Alexis texted Isiah before they boarded the flight and, to her surprise, he was at the airport waiting for them when they touched down. As soon as Alexis was within reach, he tugged her into his arms and lowered his head, kissing her thoroughly.
Until someone cleared their throat.
“You interrupted us this morning, so I have little sympathy—or patience—for you, Serena.” Isiah held Alexis’s gaze as he spoke.
“Sorry, you know, just a little treason we needed to clear up,” Serena said, clearly not sorry. “Didn’t mean to get in the way of whatever you had planned. The thoughts of which might keep me up at night, by the way. You’re a very attractive couple.”
Isiah stepped away and flashed the spy a killer grin. “The thoughts don’t hold a candle to the real thing.”
“Aaannnd on that note,” Beni interjected, stopping the conversation from going any further. “Are you giving me a ride home, or do I need to call a cab?” she asked Isiah.
Isiah bowed and gestured toward the Range Rover Yael must have lent him. “Your carriage awaits, Madam.”
Isiah dropped Beni off in town first, then they made their way to Center Road and toward the point where The Shack, which was closed for the night, was located. Five minutes after dropping Serena off, Alexis and Isiah pulled into her drive.
He pulled around the “U” shaped drive and stopped the car in front of the door. The outdoor lights were on, but the rest of the house was dark and when Isiah switched the engine off, they sat in the silence.
“Everything go okay tonight?” he asked, picking up her hand. She rolled her head against the back of her seat and looked at him. She took a moment to drink in his dark eyes, his arresting features, and more to the point, his genuine interest. And concern.
She smiled and brought his hand to her lips where she brushed a kiss across it. “Actually, it went perfectly. Serena did what she needed to do, and now we wait and watch what Rosen does with the information. I know Rosen is our primary focus, but I’m curious who the buyer is. The way something like this could unfold is fascinating.”
Isiah chuckled. “Says Dr. Wright, doctor of psychology.” Then his eyes softened as he looked at her and added, “Only you would decide to get a Ph.D. while working full-time. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you did it without ever mentioning it to anyone. Yael told me,” he added.
Alexis laughed then made to get out the car. “I wasn’t saving babies. Don’t get me wrong, getting my Ph.D. was a shit-ton of work, but all I did was take a bunch of classes, do a bunch of research, and write a long-ass paper. I didn’t have anything else in my life other than work, so time wasn’t an issue and, as you know, money certainly wasn’t an issue either, so what I did was hardly noteworthy.”
Isiah, having rounded the car, joined her. Taking her bag from her hand, he set it on the ground and looped his arms around her. “Life isn’t relative, you know. You can still be proud of what you’ve done even if your financial situation in life has made a lot of things easier for you than for others. It doesn’t define you.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. “I know full well that you had every advantage—have every advantage. But you should never forget that you suffered a trauma—a big one—and you chose to heal, you chose to take control of your life and then to go on and do something with it that might, someday, help another child or person. The kidnapping wasn’t your fault, but what you’ve done with your life since is most definitely your responsibility and something you should feel proud of.”
Alexis felt Isiah’s gaze fixed on her even as she stared down at the place where their bodies rested against each other. The word “pride” didn’t sit easy with her. It felt boastful and, to an extent, empty. But he was right. There were any number of ways she could have gone once she’d been rescued and returned to her family. She had chosen her path. And not just that, she’d chosen one that she felt good about. She liked what she did, liked knowing that she was helping, contributing to society. So maybe “pride” wasn’t the best word, but she did have a right to feel pleased with her choices, to feel good about them and the contentment they brought her.
She sighed and brought her arms up to drape over his shoulders. “I am happy with my life. I like what I do and I like knowing that in some small part, maybe I’m helping. And I like it on Tildas Island. This island, my team, the dogs…meeting you, I feel like suddenly pieces of my life are clicking together and, at least for now, it all makes sense. That I’m where I’m supposed to be, with the people I’m supposed to be with, and doing what I’m supposed to be doing. It feels good.”
