A Fare To Remember_ Just Whistle_Driven - Vicki Lewis Thompson [44]
Or, more likely, the suspicion had been brewing for weeks.
“Tell me where you took him, Mario. Please.”
Mario’s gaze darted to Iris, who was now tending to a line four or five deep. The morning rush had started and both he and Rachel knew he wouldn’t be able to exchange a private word with his favorite coffee-stand owner for at least another two hours, maybe three. He flipped off his hat, ran his hand through his graying dark, curly hair, and then rubbed a bit at the rather thick stubble on his leathery cheeks.
“I’ll do you one better,” he said with a grin. “I’ll show you.”
CHAPTER TWO
“HE DIDN’T GO INSIDE?”
Rachel leaned forward on the dash, straining her neck to look up at the tall residential building where Mario had dropped Roman off. The place was swank. Two doormen. And a security guard. Did he live there?
“Nope. Got into a dark sedan parked at the curb,” Mario replied.
Rachel sat back, bouncing against the worn leather seat. “Did he talk to anyone? Wave at the doorman?”
Mario shook his head. “Paid his fare, left me a generous tip and got straight into the other car.”
“Does he always do that?”
Mario scrunched his nose as he thought deeply. “Nah, but sometimes. I kinda noticed this morning that I usually don’t see him go inside. So out of curiosity, mind you, I waited.”
Rachel turned and eyed Mario with new suspicion. “Did he know you were watching him?”
Mario glanced aside, and then pretended to adjust his side mirror through his open car window. “I wouldn’t know.”
Rachel eyed her friend suspiciously. Mario had a reputation for being a bit of a busybody. And he wasn’t telling her the whole truth.
“After you dropped him off, did he wait for you to leave before heading toward the other car?”
Mario’s expression displayed exaggerated thought. “Guys like him don’t like to be watched, that much I can tell.”
“So you…”
Mario sighed and gave up trying to be cool about what he’d done. “I made a U-turn and double-parked at the corner while he crossed. There were cabs all over. He probably didn’t know it was me.”
Rachel swallowed a chuckle. She’d known Mario for nearly three years and she’d pegged him long ago as the curious sort. He’d caught more than one guy casing Iris’s corner with the intention of robbing her, and he’d averted several muggings of fares he’d dropped off in questionable parts of town.
“What made you stop and watch?”
Mario adjusted his cap. “Can’t say.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
He eyed her boldly. “Can’t. It’s just gut instinct.”
Rachel grabbed the seat belt and strapped it across her body, which keyed Mario to put the car in gear and start the return ride back to her apartment. “We didn’t learn much.”
“No, but we could learn more,” Mario suggested. “I mean, if you want to.”
Rachel’s heart skipped a beat. “How?”
He arched a brow.
She knew how. Next time Roman left her apartment, she and Mario would follow him.
Did she really want to go behind Roman’s back? Spy on him? Part of her abhorred the inherent childishness of the prospect, but the other part—the part that didn’t like to be taken for a fool—was interested.
“What would I have to do?” she asked.
“A little detective work,” Mario said, as if the idea were as natural as breathing. “Nothing complicated or illegal.”
She eyed him skeptically. “Stalking someone isn’t illegal?”
“Hey, can you help it if he leaves and you just happen to be going in the same direction?”
“You’ll need more than one cab,” Rachel pointed out. “Our job would be easier if he gets into a car that knows we’re tailing him.”
Mario smiled broadly.