“Allow me to show you.” She placed sweet kisses across his chest before working her way down to a place she was sure would be more than happy to see what she could do with her mouth.
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Chapter Eight
“We have a problem,” he looked over his file. “Somebody has been asking around at the company. I have solid information that the new safety expert is with the government. We’ve been compromised.” They were in deep trouble now. Having two agents die would bring more attention than they wanted, more than they needed.
He would have to find a way to get rid of Gavin McGregor, a way that couldn’t be questioned as anything other than an accident. And he had an idea just how he wanted to do it.
“You let me worry about the details. Just make sure you get him there. I’ll take care of the rest,” he said. Within the next two weeks all of their troubles would be over. They could carry on with business, which they needed to do because he had a lot of money riding on this The McGregor Affair
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deal. Not to mention the fact that if he didn’t deliver, his buyers would surely kill him. He had been promised his death would not be pleasant.
And he had no plans of seeing that happen.
“I hear there’s a new guy hired on by the company recently.
He’s probably government too.” He was almost sure of that. He couldn’t imagine that they wouldn’t have sent somebody in there to investigate if they suspected what he thought they suspected. Any new hires, at least within the last six months, had to be destroyed. From what he had been told, there were only two new guys. One had been hired on three weeks ago, the other six months ago. He’d bet the farm on the six month guy because that was around the same time Grant Yeager had come to their show. “You take care of the guy in D.C.” He ordered. He wouldn’t take any chances on things getting mucked up again.
“What do you mean you can’t take care of him?” He waited for an answer. All he heard was sniveling bull that meant nothing to him.
He had taken care of Yeager, and he was going to take care of McGregor, the least his rat bastard partners could do was handle their end. “Fine,” he snapped. “I’ll make arrangements to take care of that too…just as soon as I wrap up this McGregor problem.” Killing wasn’t foreign to him, although he did like to assign the task to somebody else.
The less his hands were directly involved, the better his chances of not getting caught. This time he would have to make sure they took care of business, or business would take care of him. If he went down, he was Capri Montgomery
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taking everybody with him.
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Chapter Ten
“You really like her,” Drake nodded to the woman disappearing into another store.
“Don’t go there, Drake. She could be a criminal. Just tell me what you’ve got.” He waved his hand dismissively.
Drake noticed his friend’s snappy comeback. He also noticed the new set of hand gestures and wondered if he had acquired his new flare for the dramatics from London. He knew Gavin. Gavin wasn’t the type of man to get upset unless he was invested in a relationship. He was certain there was something going on between the two of them, even if Gavin did try to gloss over whatever that something was. He needed proof. He planned to get that proof with one simple question.
“Why did you bring her here if you thought she was guilty?” Capri Montgomery
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“Jerry gave a mandatory break day. I’m not sure why, which is why I need you here. I can’t follow all of them.”
“I thought that necklace I sent to you kept pretty good track of her;” he kept the humor out of his voice. When Gavin had asked for the necklace, and so precise in detail as to how it should look, Drake had immediately set about getting what was needed. Geneva had helped him assure the piece was something a woman would want to wear, and he had made sure the tracking device was expertly hidden within the gem itself. It was perfect, if he did say so himself. “That wasn’t my question anyway,” he added. “I asked why you brought her here today if you thought she was guilty.”
“Look, I couldn’t get away without giving her an excuse. I thought she would be working. If she had been then I could have just left.”
Drake nodded. Clearly Gavin didn’t realize what information he was divulging. Any other time and he wouldn’t care to give explanation. It was clear to Drake that Gavin cared about what she thought of him. “You could have told her you were meeting a lady friend.” He was sure Gavin wouldn’t have wanted to do that, but he wasn’t going to let the subject drop. As he recalled, when Gavin heard him talk about Geneva he hadn’t let the conversation drop either.
Instead of taking him at his word, that there was nothing in the relationship leading him to the alter, Gavin had assured him that he and Geneva were headed toward marriage. He had been right, but at the The McGregor Affair
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time Drake hadn’t seen it that way. He would guess those closest to the situation probably never would. Like now, for instance; it was clear Gavin cared more for this McGowan woman than he was trying to let on. Drake figured it was only fair that he help his friend realize it.
“I wouldn’t do that to her,” he snapped again.
“That confirms it. You like her.”
“Damn,” Gavin shook his head. “How did I get in this mess?
She could be committing treason.”
“But she’s not.”
“What?”
“I talked with Sully last night. One of the D.C. cohorts to treason wanted to save his own skin so he’s striking a deal. He doesn’t know who the final contact is, but he does know the people involved on the show. London’s name didn’t come up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. The big wigs want you to stay down here, stick with the show and see if you can get something more solid than one traitor’s word against another.”
Gavin exhaled sharply. “She’s on the straight and narrow?”
“Of course. Does that make you happy?”
