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IfI’meveraroundBrian again, I might go insane. I was afraid of my judgment after he kept trying to hold me back in my investigation and looking at me like I was a sizzling steak. I knew it would be next to impossible for me to get any work done.
Fortunately, I had devised what I thought would be a reasonable solution.
Nothing in my mandate said I had to go through Brian for this investigation. I’d only been talking to him because he was the senior non-commissioned officer, and that had been the natural thing to do. And he’d pumped the brakes on my investigation—and got me off track with that rock-hard body of his.
Nothing prevented me from going in on a Saturday, though.
My dad had been the senior NCO for years. I had enough experience with the SEALs to know that the top brass wasn’t likely to be in the office today. If I went in now, I would likely end up dealing with some junior officer eager to earn his stripes. Someone who wouldn’t be as aware as Brian was that he had the power to say no to me about things.
Definitely,it wouldn’t be someone I wanted to fuck, and that could only be an improvement.
I was dressed professionally in a three-piece suit with a crisp blazer and a pencil skirt. I’d also worn pantyhose, which I hadn’t done the last time I’d been here. I didn’t usually like them. But I couldn’t stop thinking about how easy I had made it for Brian to push up my skirt and take down my panties.
Knock it off. He isn’t even going to be there. You could go in commando, and it wouldn’t matter because you’re not going to see him today.
Sure enough, when I arrived, the office was all but empty. I smiled. This was going perfectly according to plan.
The only person who seemed to be around was a younger guy, maybe about five years older than me. He was sitting at a desk and flipping through a binder, but he looked up when I came into the room and smiled.
It was such an un-military thing to do that I couldn’t help loosening up a little bit and smiling back at him. “Hello,” I chirped.
Hello,” the guy replied. “Do you have an appointment?”
“No appointment.”
“Oh,” he looked relieved. “That’s good.”
“Is it?”
“Well, I just mean because I’m the only person here,” he explained. “If you were supposed to meet someone, they wouldn’t have been around.”
“I’m not meeting anybody,” I assured him. I was relieved to note that I had been right. Brian wasn’t here. It was just this guy.
Maybe I would be able to talk my way into getting what I wanted from him.
I approached him, and he put away the folder he had been looking through and got to his feet. That was a little more military of him—or maybe he was just a gentleman. “What can I help you with?” he asked.
“My name is Alison Barrett.” I held my breath. Could he have heard about me? Did Brian put the word out?
However, the guy didn’t seem to have any idea who I was. “Petty Officer Jack Richards,” he said, reaching out to shake my hand. “You can just call me Jack, though.”
“Just Jack? That’s okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” he gave a stiff nod. “I don’t need to be addressed formally, except by other SEALs. Icouldask you to use my rank, but actually, I think it’s a silly thing to insist on from civilians. Only pompous douchebags do that.”
I smiled. I got the exact dim-witted guy I wanted to deal with. Jack was different from my father and, I thought, different from Brian. He wasn’t as serious about the SEALs. He was the type of guy who got into the service as a point of pride, to show that he was capable of joining one of the most elite forces in the world—but at heart, I thought, he was probably still just a regular guy. He didn’t have that bleed-for-the-red-white-and-blue mentality that Dad and Brian possessed.
He would be easier to work with.
Coming here today had been a great idea.
“Jack, I wonder if you might be able to help me,” I cut to the chase, flashing him what I very much hoped was a winning smile.
“Well, I can sure try. What is it you need?”“I’m here from the FBI,” I started. “You know about the yearly audit the Bureau does on all the branches of the military, right?” I rolled my eyes to let him know that I thought the whole thing was a little silly and that I wasn’t approaching this with any degree of seriousness.
Which was a complete lie, of course. Nothing could have been further from the truth. But let him believe that this wasn’t something that mattered very much.
“Sure,” Jake furrowed his brow. “You could set your watch by those fed investigations.”
