“I know.” He gathered the garbage and placed it back in the bag he brought before turning to face her. “Are you ready for me to leave?”
She shook her head. “Unless you’re too tired to stay. We do have to work in the morning.”
“Being with you is more important than sleep.” He climbed onto the bed, laying on the pillows and holding his arms out to her. “Come here, beautiful. I missed you tonight, and I hate fighting.”
Relieved, Shelley crawled to him and laid along the length of his body, wrapping her arms around him. His strong biceps closed in on her, and she snuggled into him with contentment.
Gavin kissed her forehead. “I wish we could stay like this forever.”
She giggled. “Maybe you could, but eventually I’ll have to use the bathroom.”
Gavin laughed. “Way to spoil the mood.”
“Mmmm...can’t stop biology.” She stroked his chest beneath his thin t-shirt. “This is nice, though.”
They really should discuss what Ken said and make a plan to discover the mole in their midst, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak his name.
Full, relaxed, and feeling safer than she ever had, Shelley reached behind her to pull the comforter from the side of the bed and wrap it around them.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Shhh...” She leaned up and kissed his mouth gently before laying her head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “Just hold me.”
Chapter Nineteen
The morning sunlight streamed in the gauzy curtain, hitting Gavin in the eyes and waking him. A glance at the clock revealed it was only a little past six. Not nearly enough time had passed since he fell asleep.
Shelley released a long sigh and crossed her leg over his, rubbing her toes up his opposite thigh. “We should have closed the heavier curtain so we could sleep until noon.” Her voice was thick with sleep, but her foot continued its motion. “Or at least until Jenessa called.”
Her touch made the lack of sleep worth it. Gavin was glad he wore Levi’s, though, to keep things from becoming awkward. He simultaneously craved more of her caresses while also wishing she’d stop. She had slept quite soundly through the night, even snoring softly for a while, but Gavin spent a miserable few hours, regretting the decision to wait before taking their relationship to the next level. He fell asleep long after she did.
Shelley sat up, shaking her hair out. With her curls, it looked wild first thing in the morning. Sexy.
“Guess we’re awake now.” She glanced at him, biting her lip in the absent way that made her so enticing. “Maybe you should go back to your room. I’m sure everyone at the FBI knows my reputation. You won’t get respect from the cops either if they think you’re sleeping with me.”
“Is that why you acted the way you did yesterday at the station? You’re worried about what people think of us?”
“I’m worried what they think about you, but also Nick’s counting on us. If we can’t handle this case, President Sharp will make him fly out here.” Shelley took his hand in hers, raising it to her mouth for a kiss. “Carlie’s still recovering. She needs him home. We can’t risk anything that will make our mission harder.”
“And what about Ken?”
“I don’t care about his reputation. His guys probably know he’s a jerk.” She flopped onto the pillow beside him. “Did you know he’s married, but took his wedding ring off? What an asshole.”
Gavin propped himself up on his elbow so he could look at her, sidetracked from his original question. “How did you know he was married? I thought you didn’t get my message. I had the wrong number.”
“I don’t need you to warn me when a guy’s married. He had a tan line on his ring finger and we couldn’t go back to his place.” Shelley stared at the ceiling. “His poor wife. I wonder if she knows.”
Gavin shook his head. “Let’s not make it our job to tell her, okay? We don’t need that aggravation.”
“Maybe we could just send an anonymous letter with the name of an excellent divorce attorney.” She smiled at him hopefully. “You know a lot of the people in this area, right?”
“Shell, she won’t thank you for destroying her life. He’s not very sneaky. If she doesn’t know, it’s because she chooses not to.” He waved that aside. “That isn’t what I meant anyway. I wanted to know what you got out of dinner. Did he tell you anything useful?”
She turned on her side, curling her hand beneath her cheek. “Actually, yes. The misunderstanding and our fight weren’t for nothing.”
“Wouldn’t have been for nothing, anyway,” Gavin said, cradling her to his chest. “I got to sleep with you.”
