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Chapter Forty-five
“Special Agent in Charge, Duke Harrison. What can I do for you?”
“It’s Mari James.”
Dammit, the chick got through again. He hated training new secretaries. He’d be having a talk with the lady later.“What can I do for you, Miss James?”
“You can tell me why my sister isn’t answering her phone and hasn’t in over twelve hours. For crissakes, I thought she was on a cruise ship following some fat, rich, white dude to keep him safe and out of trouble. Why can’t I reach her?”
Dammit!Rylee’s sister would ruin his otherwise good start to a busy day. This Pitbull never let up. The last case Rylee was on where she went off the radar for a few weeks; it was a nightmare dealing with her sibling. The FBI should make a new law that only a single child need apply.
He’d like to meet this termagant in person so he could see if his visualization resembled the original. Not that he really believed she had fangs dripping with bloodied saliva. But if he could draw, sure as hell, she’d feature as the villain she-devil in a Star Wars comic.
Clearing his throat and counting to twelve, he finally felt calm. “Sometimes the cruise ships are out of range for the satellites, and the calls can’t get through.”
“I call B.S. I know the links with the ship are available because I just got off the phone with them.”
Calm down, be nice.“As you know, Miss James, Rylee’s on assignment, and at times like this, it might be necessary for our agents to have to go undercover where they can’t maintain connection to the outside world.”
“I should have known you’d try to throw me off again with FBI logic. Look, they informed me they were arriving in Grenada very early in the morning.”
“I believe that’s the schedule.” Oh no, he heard her lowyesss!
Grabbing a hold of the lifeline, he interrupted, “Look, it’s late at night there now. She could have her phone turned off. Just give her a call in the morning.”
“She plugs her phone in at night. She doesn’t ever turn it off. I’ve managed to get through to her every day except these past twelve hours.”
“Could be she forgot to charge it.”
“Yeah, right. She never forgets.”
“I have no other answers for you then.” Using a bland tone that gave away nothing of what he knew was happening, he sorted his words carefully. “Special Agent James is fully capable of dealing with any occurrences that might arise. I suggest we wait until we hear from her. I have no doubt—”
“Oh, God. She’s in trouble. I’m on my way there. You’d better let me in, or I’ll be making one hell of a disturbance in front of your new secretary. She’s a watering pot by the way, broke down as soon as I spun her the sob story about Rylee’s dying mother.”
Crap!“I’m afraid I have no time for you today, Miss James. I’m on an extremely tight schedule.”
“Well, it sucks to be you then. I’m in the taxi.”
Oh Lord, just shoot me now!
***
Not half an hour later, the door flew open while his flustered secretary was pushed aside.
Good Lord!
Beautiful didn’t even cut it. More like stunning. A vision in a business suit that would make any red-blooded man imagine a whole lot of monkey business. She’d look perfect spread over his desk while he controlled their passion and lifted her to heights she’d never reached before.
Her hair, blonde strands of soft silk that flowed past her shoulders created an itch to touch that he fought against. Wrapping those strands around his fist so he could pull her in close, gently, but without giving her any wiggle-room to refuse, he’d kiss the hair first, bury his face and breathe in the perfume he caught whiffs of every time she moved. Perfume specified to drive a man crazy.
The blue of her eyes, unlike her sisters, showed no signs of ice, but were warm and full of disturbing fear. Love for Rylee shot sparks and proved to be his downfall. Figuratively on his knees in worship, he stepped forward with his hand offered,
Shocked awareness had forced his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Terrified to speak, thinking it might roll out and hang down his chin, he swallowed before forcing out the words, “We finally get to meet.”
“And I find out you’re not an old decrepit asshole who didn’t know better than to use my sister for every shit assignment you need some poor sap to take on.”
Her tone, static with venom, shocked him. Her hand reached to his, slid home and their touch ignited her awareness, too. Her eyes betrayed her before she could hide them. He saw confusion and something else that flashed momentarily, before it disappeared behind a curtain of anger.
