, uncushioned seat and support poles encompassing her. “I did bring cash,” she said as she set the purse into the seat beside her, “so I can also pay your down-payment today.”
His lips lifted visibly and the toothpick wobbled. “I like a woman who comes prepared.”
Evelina pulled the paperwork closer, knowing it would be important to read the content before signed. She’d never done this sort of thing before, she didn’t know what was common practice or what precisely to expect. That meant all she coulddo was make sure she understood what was presented and decide for herself if it was acceptable.Or negotiable.
She read everything diligently, taking time to ask questions when she wasn’t certain, and finally made her notations in the promised areas before signing her name at the bottom. She motioned Otto forward, as there was a place for the secondary contact’s signature, and had him sign, too. With all of that done, she slid the papers and borrowed pen back across the desk. “Here you go.”
Campo flipped to the notations page and skimmed over it, making no bones about verifying that she’d filled out something satisfactory in the required areas. He nodded to himself, clicked the pen, and scrawled his name on the other line. “I’ll get these copied before you head out,” he said as he let the papers fall flat once more. “Now, if you’ve got that payment, I’ve got the time to hear what you need.”