She laughed and pinched his stomach lightly. “You wish.”
“I do wish, but you can’t argue that we slept together.”
“Anyway...moving right along, and away from the gutter where your mind’s lingering this morning, Ken had a good point. One Jenessa might not want to entertain.”
“Sounds interesting...”
“It is. How did Terrance and Stephen find us so fast after the opera? It had to take time to rig up those bombs in the parking garage. They didn’t know who you were, so couldn’t trace your phone. Besides, you got rid of it pretty fast.” She lay back and met his eyes. “They didn’t give any indication of recognizing me, so even if they had tapped Nick’s phone, right after losing the diamonds they wouldn’t be listening in on his conversations—they’d be frantically searching for you. Ken’s people couldn’t tell Paul any of those things. They didn’t know about them.”
“Which leaves who? Jenessa?” Gavin had a hard time stomaching that.
Thankfully, Shelley shook her head. “I don’t believe it’s her. Jenessa knows the truth about Paul. Plus, she has every reason to work for Nick, not against him. She’s truly committed.” Shelley paused and wrinkled her nose. “What if someone she trusts isn’t?”
“So you do think it’s Jenessa’s fault? That she said something to the wrong person?”
“She did give orders that got Carlie shot in the leg. I’m not saying the girl is stupid, but she’s a bit green. She doesn’t think through the consequences of her actions.”
Gavin stifled a laugh. “Seems judgmental for the two of us to say that about someone else.”
“I know, right?” Shelley rolled off the edge of the bed, standing up. “Now, I have to pee, I need a shower, and we have just over an hour and a half to figure out what to do about this. Jenessa wants to meet with the other FBI agents and brainstorm ideas to trap Stephen and Terrance.”
“Which’ll work great if they know all about it.”
“Exactly.” Shelley crossed the room and flipped on the bathroom light before turning back to him. “Don’t let anyone catch you sneaking out of here.”
“I’ll be careful,” he promised.
“Good.” She nodded. “Then you could come back tonight. Just to cuddle.”
She shut the door, and Gavin pumped his fist in victory. She wanted him to come back tonight. He loved a girl who didn’t hold a grudge. More and more, he was realizing the finer points to Shelley Daniels.
***
Their time to figure things out expired over breakfast. Jenessa walked into the hotel’s restaurant, waving as she walked to their table. Shelley decided it would be better to tell her what Ken said. After all, she was the one who said not to trust anyone. Maybe she’d be okay with that extending to her crew.
“Good morning, Jen.” Shelley smiled brightly. “It’s good to see you. Want to sit with us?”
Across the table, Gavin’s eyebrows flew toward his hairline. He obviously wasn’t as happy to see her.
Shelley winked and flashed him a grin before returning her attention to Jenessa. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
Jenessa sat in the free chair, her head darting between Shelley and Gavin as if she watched a tennis match. “Everything okay here? You guys seem...” She stopped to stare at Gavin for several b
reaths. “You seem happy.”
“We are,” Shelley butted in before Gavin could answer. “Despite you spreading rumors about my sex practices, everything’s fine. We almost weren’t. How could you think I’d sleep with that sleaze?”
Jenessa whipped back to face her, brown eyes wide. “You said you had a good night, but hoped it’d get better.” She shrugged. “Between things Nick and you both said in the past, I thought that meant Ken was staying over.”
“Wait.” Gavin slapped his palm against the edge of the table. “Nick talks shit on Shell? What kind of asshole does that?”
Shelley couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her face. “Defending my honor, Gavin? That’s sweet.”
“Wait a minute.” Jenessa held up her hand. “It’s not like that. Don’t blame Nick. Shelley admits she gets around. She’s quite vocal and proud of it. What was I supposed to think?”
“Not exactly proud.” Shelley grimaced. “But I’m not shy about my mistakes, as you both know.”
Gavin didn’t even look at her, still glaring at Jenessa. “You should think she’s following a lead.”