It was a big admission for her, what she’d said about meeting him. After all, she and Isiah hadn’t spoken more than a few words to each other prior to two weeks ago. But she wasn’t a coward and there was something special between them. It had started with the persistent awareness that arced between them, and in such a short time, had grown to more. It had grown to trust, to respect, and to genuine like. The word wasn’t as flashy or as profound as “love” but to Alexis, it implied a choice—something a person actively did—and because of that, liking someone was a deeply meaningful experience for her.
And she liked the man standing in front of her. She admired his quiet strength, appreciated his quick mind, and, as weird as it sounded, even to herself, she adored his easy acceptance of her dogs and especially his patience—and connection to—Red. Howdy loved everyone, so winning her approval wasn’t too difficult, but Red was another story. Yes, there was definitely something special about a man who could win Red over.
And speaking of dogs, whatever Isiah was going to say in response to her admission was cut off when Howdy started barking on the other side of the door. The automatic locks on the car had kicked in while she and Isiah had been talking, and the distinctive beep-beep must have caught Howdy’s attention. And once Howdy was going, Allie and George were not far behind.
Isiah laughed, “Do we need to go in before their barking raises any alarms?”
Alexis shook her head and laughed as she stepped out of Isiah’s arms. “It won’t set off any alarms,” she said as she opened the front door and three furry bodies came barreling out in a whirl of tails and wiggles. “But the security team might wonder why I haven’t reset it.”
He followed her into the house, herding the dogs inside. “I think we’ve had enough interruptions in the past two days. Let’s get the beasties in, then close the door on the world for at least twelve hours.”
Once the door was shut, Alexis turned around to see Isiah kneeling and nose to nose with Red. She held her breath, genuinely unsure what Red would do. They didn’t think Red had any violent tendencies and had never seen any indication of that, but they knew so little about her that Alexis wasn’t certain how the dog would react to such a pointed meeting. Slowly, Isiah raised his hands and started rubbing Red behind her ears. Alexis smiled when Red submitted and closed her eyes. But then they popped back open and held Isiah’s in a steady stare. A small, little doggy smile lit up Red’s face, just before she leaned forward, touched her nose against Isiah’s, and gave him a big ol’ wet lick on his lips.
To his credit, Isiah didn’t jump back. No, if there was ever any doubt that Isiah Clarke was a keeper, it vanished in that moment; in that moment when he laughed, wiped his mouth with his hand, then laid a kiss on Red, right on the soft fur between her eyes.
Chapter Twenty
Alexis walked into the FBI office in Havensted ten minutes before her scheduled meeting. Jake sat at his desk and Beni was leaning against the other side, a mug of coffee in her hand.
“Someone looks like they had a good night,” Jake said with a grin.
“And a good morning,” Beni added.
Alexis considered ignoring them, as she would have done five months ago. But now that she’d acknowledged that things had changed, she was all for embracing it. “I did thank you very much. An excellent night. And morning. And shower.”
Jake g
roaned and Beni grinned over her mug.
“Like how excellent?” Beni asked.
“How’s Howdy?” Jake interjected. “And George and Allie. And Red, of course. Though Red’s so distant, it might be hard to know how she’s doing. But still, you live with her so you can probably tell how she’s doing.”
Beni and Alexis stared at Jake.
“What?” he asked.
“You have the most puerile mind of all of us and now that we finally have Alexis talking something other than work, you want to talk about dogs?” Beni said.
Jake cleared his throat and dropped his eyes as he started to shuffle some of the files on his desk. When neither Beni nor Alexis ceased staring at him, he caved.
“Fine,” he said, tossing up his hands. “Despite how it might seem, I don’t want to know the details of your sex lives. Or Damian’s or Dominic’s for that matter. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’re getting some and it’s good, but beyond that, beyond knowing you guys are treating each other right—in every way—I don’t want to know the details.”
