And Jo Gunning. Kline couldn’t put his finger on what troubled him about her. He had checked her training, and she would be a good driver and bodyguard. She had the hard skills necessary for personal protection services. She was obviously in good shape, and her military background meant she had weapons training. Not only that, but her service record indicated she was an expert markswoman.

Personal protection was more than those things, though. One needed soft skills—emotional intelligence, problem-solving abilities, and good communication—as well. Jo obviously knew how to talk to people. She put Lydia at ease faster than anyone Kline had seen before. Jo had been friendly and courteous, too. With time, he’d see if she would be trustworthy and loyal.

For the moment, she seemed perfectly capable of doing the job. So what was bothering him?

Instead of answering JD’s question, Kline said, “Do you want me to look for other drivers?”

“If Lydia likes her, then hire her. It’ll be on a trial basis.”

Kline was slow to answer. “I’ll make the necessary arrangements.”

“You’re worried about me? If so,” JD said before Kline could answer, “I’ll be all right. I’m working on things, and I won’t see anyone else.”

Kline shook his head slowly. How many times had he heard that? JD might make it a while, but his desires always got the best of him. He didn’t pounce on that, though, as much as he wanted to. There was too much else on his mind.

JD sensed that.

“What?” his boss asked.

“I still haven’t heard from my connection at the station.”

“You lost contact with him when?”

“Last Thursday.”

“You must be able to get information from someone else,” JD snapped.

“I’m working on it,” Kline said. “With all the attention from the bank robbery, I have to be careful. But I don’t like it. My guy’s always been good, always reliable.”

“No one suspects us?”

“No.”

“Then we should be fine,” JD said. “Your contact needs to be careful. Or perhaps something came up, and it’s not a big deal. You know how to handle things.”

Kline nodded to himself. “I’m following up. Just watch things on your end.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.”

Kline snickered to himself. He did need to worry about JD. The man had gotten them into this mess.

As usual, he didn’t point that out. It wasn’t his place. Instead, they talked for a few more minutes about security for some other meetings, and then Kline ended the call. He glanced at JD’s desk. Was the USB drive still there? He’d told his boss to get rid of it. Kline wished he could check, but JD kept one drawer locked, and Kline didn’t have a key. He thought about calling JD back, but he’d talk to him later about the drive.

Kline turned his thoughts to another situation. Sabrina Padilla. If she’d told the police about being threatened into helping Damek, and they believed her, she might not have been charged with a crime yet. That wouldn’t happen until they could prove her story one way or the other. He’d been able to find out one thing: Sabrina hadn’t returned home last Thursday night, or anytime since. By the time Kline had gotten his people looking for her, she had disappeared, along with her mother. Her brother, in California, had vanished as well. Kline didn’t know if they were all in police protection, but he’d given that a lot of thought. Police protection didn’t necessarily mean they’d put Sabrina and her family in a safe house. More likely it meant she would have law enforcement personnel with her, wherever she was. However, if she refused protection, she might still be under surveillance. Knowing all this didn’t help, though. Kline had to find her. He dialed another number and spoke abruptly.

“I need an update.”

A woman with a low voice said, “We still haven’t found Sabrina.”

“What’s going on?”

The woman on the other end was one of many people Kline employed now and again. He had a lot of men working for him, but sometimes people responded well to a female. And this woman was good—she got him a lot of information.

“I do have something interesting, though,” she said.

“What?”

“I did some poking around Sabrina’s neighborhood—casual, nothing that would draw any attention. No one knows where Sabrina is, and they all figure she’s taking some time because of the bank robbery. However, one neighbor said she saw Sabrina last Thursday morning with another woman.”

Kline gripped the phone hard. “Who?”

“The neighbor didn’t know, just said it was a woman with long hair. She wasn’t paying attention to her, because she was focused on Sabrina. She was worried about her, after everything at the bank.”

“No better description on the other woman?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“And Sabrina hasn’t returned to work, or contacted anyone there?”

“No. She took a leave of absence, and no one knows where she is,” the woman said.

“Keep looking for her. We have to know what she told the police.”

“I’m on it.”

The woman ended the call, and Kline stared at his phone. He didn’t like where things were going, that they weren’t getting information. His contact at the station wasn’t helping, either. Kline had tried to get some of his people to talk to the guy, but he was evading them. He might have to take drastic measures to get the man to talk to him, but not yet. Kline had to be very careful so that nothing came back to him. He shoved his phone in his pocket and stared out the window for a few more minutes.

No matter what angle he looked at it from, he was still worried—still wondering about Jo Gunning.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Jo was in her room when her phone rang.

“Yes?” she answered.

“Lydia would like to hire you,” Kline said. “Do you accept?”

“Yes,” Jo said.

“She has a function tonight, and she needs a driver. Could you be ready in an hour? The driver will take you to your apartment so you can settle in, and I’ll be there. Then you’ll need to be at the mansion at four.”

“That’ll work,” Jo said.

“Good. I’ll brief you more when you get to the apartment.”

The call ended. Jo stared at her phone for a moment and then smiled. The muscles in her shoulders loosened with relief.

She was in.