Shelley choked back her laughter. Gavin had no reason to act so righteous. He believed it too. Having him defend her was nice, though, so she wasn’t about to come to Jen’s rescue.
“Fine. I’m sorry.” Jenessa shrugged. “I take it everything’s okay between you guys, and there won’t be any awkwardness at work. What about Shelley and Ken?”
“Who cares?” Shelley asked. “He assumed I’d sleep with him, but that’s his problem. He’ll have to get over it.”
“Gavin said you flirted with him, though.”
“So what?” She winked at Jenessa. “I flirt with everyone. Unless he wants me contacting his wife, he better not cause trouble.”
“Let that go,” Gavin murmured. “She doesn’t want to know.”
Their waiter came to check on them, taking Jenessa’s order for pancakes. At least that stopped her questions. Shelley knew people gossiped about her and spread rumors, but she hadn’t known it was that bad. Even Nick and Jenessa talked about her behind her back?
She tried to act normal and okay with everything, but it made her feel like that teenage girl, passed from photographer to photographer for ‘fun night.’ Only this time, her friends passed her secrets instead.
When the waiter left, she met Gavin’s eyes. “You see why I wanted to be discreet? Rumors don’t take long to grow.”
“Haven’t you figured out I don’t care what anyone thinks?” He reached across the table and captured her hand. “If anyone else talks that way about you when I’m around, don’t expect me to keep my mouth shut.”
While she wanted to warn him again about the way people would treat him, Shelley just nodded. It was odd. No one had truly had her back since Tony died. Even though Gavin was confused last night about Ken and lashed out, she understood why. He was totally on her side now. It felt good to have someone believe in her again.
Jenessa sighed and rubbed her face, looking tired. “I’ll try to keep Ken away from you, Gavin. The last thing I need is you fighting over Shelley like barbarians. We have bigger problems than that.”
They both nodded.
“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about.” Shelley wished there were a tactful way to put things. “How well do you know the people on your team? Can you trust them?”
“Sure I trust them. I’ve worked with the FBI far longer than I worked for Nick. They’re all good, honest people.” Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
Maybe tact was called for. “Did you ever trace things back to figure out how Paul broke into Nick’s phone security? Were you able to determine how they found me at the hotel?”
“Actually, no, I couldn’t. I set that system up myself to protect our team, and there weren’t any breaches I could find. I created a new network, just to be safe, but I don’t think that’s how they found you. It had to be through Gavin’s phone.”
“The night of the opera, did Nick call your office after I spoke with him?” Shelley asked.
“Yes, to tell me to expect you in the morning.” Her eyes widened slightly. “Wait. You’re not saying...?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Shelley confirmed. “Who else knew where I was and what happened that night?”
“Everyone who’s with me now.” She rubbed her hands along her arms, looking lost and confused. “Dan, Peter, and Caleb have worked with me since I returned to D.C. They’re committed to catching Paul and stopping S.A.T.O.”
Gavin snorted. “Unless one of them isn’t.”
Shelley waved that aside. It seemed more and more likely that was the case. “Dan looks familiar. I was pretty out of it that night, but is he the agent who got shot in the desert?”
Jenessa nodded. “Obviously he wouldn’t help Paul.”
“Maybe.” Shelley shrugged. “Unless Paul was able to use that as proof the FBI gig is dangerous for lower pay. In any event, we have a problem. They couldn’t track Gavin’s phone so quickly.” A queasy feeling slithered through her stomach. “I’m surprised they didn’t find us at my mom’s house. I hope they’re okay.”
“Because of the possible security breach, I didn’t tell anyone else where you went when you called from Essex. I sent it to Nick in an encrypted message. He’s the only one besides myself that knows about your folks. He told the people delivering your new phones your name was Petunia, so they don’t even know who you are.”
Shelley breathed a little easier. She hadn’t thought about the possibility of her parents being in danger until that moment. “Thanks, Jen. I know you didn’t suspect anyone, but you probably saved my parents’ lives.”