Alexis met Beni’s gaze. Beni was hiding a smirk behind her mug. “Who would have thought our little Jakey would turn out to be such a prude?”
Alexis let out an indelicate snort.
“I’m not a prude. I just don’t think people should kiss and tell,” he said over their laughter.
“As glad as I am to see so much team bonding, Damian just called in. We have a few things to talk about.” All three agents spun at the sound of their director’s voice, Jake’s chair scraping against the floor as he rose. Shah stood in the doorway of her office, her expression serious, but her eyes held a hint of amusement. Without delay, the three filed into the office.
“Rosen booked a flight to Tildas Island this afternoon. She’ll be staying at Hemmeleigh tonight and leaving tomorrow night,” Shah said as soon as Jake closed the door behind them. “Dominic is on the same flight as Rosen and Damian hopped on an earlier charter.”
“Do we know why?” Beni asked.
Shah motioned for everyone to sit, but Alexis remained standing, leaning against the back wall of the office. “She’s meeting someone and before you ask, no, we don’t know who, not yet. What we do know is that despite our intel indicating she’s planning something during the Summit, which might lead us to believe this trip to Tildas makes sense from a recon perspective, she didn’t, in fact, book the resort until yesterday,” Shah finished.
“So it wasn’t planned. Perhaps it was buyer’s choice,” Jake surmised.
Shah inclined her head. “Likely, yes. If Calloway is the connection between the buyer of Serena’s identity, and he’s also involved with Rosen and whatever is being planned during the Summit, it’s possible that he manipulated the buyer into suggesting Hemmeleigh as a way to get Rosen to the island.”
Alexis’s mind whirled. Everything in her was telling her that the choice of Hemmeleigh was more than just for the convenience of the buyer, though how it tied to the Summit, which was still eleven months away, she didn’t know. And judging by the look on her teammates’ faces, they felt the same way.
“But to what means?” Alexis asked. “Why would it be important for Rosen to visit Hemmeleigh now? And for only a day.”
Shah shook her head. “We don’t know, but we need to find out.”
“So what’s the plan?” Jake asked.
“We’ll have Beni and Dominic keep watch at the resort,” she started. “We know which room she’s booked in to and have blocked out the room beside it to use as our base. Our technology is good enough that we should be able to listen to her conversations through the wall rather than alerting the staff to our interest by asking for entrance to the room in order to place a bug. I’d like to get a warrant to tap her phone, but I’m weighing that against the repercussions of filing such a request on a ranking CIA employee.” Shah sat back in her chair and let out a long exhale. “She’s already booked her return flight to DC for tomorrow night, so if something is going to happen, it’s going to happen fast.”
“We just don’t know if anything is going to happen,” Beni said, verbalizing all their thoughts.
Shah gave a curt nod of acknowledgment. “Go check-in and get set up, Beni. Dominic can make his way over when he arrives. Alexis, I want you to pick Damian up when his charter lands then head back here to the office so we can plan additional surveillance. Once we have a plan, we’ll head to Damian’s as he’s given us permission to use his house as a base since it’s so close. Jake, you head to the airport and tail Rosen. We know she’s booked at Hemmeleigh, but we don’t know if she’s planning on heading straight there.”
“And Serena? Do we tell her?” Alexis asked.
Shah’s phone rang and she held up a finger to hold off Alexis’s question as she answered. A flicker of disappointment flashed across her face before she ended the call, telling whoever it was that she’d plan accordingly.
Shah tapped her phone against her desktop as she stared at the wall opposite from where she sat. Neither Alexis nor her teammates spoke. After several seconds passed, Shah’s eyes refocused and landed on Alexis’s.
“Change of plan. Dominic ended up seated across the aisle from Rosen. We can’t have him showing up at the resort now. She may not think anything of it, but that’s a chance I don’t want to take. If Isiah is still willing to act as a consultant, I want you and him to take the place of Beni and Dominic.”
