Page 37 of Dangerous Command
“Why?”
“Because this isn’t—”
The deadbolt turned. We straightened, then the knob twisted. “We’re not finished with this conversation,” I said. The door opened. A woman, about Maddie’s height, with brown hair and brown eyes, stood in front of us, her hair twisted into a ponytail.
“Can I help you?” she said.
“Tina Duncan?” I asked. She stared at me, not moving. “We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions.” Tina didn’t flinch from her deadpan expression. “It’s about one of your old employers.”
Tina stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her. It was impressive that she knew not to trust us, and irritating that she wasn’t as trusting as I had hoped she would be. That would make things more difficult.
“Shoot,” Tina said. Maddie bit her fingernails again, hiding behind her knuckles.
“About a decade ago, you worked for a burgeoning company.”
I paused, waiting to see if Tina picked up on where I was leading, but she was too busy studying Maddie. Maddie kept her eyes on the cement under her feet, her nails between her teeth.
“You left employment shortly after being hired,” I continued. “Do you remember the name of the company?”
“Do I know you from somewhere?” Tina asked Maddie. Maddie flinched, then shook her head, but Tina squinted her eyes, still trying to place her.
“We came to ask about Miles Muro,” Maddie said.
“What about him?”
There was a stark difference between Tina and the rest of the people when it came to Muro. The other leaders from the neighboring states were always hesitant, eager to stay out of the way, and everyone else was terrified. Even Kiley refused to touch his trail, and Ray had gone against his own family because he was afraid of what Muro would do to his wife.
Tina didn’t seem to care.
“Where is he?” I asked.
Tina lifted a brow. “Why would I know that?”
“Someone sent us here,” Maddie said. “Said that you might know something.”
Even if this interaction made her uncomfortable, Maddie was still trying to help. I nodded at her, showing my appreciation. Finally, she let her hands drop to her side.
“It’s been years since I worked for Muro,” Tina said. “Long before he became a mogul.”
It was as if she didn’t know he was dead. Like she knew he was alive.
“The headquarters were destroyed,” I said. “Do you know what happened to him after that?”
“That’s right,” she said to herself. “Did you do that?”
A vibration interrupted us. Maddie flinched, then pulled out her phone, glancing at it.
“Sorry, I’ve gotta take this,” she muttered, then she walked toward the driveway, speaking in a hushed voice. Tina turned to watch her. There was a chance that Ray had sent us to Tina as a dead end, or that Tina still worked for Muro and was hiding him somehow. Call it a gut instinct, but I had a feeling that Tina wanted to stay away from Muro. Most people did.
“Muro almost destroyed my family’s business,” I said. Tina’s eyes flicked to me, then fell back to Maddie. Maddie’s face flushed, her brows furrowed. “And he killed my father,” I continued. “I need to find him.”
“A revenge spree,” she said. Did she mean my revenge, or Muro’s?
“I need to make this right.”
A beat of silence passed between us. Then Maddie turned her back to the porch, still on the phone.
“When did she start dying her hair?” Tina asked, her eyes focused on Maddie. “It used to be black, right?”