“Knowing the woman I was sent to investigate is one of the good guys—yeah. Now I just have to hope she doesn’t find out…” Drake turned to see why Gavin had stopped talking. What he saw was one very angry looking woman. They had been fairly secure, Capri Montgomery
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hidden as much as possible from security cameras and from passing pedestrian traffic, while still being able to keep watch on the store London had gone into. Obviously they had been distracted because she had come out unnoticed.
“You’re investigating me?”
“London.” Gavin took a step forward and she took two steps back. “London. It’s complicated.”
“You lied to me.”
“No I didn’t.”
“You did. And you used me. If you thought I was guilty of treason or whatever it is you’re investigating then why did you sleep with me?” She held up her hands. “I don’t even want to know. I just…I can’t even look at you right now.”
She turned to leave. Gavin seemed frozen in place, but Drake couldn’t let her walk away. He grabbed her arm and urged her back into their inner circle. She was reluctant, but an extra ounce of firm pressure urged her to move forward with him.
“I know you’re upset, Miss McGowan. But right now, no matter how angry you are; don’t blow his cover. It could get him killed as it did Grant Yeager.”
He proceeded to give some ounce of explanation to what was going on, but not much. The need for discretion was still there, and he couldn’t tell her everything, but she had already heard enough to know they were worried the show was involved in illegal activities.
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“I don’t care,
” she said. “If what you’re saying is true then I hope you get what you came here for, Gavin. But right now I just really don’t care what your excuses are…why you did what you did…none of it matters because you were wrong.” Drake thought maybe it was time to change tactics. Maybe he should be a little more gentle—at least that’s what Geneva had been telling him lately…something about getting better results using honey.
He wasn’t a honey kind of guy, but Gavin had helped him when he needed help and he aimed to make sure his friend was able to hold on to some goodness in his life too. “London…”
“Oh, don’t worry I won’t give your friend’s secret away Mister…whoever you are…but I don’t have to keep his company any longer either.” And with those words she made a haste escape. Drake was ready to go after her, but Gavin assured him it would be better if they finished their business first. For some reason he obviously believed she wouldn’t talk to anybody about his deception.
Drake wasn’t sure, but he took Gavin’s advice this time. Much to his surprise when they finished business and headed back to the jeep, she was there, waiting for them.
“London…”
“Don’t talk to me, Gavin. I didn’t wait around to talk to you. I waited because I figured it would look suspicious if I returned and you didn’t. If it hadn’t been for that I would have just taken a taxi.” Capri Montgomery
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She cared; that was obvious to Drake. He hoped it was enough for her to realize Gavin didn’t have a choice. He did what he had to do and if she could just realize that then maybe the two of them could move forward. At least he hoped they could.
“I’ll be here a few days,” he said. “I’d appreciate it if you’d say I’m here visiting you.”
London’s eyes widened. “I will not.”
“London, I can’t have Drake here visiting me. People might get suspicious.”
“I don’t care. You’re not dragging me into this. Tell them he’s a friend of your soon to be step-father and be done with it.” Drake exhaled sharply. Feisty, was the word Gavin had used to describe London. That one word didn’t quite cover the brevity of her personality.
He was ready to concoct another reason for his being there when they arrived back at the hotel, but London, surprised them both.
“This is Drake, my cousin on my mother’s side. I know I should have run it by Warren, but he was in Hawaii on business and my mother told him I was here in Kauai so he came over to see me. I don’t get a chance to see him often and he’ll only be in town for a few days. I was hoping he could come to the set and I could spend a little time with him between takes. I hope you don’t mind, Jerry.”
“No,” he shook his head. “I guess it’s okay. I’ll call Warren and run it by him. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” The McGregor Affair
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“Good,” she smiled. “I’m going to stick him with Gavin for the night and I’ll try to find him another room in the morning.”
“This place is booked. Good luck finding something,” Jerry nodded and easily dismissed himself.
“There, my part is done.” She rolled her eyes at Gavin and walked away.
“You can fix it, Gavin. But right now you have bigger things to concern yourself with. Let’s go set a plan in motion. The sooner we get these guys the better.” They had enough information to know the deal wasn’t going down in Hawaii, but they needed to be sure their snitch was telling them the truth. He wasn’t sure where exactly, but he said it would be on the mainland, not on the island. Apparently both Langston and Sully didn’t have complete faith in the guy or they wouldn’t have wanted to wait to take both operations down. This wasn’t his assignment. He was here to help out a friend and by extension that meant he didn’t have any input into how things should be done—at least not with the D.C. connection—Gavin had given his ideas merit and was willing to try them out. Now they just needed to get the ball rolling. Everything else, if his plan worked, would fall into place.
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Chapter Nine
When she found out who he was and what he was doing there, she felt her heart breaking uncontrollably. She trusted him and he had used her—used her in the worst possible way. That was it. She was through with men because Lord knows all they did was hurt people…hurt her.