“Dumb luck, but I’m glad it worked out.” Jenessa propped her elbows on the table and cradled her chin in her hands, looking more thoughtful now. “One of my own people...I don’t think it’s Dan, but how do we know?”
“Better question,” Gavin said, “is how do we plan anything with either the cops or your team? S.A.T.O. will learn everything we say.”
“I guess I’ll call Nick,” Jenessa replied. “We’re due at the precinct soon. Perhaps we’ll have the local FBI office take over the case. It’s too risky to give Paul information.”
Shelley shook her head. “No way. Handing the case over to someone else will tip him off that we’re on to the double agent, and we don’t know who it is yet. We already knew someone might be bad, we just assumed it was a cop. Let’s continue working, but be cautious about what we share. Especially with your team.”
“Yeah,” Gavin agreed. “Maybe we can go ahead and feed Paul some wrong information while we’re at it.”
Chapter Twenty
Upon entering the precinct, everything seemed settled from the chaos of the day before. Shelley glanced at her companions, worried this was the calm before the next catastrophe.
A different officer sat at the large desk in the back, so Jenessa flashed her badge as they passed him on their way to the stairs. No one else really took notice of them. That tickled concern at the back of Shelley’s mind.
“Should security be tighter after what happened yesterday?” she asked. “They’ve been told the kind of people we’re up against.”
Jenessa skipped up the stairs beside her. “I’m sure they’re always hopping from one disaster to the next around here. The men downstairs expected us.”
Shelley decided to let the matter drop. They had enough troubles without her inventing more. Namely walking into that war room with an enemy—when they didn’t know for sure who he was. Or she.
Gavin squeezed her hand briefly before they crossed the threshold. “It’ll be okay.”
She nodded, but not because she agreed. Long gone were the days Shelley blindly believed everything worked out for good people just because they were good. Still, Gavin seemed to have a little of that innocence about him. It made him even more handsome in her eyes. It didn’t hurt for one of them to have faith.
Somehow, she had to
do what it took to make things happen, though. She had to catch and stop Paul, forever keeping Carlie and everyone else she cared for safe.
The first person they saw was Dan. Shelley didn’t even know his last name. For a professional relationship, Jenessa was certainly casual with her coworkers.
“Good morning, Dan.” There was a slight hitch to Jenessa’s voice, but Shelley hoped Dan didn’t notice.
Revealing the possibility of a traitor might have been too much to thrust on Jenessa so soon before coming to face everyone. Shelley knew from experience it was a hard adjustment, learning people you trusted were working against you.
Dan glanced up and a smile lit his eyes. “Jenessa, there you are. How was your night?”
“Pretty quiet,” she answered. “How about here?”
“Nothing to report, except this odd glitch. Wanna look?”
Shelley raised her eyebrow at the dreamy look Dan gave when Jenessa leaned over the computer with him. She didn’t miss the way the man inhaled deeply.
“We were wrong,” she whispered to Gavin.
“No kidding,” he agreed, leading the way further into the room. “That agent is lovesick for Jenessa, not working double duty for Paul.”
Which left them with no leads, but at least they crossed off one of their suspects.
Ken Travers came wandering into the room, a mug of coffee in one hand. His upper lip curled when he saw Shelley. “Looks like my morning is perfect now.”
“Stay nice.” Gavin puffed his chest out in an intimidating manner. “If you aren’t a gentleman, I’ll make sure your morning gets a lot worse.”
Shelley hid a grin behind her hand. Gavin was about half the size Ken, but he met the other man stare for stare. All for her honor.
“Okay, guys.” She stepped between them. “Let’s focus on the case. That’s what we’re here for.”
They exchanged a few more glares, but then Ken shrugged. He turned and walked to the back of the room, sitting next to a female officer who had been there the night before.
“Why did you do that?” Gavin didn’t seem amused or pleased. He folded his arms across his chest, continuing to stare Ken down across the room. “I had everything under control.”
Love & Redemption Page 15