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I choked down a laugh and he raised an eyebrow atat his lips

"Have you ever h"

"What’s the iet?" Costa switched the car off and turned to face ed "He doesn’t come off as all that impressive from what I’ve been told But he has to be pretty powerful to hold three states As far as I know, va else?"

"I’uess" I pulled down the sun visor and opened the mirror Quickly, I smoothed my hair and applied a fresh coat of lipstick I slipped my jacket off and set it carefully between our seats Sex appeal was unlikely to influence soister, but it orth a shot "Ready?" I gave Costa ht lips for a second then he frowned and put his sunglasses back on "Let’s go"

I followed Costa over to a group ofat the building

Several others were gathered around him, most in suits, one in Carhartts that orn Todirections froe papers to one of the suits

He nodded to Costa and then me His eyes only passed over aze, but I felt suddenly like I’d been weighed, ed

"I’ to meet here, detectives," he said, as if we’d had a choice in the htly better than average-looking man, he stood around five foot nine and had wavy brown hair and brown eyes He was attractive, but not striking and I didn’t feel the aura of fear co from him that I usually sensed froular construction fore

"Thank you for ister," Costa said "I ao PD’s paranor breeze whipped my hair around my face, and a whiff of Costa’s aftershave touched ht not to step closer to hiood

"We’re here to talk to you about one of your colanced at the first page "NMR Real Estate, to be precise"

"I am not normally involved in the day-to-day operations of er, but I will of course help you if I can" Chevalier’s French accent coated his words, lish sound more musical

"Do you recall an incident in St Louis, nearly a year ago nohere a kidnapped wolanced at me "Yes, the succubus I remember

I never spoke with the police about it My son, Nicolas, oversees s in St Louis He handled the situation"

I frowned I’d neverwas off about hier

"Is Nicolas available?" I asked "It would be helpful to speak with hiht for Europe He won’t be returning for a feeeks" Luc offered etic san

"I’m sorry, but it’s iotiations and will not return until everything is settled You’ll have to discuss this with me"

Pressure built in e so badly--tell hiotiations compared to my sister’s life--that I had to close s with a deep breath of air and tried to push the thoughts riding on the tip of ue to the back of my throat

"Well, then you are aware that someone at your company rented out a warehouse--with no paper trail-- to an individual who used the building to keep at least one woman prisoner An individual who then tried to ship her out of the country?" Costa asked, giving me time to compose myself

I opened my eyes to see that Luc’s attention had shifted fro a s to make some money on the side He’s been eliminated--from his position--for his actions"

I openedglance

"We believe that soo as we speak," Costa said "We can’t say for sure that this person is using one of your buildings again, but it is possible, considering how h companies in the area," Costa said

"I find that unlikely, but you can trust that I will review my records and let you know if I see any rentals that are out of the ordinary," Luc said

"It would be better if we could go over those records ourselves" Costa smiled, and the expression was soent" Luc’s ser who rented the unit in St

Louis? You said he was fired, but maybe you kno to find him," Costa shot back