Free Ice Cold by Cherry Adair Page A

people, not on their conversation. Her shoulder brushed his arm as the herds of passengers going in the opposite direction like migrating bison on the plains of Africa squeezed them together. Their stride was in sync as they walked, as if they’d forged through crowds side by side before. It was strangely intimate walking with Navarro and being invisible among all these hordes of people.
    “Seen no indications,” she told him. She’d already gone through several layers to see if large EFTs had occurred. “But still checking.”
    “Greed?” he suggested. “Power? Publicity? Revenge?”
    All great motivations. “Adventure? Someone with a destructive mindset doing it because they can ? There are hundreds of possible reasons why.” She just cared about how they had done it, because she was sure that someone was stealing a mysterious something.
    He glanced at her as they walked. “I don’t give a fuck why, just who .”
    His words were so close to what she was thinking that Honey almost corrected the verbiage in her head then realized he was the one saying it. That’s what made them polar opposites. Honey couldn’t care less who, she just had to know how . “Both are key to the investigation. The why may lead us to the who, and that will inevitably lead us to the how . But the how could get us all the answers a lot faster; it’s the most direct route.”
    Maybe being aware of that basic difference in their natures would keep them farther apart physically. She hoped so. For some reason, whenever she was in close proximity to Navarro, she couldn’t seem to drag enough air into her lungs and it was aggravating as all hell.
    There was something captivating about his face when just his eyes smiled. His lips remained immobile and stern, but lights danced in the dark chocolate of his irises. It was as disconcerting as it was maddening. Smile or don’t smile. None of this subliminal crap. The eye contact was fleeting as he faced forward and quickened his steps. “There’s our ride.”
    Sleet, driven sideways by high winds, stung their faces as they strode outside, crossing to the curb where the local operative waited in a large, black SUV. Square, black taxis and other vehicles swarmed around it, honking their horns impatiently.
    Navarro introduced the man as Hildebrand as the guy opened the rear cargo door and took Navarro’s duffel from him. “This it?” he asked Honey, slinging it into the back. “You travel light.”
    She squinted against the stinging sleet. “That’s Navarro’s. This is mine.” Honey indicated the tote she hugged between her arm and body as he opened the passenger door. Everything she needed was in the bag with her laptop and weapon. She rarely required much more than she could carry, and if she did, she’d buy it.
    To her surprise and discomfort, Navarro slid in beside her in the front seat. There was plenty of room, but she wasn’t fond of being squeezed in when there was no need. It would be childish to insist he move, so she bit her cheek.
    Hildebrand used a bare hand to wipe the fog from the front window as Honey tried not to press her right foot down to break on what was supposed be the driver’s side. She automatically looked in front of her for the steering wheel and caught Navarro’s lips twitching.
    “You have the First Responder app layered over Dresden, Mexico, and Greece.” Hildebrand eased into traffic as Honey and Navarro bumped elbows taking their comms out of their coat pockets. “As you can see, we’re already getting reports of the casualties and damage here.” Navarro leaned his elbow on the window ledge as he scrolled through text-dense data. “All the charges were similar in size.”
    “They were. The site’s a mess, and this weather isn’t helping. Would you like to set up shop at the safe house or go to ground zero first?”
    “Ground zero,” Navarro said at the same time as Honey said, “Safe house.”
    The sleety snow pelted the vehicle, sounding