“Don’t blow his cover,” his illustrious friend had warned her.
Blow his cover? As if she would do a thing like that. According to Mr.
Tall Dark and Handsome, Grant had also been working for the government and look what that had gotten him. That is if she believed anything either of them said at this point.
She wouldn’t tell anybody who and what Gavin McGregor was, but she wouldn’t let him use her either. That’s what she was going to The McGregor Affair
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his room to tell him when the door swung open before she could even knock.
“Gavin asked me to come get you. We have a problem.”
“Like I care,” she snapped before barging into the room. Then she saw it, the fourteen foot, yellow and brown python looking for something to wrap itself around.
“What are you planning to do; shoot it?” She nearly barked at Gavin who had his gun drawn and aimed at the reptile.
“If I have to.”
“You don’t have to destroy everything you come into contact with.” She approached the snake with caution. It didn’t look hungry, just a little scared and out of place, probably wondering where it was and why it was there. “It’s okay, girl,” she said in a soft voice. “I’m not going to hurt you and you’re not going to hurt me.” She let the python slither it’s body across one arm. She knew it was testing for warmth.
Having found her worthy of being its new home it went effortlessly into her arms. Her biggest concern was making sure the subtle wrapping it was doing around her body didn’t escalate into anything else.
“Open the door please,” she said and waited until Drake had opened the door. Then she proceeded to walk down the hall. She knew both men were following her. She didn’t care. She was sick of men. In fact, she hated all of them. And if she couldn’t get back at the ones who Capri Montgomery
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had hurt her the most then she was going to get back at the one she could.
The moment she walked into the meeting room with the snake wrapped around her she saw the panic strike Jerry. She had to resist the smile that threatened to grace her lips.
“London,” Gavin gave her a stern admonishment. “Don’t you think you should relocate that thing somewhere other than your body?” He obviously didn’t like the way the snake seemed to coil around her just a little more, although she wasn’t afraid. She knew she was safe—for the moment.
“She’s okay. She’s just afraid because Jerry’s squealing like a little girl right now. But if it makes you feel better for me not to have her wrapped around me.” She didn’t allow time for Gavin to process the meaning behind her words. She unfolded the snake from her body and set it down on one of the tables, which had Jerry squealing even louder as he tried to climb another table. The table, being a cheap plastic setup, folded under his weight.
“London!”
“Gavin!” She mirrored his tone. “Fine, I’ll save all of our eardrums.” She picked the snake back up. “I just thought he would like to face some of his fears…get over them in the presence of friends.” She let her last word keep the harsh and insincere tone she meant for it to have. Gavin had helped her; he had made her think they were The McGregor Affair
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friends, lovers, maybe something more and in reality all he had done was use her for his own gain.
“I’ll see if I can find you a friendlier setting. How would you like that girl?” She left the room and headed for the front desk. The clerk seemed afraid as well. She couldn’t understand w
hy. It was just a snake. “She won’t bite you,” she said. “I found her in one of the rooms.
Could you call your local wildlife control please? I’ll hang on to her until they get here.” She had a feeling they didn’t have anything big enough in the hotel to hold a snake of her size. If she tried to cram her into a box she’d surely spook and get hostile. She wasn’t in the mood to wrangle a hostile snake on her own, and she didn’t want to have to kill her. “I’ll wait in the gardens,” she said. The clerk seemed to think that was the best idea. They weren’t in the best resort, but she was sure management wouldn’t want a thing like a roaming snake to take their two star rating down to a one star.
People assumed that because they were making this great travel show that they traveled in style. In reality, Warren was as cheap as they came. It’s why they had about an eight person crew when they needed at least twenty. It’s why they stayed in dumps when they could have used the shows advantage to spotlight resorts. It’s why they traveled commercial coach, struggled with equipment and ate like crap.
Normally it didn’t bother her. She had slept in worse, ate worse, traveled on less comfortable modes of transportation, but for some reason today she hated things more than any other day. She knew what Capri Montgomery
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the reason for her sudden appraisal of circumstances was. The reason was Gavin McGregor.
“That wasn’t nice.” Gavin had the nerve to talk about what was nice and not nice with her. After what he had done he seriously thought he had a right to lecture her.
“Sure it was. I just thought maybe I should help him get over his fear like he tried to help me get over mine.” She didn’t look up at him, nor his shadow she knew was just inches behind him. “I have a strong memory…for things that help and hurt me.” She stressed the last words because he had hurt her and she wasn’t going to forgive him—not now, not ever.
“Is that directed at me, London?”
She said nothing. Let him figure it out. Mr. Government agent man was supposedly smart so he should be able to put two and two together and come up with four. Then again, he would probably come up with six. Maybe she needed to spell it out for him. “Your secret is safe with me, Mr. McGregor. Just keep your hands, your lips, and your body, out of my space.”
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