THE GUARDIAN (Taskforce Series) by Marliss Melton Page B

undercover for the Taskforce was scarcely more dangerous than driving a car for a living, and yet he couldn’t shake the fear that his sense of duty would get the better of him, yet, costing him his life and leaving Naomi parentless .
    God forbid . With a private shudder, he ushered her to the table to play .
     

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    Lena trailed the only customer out of Artie’s and stared across the street. It was six o’clock on Sunday evening. The heat of the day was just beginning to wane. And if the official-looking sedans pulling in and out of Gateway were anything to go by, then the parolees were back from their weekend away. Finally . As much as she dreaded her face-to-face encounters with Davis , getting this business behind her was all she could think about.
    Planting herself on the curb, she watched for the return of one man in particular. Soon Abdul Ibn Wasi would be finding out that his intimidation tactic hadn’t worked. He would see that she was still here, by God, and she wasn’t leaving until she’d made serious inroads into sending Davis back to jail.
    Muhammed was the first parolee to catch sight of her as he popped out of a Dodge Charger. She raised a hand in welcome, and he shot her a shit-eating grin that mellowed her umbrage. At least some of the parolees amused her, instead of just creeping her out—or infuriating her, as in the case of Abdul .
    A dark blue Crown Victoria veered abruptly off the highway into Gateway’s parking lot. Its brake lights flared, the back door opened, and Abdul Ibn Wasi rolled up out of the back seat. Just the sight of him set her heart pounding with a heady mix of exhilaration and resentment. As he turned his head, pinning her with a glare, a high-voltage charge seemed to arc across the four lanes between them, making the fine hairs on her body stand on end .
    What? Not happy to see me? She raised her fingertips to her mouth and blew him an elaborate kiss. Kiss this, Abdul.
    Thanks to him, she had spent all morning sweeping up ceramic and glass shards and resenting the fact that now she’d have to go and buy a whole new laptop .
    At her overblown gesture, his eyes narrowed into slits. For a second, Lena quailed as she recalled his death threat. But then, with a shake of his head that was practically an admission of his guilt, he turned and stalked out of sight, freeing her to release the breath she was holding.
    Ding, ding. Round one goes to me.
    Smirking, Lena turned and marched back into the store. He would visit her tonight at Artie’s—she was certain of it. She had to ensure he didn’t tell the others who she was, especially not Davis. If he threatened to do that, she would let him know she still had pictures of him and she wasn’t afraid to publish them, unless he kept her secret .  
    The others would likely visit her tonight, as well. She sure hoped so. But then she heard the muezzin wailing out the call to prayers just as it had on Friday night, and she heaved a frustrated sigh. Her next move would have to wait .
     
    **
     
    What now? Jackson asked himself as he shifted from one knee to the other while facing the mihrab . Not only was Lena Alexandra still in the area, but thoughts of her were making it difficult to follow Ibrahim’s sermon. The defiant way she had blown him that kiss made it obvious she knew he was to blame for the destruction of her rental and, therefore, the death threat, neither of which sat well upon his conscience .
    He couldn’t blame her for her fury. Hell, he and Toby had stolen the very tools of her trade. But the fact that she’d ignored his intimidation suggested she was both fearless and foolish, not to mention the most determined woman he had ever met. His and Toby’s scare tactic should have made her flee in terror. Only, she hadn’t. If anything, that kiss she’d blown him had been a smart-ass declaration of war .
    Oh, fuck, Toby had exclaimed earlier when they’d both caught sight of Schlesser’s Jeep in