Shadow Of Betrayal (Margot Harris 4)

Margot took a drink and thought about it for a second before saying, “Sure, why not?”

“Excellent. You sure you don’t want more tacos?”

“Yeah, but you knock yourself out.”

Brantley went to get more tacos. While he was out, he must have made a phone call because when he sat down, he said, “Congrats, you are officially a consultant for the San Diego Sheriff’s department Borrego Springs division.”

“Awesome.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get too excited. They don’t pay for shit and they only agreed to one day.”

Chapter 7

Margot watched Brantley devour two more plates of tacos and three more beers while she told him more about Randy, his mother, and her sister than she wanted to. She still wasn't sure what to make of him.

Brantley seemed disappointed in the one-day part of Margot’s new job, but Margot figured one day was more than enough. More than likely she and Brantley would drive out to the coordinates and not find a damn thing. While Brantley’s geocaching theory was by far the best Margot had heard so far, it still seemed pretty thin.

She was thinking about this as she drove home when she noticed the same set of headlights make three turns with her. She tried to tell herself she didn’t have to be as paranoid anymore. Dean Stone had made a deal with the cartel to rat out the current leadership in exchange for them calling off any bad intention they had towards, him, Margot, and Mal. It turned out, though, that the habit of constantly looking for people following her was hard to break.

Margot opened her purse and let her gun, mace, and telescoping baton spill out onto the seat. She picked up the gun and put it in her lap.

Margot managed to put a car between her and her tail. She swung an illegal U-turn at the next light, turning from the middle lane instead of the turn lane. Since she had the arrow and no one was turning left at the time, it wasn’t that risky of a maneuver. Even her car built for gas mileage instead of speed was able to pull it off.

While it was a low risk, it caught her pursuer off guard enough that she found herself heading their way. She had the gun in her hand when her headlights fell on her pursuer. She put it down on the passenger seat as Mal waved at her.

Margot didn’t wave back. Instead, she pulled into the parking lot of a liquor store. The lot was empty, but she still parked by the s

treet. She put her weapons back in her purse and then got out to wait for Mal.

An older, short, squat, woman who was probably the owner poked her head out of the door and said, “Parking is for customers only.”

“If you mind your own damn business, someone will buy something,” Margot told her.

The liquor store owner looked like she was going to say something else but thought better of it and went back inside.

Mal made the same U-turn but did it legally. He pulled in and parked a space away from Margot and got out of his car as well. They met in the empty space between the cars.

“Why are you following me?” Margot asked.

“The usual reasons.” Margot raised an eyebrow and Mal added, “You’re still not safe.”

“Are you still worried about the cartel?”

“Damn right.”

“All indications show Dean Stone’s deal came through. The people who thought it was a good idea to make us dead are either in custody or on the run.”

“That only makes them slightly less dangerous. Stone might have made things better, but there are a lot of people loyal to the old regime and we both know these assholes never forget anything.”

Margot wished she could tell him he was wrong, but she couldn’t.

Instead, she asked, “How long have you been following me? Is this your new job? Tailing Margot?”

Mal didn’t answer.

“So, do you have a new job?”

“I figured I was still working for you.”