Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
She scrunches her nose at the question. “I can’t.”
“Explain,” Ian says.
“He’s eccentric. And he trusts very few people. So I have a special way of reaching him. I go to Portland and I have to put a handwritten note, myself, no postmark, not mailed, in a post office box. He comes to town the second and fourth Thursdays of the month. I can ask him to meet with me that way. He won’t know to bring the research with him, but we can go back with him to get it.”
I nod, mentally cataloguing what will happen next, as I have to get her from here to Portland safely. I glance at Ian. “I need a decoy when we leave here. I’m thinking Simon and Chelsea for a match in looks. Meanwhile we need to thoroughly scan and check her things before we take anything with us that could be bugged.”
“Hutch!” Ian calls out, and the tall, lean, bulkier now ex-hacker walks in with a piece of red licorice hanging out of his mouth.
“That was fast,” Talia says, stunned.
“I called him in, figuring you’d need him. Search and scan,” he says, pointing to Talia and her bags.
I rise out of my seat before anyone can blink or draw breath. “I’ll handle Talia. You take her things.”
“Motherfucker,” Ian mutters again.
The girls, who had gotten quiet again, are on Hutch in an instant, pulling at his pants. “Candy! We want candy!”
“Charlie’s gonna kill me,” Ian mutters as Hutch, the man with a sugar addiction, reaches into his pocket and supplies the already rambunctious kids with a sugar rush they don’t need.
A little while later, Ian leaves, kids hanging from him as they head home.
Hutch hands me a piece of scanning equipment while he takes Talia’s personal belongings back to his office to handle his end of things and call Simon and Chelsea in for backup.
“Your boss is… interesting,” Talia says, once we are alone.
That is a good word for Ian Taggart. “You okay?” I ask her, making sure she is on solid mental ground before we start off on our trip.
“A little overwhelmed, but otherwise fine.” She flashes me a bright smile I think is forced.
“Well, I need to check you over. You know, for bugs and trackers.” And there is no way in hell I wanted Hutch’s hands anywhere near her body. The thought makes me see red.
I hold up the metal wand meant to search for a standard tracking device.
She rises to her feet. “What do you want me to do?” She meets my gaze, trust in her eyes.
Which is pretty damned amazing given our history. One we haven’t yet addressed. I have to remain professional now and not cop a feel like I did when I was a kid. No matter how much I want to.
“Hands and feet spread wide,” I say through clenched teeth.
She swallows hard and spreads her legs, then raises her arms and holds them out.
I kneel down, start at her feet, and swipe the wand down her outer leg, then travel up, from foot to inner thigh, holding my breath at how close I am to her body and her sex, wishing I could pause for further exploration, cursing myself for the inappropriate thoughts.
I slide the metal over her belly and around to her back. Up and over her curvy ass. Her breasts, noticing her nipples puckering as I breathe close. I even scan her eyeglass frames and the locket on her neck.
By the time I finish, sweat dampens the back of my neck, and I am hard as stone.
“Are you done?” she asks breathlessly.
“Yeah.” I clear my throat and rise to my feet.
“Ready to get moving, kids?” Hutch strides back into the room and deposits her belongings on the table. “All clear on my end.”
“All set here, too,” I say.
With the details taken care of, we head for the parking garage, where Simon and Chelsea, who arrived minutes before, pull out first in a nondescript sedan. Once the decoys are on their way, Talia and I exit in a similar vehicle.
Each of us heads in opposite directions, neither one toward Portland, though I will eventually circle back that way when I am certain we don’t have a tail. After we are well into the trip, I can relax a little and focus more on Talia.
* * *
Talia
Shane doesn’t talk much during the initial ride out of Dallas, and I respect his silence, knowing he is focused on making sure we leave the city without anyone following us. I am too wired to relax, and it doesn’t help when we stop an hour into the trip to switch cars with another agent, a safeguard Shane and Hutch prearranged.
I wonder how my lab job turned into such a nightmare. Even if Jonah prepared me for just this kind of eventuality, I never believed anyone would come after me, I think, and rub my arms with my hands.