by ANDREA SMITH
“Well, it does help having a special agent with the FBI in the family with something like this. I’m sure everything will turn out okay, Lindsey. In the meantime, do you feel safe?”
“I’m okay. I can’t think of any reason why I would be targeted for anything. I barely had any connection to Banion Pharmaceuticals with the exception of the brief stint the summer before last when I interned there. I was pretty much clueless as to what was going on at the time anyway.”
“Still, if you’d feel better having me take you to and from school, walk you to your classes or whatever, I’m at your disposal.” He squeezed my hand. I gave him a smile. He was truly an awesome person.
“Thank you. I’m alright, but if that changes, I’ll let you know.”
We walked hand-in-hand from the restaurant. Kyzer opened the car door for me. As we returned to my apartment complex, we discussed our schedules for winter quarter. We were in two classes together, which delighted me.
He walked through the lobby with me and pressed the button for the elevator. At the door to my apartment, I fumbled with the key for a moment, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.
I was considering inviting him in for coffee, but yet I didn’t want to sound like I was asking for more than that. I wanted to do this right with Kyzer. I decided I would extend the invitation. It would be coffee only.
As I turned to extend the invitation, the door to the apartment was suddenly jerked open. We both turned to see who had opened it, and found ourselves staring into the very piercing, extremely angry, green eyes of Taz.
“Where the fuck have you been, Lindsey?”
Taz was fuming, expecting an answer. I was still in shock as to why he was even here. It was taking me a moment to process the fact that he was in my apartment.
“I asked you a question.”
Now that I’d digested the fact that Taz was here, I was trying to figure out why the hell he was in my face. Pissed was finally making an appearance in me.
“Excuse me?” I asked, taking a step forward. “Apparently I didn’t get the memo that stated I needed permission to leave my apartment.”
Taz shot me a dark look. He then looked past me at Kyzer, who I’m sure was as horrified as I was at the rudeness of my new guest.
Taz didn’t spare me a glance, keeping his eyes on my date. “Lindsey, say goodnight to Kyler there and get inside.”
I was humiliated at the way Taz was treating me.
“It’s Kyzer,” I hissed, turning away from his angry face to look at Kyzer. Taz was making no move to give the two of us any privacy. If that’s the way he wanted to play it, so be it.
“Kyzer, I had a wonderful time this evening. Thanks so much for listening.” I smiled shyly at him, playing it up. “You’re kind of awesome at it.”
He grinned back at me. “I’ll see you in class tomorrow. I had a great time as well.”
He leaned in to give me a quick kiss. I took the opportunity of wrapping my arms around his neck to make that kiss last a bit longer, since I had a very rude audience of one watching.
We pulled apart, hearing Taz tapping his fingers impatiently against the door where his arm was wrapped around it.
I literally was this close to giving him an encore performance.
“‘Nite,” I said, as I turned to brush past Taz into my apartment.
Once Taz had closed the door behind us, I whirled around to face him, not even trying to hide my anger.
“What. The. Hell?” I demanded, putting my hands on my hips and glaring.
“Look, babe,” he halfway snarled, “it doesn’t please me one damn bit that I was delegated the assignment of driving down here to babysit you until Slate gets back. But, since he’s my superior, I don’t really gotta choice in the matter.”
“What?” I asked, totally confused that Slate felt I needed a watchdog because of those freaking roses.
I looked around and noticed the box containing the roses was gone.
Taz followed my gaze.
“One of our agents accompanied me and the roses are on their way to the lab in Quantico for analysis.”
“This is freakin’ ridiculous,” I said. “They were roses, yeah, they were creepy, but come on, really? How bored does the FBI have to be to take something like this so extremely?”
“My sentiments exactly, Lindsey, but I don’t give the orders; I just follow them. You’re stuck with me for a few days; get over it.” He walked over to the—my—couch, and made a show of sitting down and relaxing on it.
I realized that Darcy was not around. I wondered if she knew about all of this. She probably did since someone would have let Taz in the apartment.
Taz read my mind, once again. “Your roommate’s out. I think I made her nervous with all of my ranting and raving,” he replied.
I saw a hint of a smile cross his face, the first indication that his anger with me was subsiding.
“How very caveman-like of you,” I said, taking my jacket off.
He was still watching me. “Didn’t Slate tell you someone from the bureau would be coming up here?”
“Yeah,” I replied, starting towards the kitchen.
“Then why’d you leave?”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him.
“Because I had a date,” I deadpanned, “because I knew that Darcy would be here, and oh, I don’t know—maybe because Slate never specifically told me that I wasn’t allowed out.”
I could feel my eyes bugging out at him, which was my sign that he needed to back off. He stifled a grin, shaking his head.
“So, what’s the game plan?” I asked, trying to use my best haughty tone.
He tilted his head as he considered the question. “Until Slate gets back, you’re stuck with me. I take you to and from school and crash here.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Yeah, it’s a dirty job, I know. I guess that’s why I make the big bucks.” He gave me one of his sexy grins.
