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“You’re welcome,” Griffin said ironically. “Anytime.” He glanced at Kendra. “It seems every time you turn around, you’re attracting more attention from Milo. You might prove even more valuable than I thought possible. Perhaps we should discuss it.”
“Back off,” Lynch said coldly.
“I was speaking to Kendra,” Griffin said. “You and I have had our discussion. She’s always been much more reasonable.” He smiled. “We’ll talk later, Kendra.”
He strolled out of the office.
“Bastard,” Lynch muttered as he nudged Kendra toward the elevator.
“What did you expect?” Kendra asked. “His pride was wounded, and he felt the need to lash out. You were controlling the situation from the moment we walked into the office. He didn’t like it.”
“Too bad. He was obviously trying to negotiate. I wanted to avoid that at all costs. His hurt feelings shouldn’t have involved you,” Lynch said.
“I agree. I’ll make my own decisions.” She shot him a glance as she stepped on the elevator. “And after last night Griffin’s idea is becoming more appealing. Unless we can come up with another solution soon, Griffin may get what he wants.”
“We’ll come up with another solution. It might not be as soon as you’d like, but it will be better than any alternative Griffin can offer you.” He was suddenly smiling. “Hey, give me a break. I know I was a little too overbearing and it pissed you off. But it’s not as if we’re standing still.”
“Overbearing? Not accurate. I was thinking domineering.”
“Ouch.” Lynch grimaced. “Maybe I was. I was scared, and I had to be sure you’d listen to me.”
“Scared? I believe you said that before. You don’t get scared. And you did exactly the wrong thing if you wanted me to pay attention to anything you said.”
“Which should tell you how scared I was. I would have been fired from any of the agencies and companies I work for if I’d conducted their affairs the way I’ve handled you since I came back.”
“Handled?” Kendra repeated.
“See?” He shook his head. “I did it again.” His smile deepened and became rueful and yet almost endearing. “There can be only one explanation. You’re intimidating me.”
“Bullshit.” But she found herself smiling at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea. “How many world dictators have you faced down?”
“That’s different, I’m not vulnerable to any of those assholes.” His voice lowered to velvet softness as he coaxed, “I just need a little more time. We’re already making progress. Tomorrow might be a breakthrough.”
“And it might not.” She looked away from him so that she could ignore the magnetism and wouldn’t see how damnably charismatic he was being. “Olivia told me that I need something to tell Tricia that’s positive. She’s right, all I have right now are ‘mights’ and ‘maybes.’”
“Then I’ll work on positive,” Lynch said. “Just don’t let Griffin drop in tomorrow while you’re checking over those records and talk you into anything.”
She still didn’t look at him. “Don’t worry about that. I just hope Tricia will be feeling better about things by then.”
He was silent for a long moment. “Maybe she’ll be more resilient than you think. We’ll see when we get back to the condo.” Lynch looked down at his phone. “Before we get on the road, I need to make a call or two to make sure I get those employee files as soon as I think I can.”
“Fine. I’ll meet you at the car.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Pay a visit to the one other person I know who will probably still be here.”
***
Kendra took the elevator to the third floor, where she stepped toward a conference room with Trey Suber’s name now on a plaque next to the door. She looked around the spacious quarters and turned to Trey. “They gave you this entire room?”
“Nice, huh?”
Kendra looked at the row of bulletin boards lining one side of the room and six large monitors affixed to the other. “You must have something on Griffin. Almost everyone else in this place is working out of little cubicles.”
“I always consult on several cases at once. He thought it would help me to be able to spread out. When the financial crimes team moved downtown, I got this room for myself.”
“He probably wants to keep you happy, so you don’t leave for Washington.”