Isiah handed Alexis a headset as she set up the last of the listening devices. Their cottage at the resort shared a wall with the one Rosen had checked into, and the devices, placed along that wall, would allow them to listen in on anything that happened in that room.
“She’s stepping outside,” Alexis said, her head tilted to the side as she held part of the headset to her ear. Her hair now fell in waves to a few inches below her shoulder and was highlighted with a soft gold. She’d undergone the style change earlier that day, concerned that if Rosen had seen her in San Juan, even from just the back, her longer braids would have made her more recognizable if they happened to run in to the woman at Hemmeleigh. The new style, with its gentle curls and wispy bangs drew attention to Alexis’s eyes and he hoped Rosen hadn’t gotten a look at anything other than her back because it would be hard to forget eyes like Alexis’s.
“You want me to go check out the view?” he asked. Both cottages had ocean views, but he wouldn’t be able to see Rosen’s patio unless he stepped off theirs and moved toward the water.
Alexis nodded as she fiddled with a dial on the small monitoring device, then she picked up her phone and started to text. Figuring that she’d tell him anything he needed to know, he opened the sliding glass door and stepped out into the late evening. The summer solstice had just passed and this time of year, the temperatures at night were generally less than five degrees cooler than the days. So while the color of the sky was lighting with brilliant pinks and oranges as the sun began to drift down the western horizon, the temperatures still hovered in the mid-eighties with about the same amount of humidity. Isiah glanced at a couple wading about in the sheltered bay. People came to the islands in the summer because it was less expensive than in the winter, but god was it beastly.
Walking toward the beach, which lay less than twenty feet from their patio, the fresh-cut grass was sharp against his bare feet, tickling him between his toes, reminding him of all the times he and his sister used to walk barefoot around their island home. When he reached the edge where the grass met the sand, he paused and looked out at the ocean long enough to appear to be appreciating the view. Then he turned his head as if he were eyeing the sprawling hotel, but behind his sunglasses, he kept his attention on Rosen.
She stood on her patio, looking out at the ocean. She had no phone or computer, and standing there in a pair of long pants and a sleeveless shirt, her blond hair pulled into a ponytail off her neck, she looked infinitely lonely.
It was possible that she was plotting world domination, and he wasn’t goi
ng to forget that she intended to sell out Serena, but still, she seemed…sad?
Her head tilted toward her room as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Rosen walked back inside as he read a text from Alexis telling him to come back as Rosen had just received a call. With long, measured strides, he returned to their room, slipped inside, and reached for the headset Alexis held out to him.
“No, we’ll meet at the Canary. It’s the beachside café not far from the main dock.” Rosen paused for a few seconds, then spoke again. “Eight fifteen,” she said, then disconnected the call. A few seconds later, the sounds of Rosen shuffling around the bathroom, followed by the shower turning on, filtered through their comms units.
“Looks like we’re going for a drink tonight,” Isiah said.
Alexis glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “I’ll let the team know. Unless whoever she is meeting is coming by boat, there’s only one path to get to the café. It goes by the boutique and we can hang out there until this person arrives, then follow him or her into the café.”
“Do you think we’ll be able to identify who it might be?”
Alexis nodded. “Unless he or she is with someone else, there aren’t a lot of single people who come to the resort; it’s mostly couples and families. It’s possible we’ll get it wrong, but worst case scenario, we’ll still end up at the café.”
He nodded. “Need me to do anything?”
She smiled, “You mind listening for a little bit? I want to give the team a call. They can watch the water from Damian’s house; it sits up there.” She pointed to a high bluff at the far end of the sweeping bay. “Coming by boat would draw more attention so I don’t think that will happen, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”
“Of course.” Then, as the sound of the toilet flushing filled his ear, he made a face. “I’d forgotten how voyeuristic this all is,” he said, snagging Alexis as she walked by.
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