by Jana DeLeon
She smiled as if she believed his every word. “All right, that’s it, then,” she said brightly. “I better clear you out of here so you can get back to work. I know you guys are busy beyond belief.”
She stood, taking her drink with her. “Just to make sure I have all my Ts crossed and Is dotted, would you mind if I took a quick glance at your car?” she added, as if it was an afterthought. “With all this counterfeit stuff I’m struggling with...” She gave a little shrug that another man would have found endearing. “It’s really helpful to be able to cross people completely off the list.”
“Go ahead,” he said, regretting it the next second. But part of him wanted to test her. No way in hell she was going to find the secret compartment that he himself built. “It’s a black SUV in front of the bank.” He gave her his plate number. “You already have the keys.”
She walked out, ensuring him of her gratitude and sincere appreciation. And this time, she closed the door behind her. Which locked automatically.
And just like that, he was in custody.
His mouth nearly gaped at her effortless efficiency.
He had to admit, if he was normal, if he was the type who believed in love, she would be the exact woman he might be tempted to fall in love with.
Of course, with everything she had going for her, chances were she was already married. No wedding ring—he couldn’t believe he’d looked—but people in law enforcement often skipped that. No reason to advertise to the bad guys that you had a weakness, a point where you could be hurt.
Married. There. He found the thought comforting. He liked the idea of her completely out of his reach. Otherwise, the thought of her would drive him crazy during those long nights when he couldn’t sleep.
He waited.
Looked around the small room.
Looked at the locked door.
It’d been a while since he’d been locked up and tortured, but the more he sat in the interrogation room, the more uneasy he felt. It’s not like that. He swallowed back the memories. Rubbed his knees.
But a cold darkness seemed to fill the room around him little by little, pushing him to his feet. Think about something else. Think about work.
Plenty there to figure out. His six-man team was putting the brakes on a serious smuggling operation that planned on bringing terrorists, along with their weapons of mass destruction, into the country, information that had been gained on an unrelated South American op.
To stop the terrorists, his team had to work their way up the chain of command in a multinational criminal organization. They’d gotten the three low-level bosses who ran the smugglers on the United States side of the border. What they needed now was the identity of the Coyote, the big boss who ran things on the other side.
He paced the room, forcing himself to focus on what they knew so far. But too soon his thoughts returned to Brianna Tridle. He moved to the door to look out the small window through the wire-reinforced glass. What he saw didn’t make him happy.
She was coming back in with a uniformed cop, carrying his arsenal, down to his night-vision goggles that had been hidden in a separate secret compartment from the rest. She called out to the handful of people in the office as she deposited the weaponry on a desk.
He couldn’t hear her, but he could read her sexy lips. He was pretty sure she’d just said terror suspect.
Oh, hell. That definitely didn’t bode well for him.
ISBN: 9781460320266
THE REUNION
Copyright © 2013 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:
THE REUNION
Copyright © 2013 by Jana DeLeon
THE SECRET OF CYPRIERE BAYOU
Copyright © 2012 by Jana DeLeon
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