“Well, don’t think for a second that we’re sleeping together. I’m through with my training. In case you didn’t notice, I’m attempting to spread my wings here.”
“Don’t you mean your legs?” he halfway snapped.
Where did that come from?
I ignored the barb and continued my interrupted journey to the kitchen.
“Do you want a beer?” I called out to him as I opened the door to the fridge.
“Yes, please, Ms. Dennison.”
I snorted.
Don’t be getting any ideas about playing ‘teacher-student’ again.
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and a wine cooler for me and rejoined him in the living room. He was sprawled out on the couch, reaching for the remote.
Looks like ESPN for the next couple of days.
I handed him his beer, taking a seat at the end of the sofa while he settled on a basketball game, turning the volume on low.
“Do you have your schedule handy, Lindsey? We need to go over it. I’ve already pulled up a map of the campus. I want to familiarize myself with the various buildings where you have classes. I’ll plot out the time and location on the map, so that I can conduct some surveillance while you’re in class.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll go get it.”
Taz and I spent the next hour (during commercials) with my schedule.
He had a computerized map on his government-issued laptop that he used to mark locations and times of my classes for each day of the school week.
He then pulled up info on all of my professors. He made a quick call to someone who was able to electronically send him a roster of all of the other students in my classes.
“Oh, I see here that Kazwell is in two of your classes this semester. It looks like he’s in your English Composition III class and Physics II.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “His name is Kyzer, and I think you know that by now.”
He smirked and continued entering da
ta into his laptop. My phone rang and I grabbed my purse to retrieve it. Looking at the caller ID, I saw who it was. Speak of the devil…
“I’m going to take this in my room,” I said, heading down the hall.
“Hey, Kyzer,” I answered.
“Hey, I just wanted to check and make sure that everything was alright.”
“Thanks and listen, I’m sorry about the way Taz behaved. It seems my stepfather is a worrywart and sent Taz here to look after me.”
“Is this because of those roses you received?”
“Partly. The roses are being tested at some government lab.”
There was a slight pause. “Tested? For what?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I personally think it’s an over-reaction. I’m sure they think my father is involved in some way.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up for school tomorrow?”
“Actually, that’s covered now. It seems that’s one of Taz’s responsibilities while he’s here. But hey, I’ll see you at school. Do you want to have lunch tomorrow?”
“That sounds great,” he replied. “Try not to worry. I’m sure all of this will blow over and turn out to be nothing.”
“I’m sure you’re right. I’ll see ya tomorrow, and have a good night.” I hit END CALL with a smile forming on my face.
I went in and took a shower while the sound of the television blasting the basketball game droned on. I was dressed in my pajamas when Darcy finally came home. I passed her in the hallway and caught her raised eyebrows and shit-eating grin as we passed.
“Have a nice night, Linds,” she said, giving me a wink.
I threw her a dirty look as I opened the hall closet and got a pillow and blanket out.
“Here you go,” I said, handing/chucking them to Taz, who now had his legs propped up on the coffee table.
“Turning in?” he asked, looking up from his laptop at me with those incredibly green eyes.
“Yep,” I replied. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Lindsey.”
“Goodnight, Taz.”
chapter 22
I was up and ready to leave for school by 8:30 on Monday morning. Taz didn’t appear to be very well rested. I noticed the trash can in the kitchen had an army of empty beer bottles resting at the top.
His five o’clock shadow had reached midnight, and his hair was sleep-tousled, spiking out all over the place. He grumbled something to me about needing coffee as he rambled down the hall towards the bathroom.
I put some coffee on and, by the time he came back out looking a bit better, I had a steaming cup waiting for him. He sat at the breakfast bar, taking his time sipping his coffee.
“I take it you girls don’t do breakfast,” he commented, raking his hand through his hair.
“I usually get something in the cafeteria before my first class,” I replied, putting my books in my backpack.
Darcy came into the living room ready to go.
“Hey Taz,” she greeted, sounding unusually chipper. “Did you sleep well?”
He lifted an eyebrow, brought his coffee mug up to his lips, and nodded. “Yeah, fine.”
“Well, I’m off, Lindsey. I’ll see you both this evening, I guess.”
“See you, Darce.”
“So Taz, what’s going on with your classes since you’re stuck here for a few days?”
“Luckily, my courses this term are online, so it’s not a problem. You ready?”
“Yep,” I replied, hoisting my backpack over my shoulders.
Taz drove me to the campus in his truck. He seemed to be aware of everything around him. I was kind of fascinated that I hadn’t noticed before his synchronized glances in the side and rearview mirror.
I wondered if that was some sort of built-in behavior that was now second-nature to him being in the bureau. Slate was the same way.
“So, are we being tailed?” I joked.
He looked over at me, his sunglasses preventing me from seeing his sexy green eyes or reading his expression for that matter.
“Make jokes if you want, but it damn sure wouldn’t hurt you to develop some behavioral instincts. You aren’t always going to have your worrywart step-father around.”
“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
“What it means, baby girl, is that no matter how you’re related to Slate, I wouldn’t be here unless he thought I needed to be. Slate doesn’t operate on emotions. He operates on instinct and Intel. Something is telling him things aren’t right here and there’s more to the story that likely involves previous Intel that he has received.”
Now Taz was just plain frightening me. What did he know?
“Do you know something that you’re not telling me?”
“There are plenty of things that I don’t tell you. Some of them are personal, and some are privileged…which I’m not at liberty to divulge.”
“Well, how about we start with the personal stuff then, since you have no such restriction preventing you to share.”
“Okay, for starters, how well do you know this Kyzer dude?”
“I know Kyzer from school. We were in some classes together last semester. He’s always been friendly to me. We were in a study group together and had lunch a few times before my car was towed away. Being the nice and caring person that he is, he chauffeured me around for that last week of school before winter break.”
“Okay and how did he know you needed rides to and from school?”
“He saw me get out of a cab on campus the morning after my car was towed. Darcy and Jill didn’t have classes that early, so I took a cab. He asked me if my car had broken down, and I simply told him it was out of commission for several days. He made the offer, I accepted.”
“Okay, and, just like that, you have total trust in him and basically are acting like you’re ready to serve your pussy up to him on a silver platter.”
“Don’t be crude, Taz.”
He gave a genuine laugh, shaking his head.
“Don’t be crude? Jesus Christ, dude’s toes are going to curl when he hears how crudely you talk when you’re getting your nut.”
He continued laughing and it royally pissed me off.
“That stuff is private! We shouldn’t even be discussing it. It’s got no bearing on whatever point you’re trying to make with me at the moment.”
“Okay, Ms. Prim and Proper, you want a point? I’m going to give you one. First off, Kyzer started being a more integral part of your social circle the day after your car was broken into. Secondly, his interest in you has ramped up fairly quickly since that time for someone who isn’t getting pussy, unless of course that has changed.”
He was looking over at me know expecting me to confirm or deny.
“Jesus Christ! I saw him for the first time since the holidays just yesterday. What the hell? Did you think we were humping in his car before he walked me up to my door?”
My eyes were bugging out at him again. I was that pissed by his assumption that somehow our little training sessions had rendered me a skank.
“Keep your eyes in their sockets,” he remarked. “I’m simply pointing out the facts. Let’s not forget how generous he was in offering up his daddy’s private jet in order to get your grandmother up to you on Christmas Eve.”
I crossed my arms, giving him the benefit of no response. He continued on, as if not noticing my distaste for where he was taking this.
“Let’s talk about the roses being delivered yesterday. Whoever sent those or commissioned them to be dropped off, knew you’d be coming back to your apartment that day. They were fresh. They were delivered just two hours before you got to the apartment.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s my job to know these things. It’s what I do.”
“So, what do you know that you’re at liberty to share?”
“I checked with your doorman. He had to sign for
them and record the time. It was a private courier that delivered them. The courier service said that a cab dropped them off to their depot to be delivered. Of course, the cab driver who had the drop didn’t bother to call it into dispatch, so there’s no way of knowing who the driver even was. The courier service described the driver as medium height, medium weight, white or dark-skinned male between 35 and 45 years of age.”
“They weren’t even sure of the name of the cab company. The car had one of those magnetic signs on it, which anyone can make.”
I was amazed. I couldn’t believe how much Taz had learned in such a short amount of time. Part of me still suspected that he was making more of the situation with Kyzer for reasons of his own that had nothing to do with the investigation.
“So, I guess I need to know what your point is as far as Kyzer is concerned. I’m dating him you know.”
“My advice is to take things very slowly with him. I would certainly advise you to not put yourself in a position where you’re alone with him. Avoid getting intimate with him. It’s quite possible that he is not what he seems to be. This is simply based on my experience and instincts. I have nothing concrete right now, but you can bet your sweet ass that I’m looking.”
“Hmmph,” I said, turning my head away from him and looking out the window.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he questioned tersely.
“Are you sure you aren’t just a tad biased where Kyzer is concerned?”
“What reason would I have to be biased?”
“I’m not as naïve as you’d like to think. I know all about the male ego and territorial nature. Is it just possible you’re feeling that someone is interested in the ‘territory’ you so expertly marked?” I threw in a smile and a slight batting of my eyes at him when I said it.
His face turned to stone.
On the other hand…
“Grow up, Lindsey, and get over yourself. You and I kicked it a few times, so what? I fuck a lot of chicks and don’t go all ‘territorial’ on them. This isn’t some game we’re playing like fucking sophomores in high school. You asked for my point of view and I gave it. I can’t control what you say or do with this guy. I would recommend you focus more on what type of information he attempts to extract from you. That’ll quickly show his true motives.”