Cove's Blind Date Blows Up

by Jen Talty

  “I know. I would have reached out to her in the morning. She heads our National Intelligence Department, and I trust that if I suggest I’m concerned about anyone in my office, she’d keep it to herself.”

  “So why are you mad at me?”

  “Because what you did to her was a dick move.”

  “I was barely twenty-one. Young and stupid doesn’t do that time in my life justice.”

  “You strung her along for two years.”

  He waggled his finger. “I did not. I never once told her I loved her or that I thought we would be together after we graduated. Ask your brother, Tavor. He was there.”

  “But you didn’t tell her otherwise, and you let her go on and talk about weddings and your future, and then a week before graduation you dumped her.”

  “I supposed she’d tell it that way,” he said. “And the only thing I have to say in my defense is that I was too young and self-absorbed to see that she believed I wanted the same things. I have but one regret in life, and that’s not handling the situation with Geri better.”

  “Have you ever told her that, or have you ever tried to apologize?”

  He tilted his head and pursed his lips. “I’ve tried, but the few times I’ve seen her or talked to her, it’s either been professionally, or it hasn’t gone well.”

  “You broke her heart.”

  “It was like eleven years ago; I would hope she’s over it by now.”

  “That’s not even remotely the point. For at least the last few months of your relationship, you let her talk about weddings.”

  “I can’t control other people,” he said. “And for the record, I did tell her that I had no intention of getting married anytime soon.”

  She didn’t want to tell him that she agreed it was high time Geri get over the dick who, as Geri put it, let her buy the wedding dress of her dreams. Who buys a dress before there is a ring on a finger? Not to mention that Serenity also would take his side on the fact that, at least from the conversations she’d had with Geri, he never once said he wanted to get married, much less walk down the aisle with her. “You should have told her you didn’t want to get married at all. That you weren’t a family man with kids, and settling in the suburbs wasn’t your cup of tea.” She plopped herself on the bed, resting her chin on the palm of her hand.

  He chuckled. “I don’t see Geri settling in the burbs for a quiet life either. She was always high octane and high fucking maintenance. It always amazed me we lasted two fucking years. Longest—no—only relationship I’ve ever had.”

  “That’s sad.” Serenity flipped to her back, snuggling closer, putting her head on his lap, successfully pushing the laptop to the side. She would need an hour or so of sleep before she tackled anything. Her body hurt, and her mind ached. “Even I’ve had a few relationships, but I’ve never led a man on. He knows from the beginning that nothing lasts forever with me. That there will be a beginning, a middle, and an end.”

  “But did you do that with the first few relationships? Because I seem to remember some dude my sister told me about who was head over heels in love with you so badly that he resorted to practically stalking you at college.”

  She groaned. “Yeah. Okay. So you made your point. I was young and stupid too. But you really did a number on Geri. She’s got man issues up the ass because of you.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like hearing that, and I wish I could change that. She’s a good person, and she deserves to be happy and have all her dreams come true.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, she’s been with the same man now for three years. He wants to get married, but he also wants her to get the fuck out of a dangerous job so they can have kids and somewhat of a normal life.”

  “What does he do?” Cove asked.

  “I have no idea. I think he works in a bank.”

  Cove burst out into a laughing fit.

  “It’s not funny.”

  “A banker? I mean a that is so not her type. She was always an adrenaline junkie. I got more demerits when I was dating her for doing shit that even I wouldn’t have considered.”

  “Yeah, well, after you, she decided high octane was overrated.”

  “Ouch.” He tapped his chest. “I didn’t mean to go behind your back. And regardless of what happened between me and Geri, I know she’s damn good at what she does, and even though I know she hates me, she’d still battle the front lines with me.”

  “That she would,” Serenity said. “She’s well respected, and if anyone can poke around inside the Bureau without raising red flags everywhere, it would be Geri. Like I said, I would have reached out to her anyway.”

  “Would you have told me?” Cove asked.

  “Nope,” she admitted. There was no point in lying to Cove. About anything. “You’re going to be leaving in what? Two weeks?”

  “Twenty days,” he said. “Unless something wonky happens with my physical, but I feel great.” He ran his fingers through her hair, tugging through the wet knots.

  “While I’m hoping we catch this asshole long before that, we both know it sometimes takes longer.”

  He tilted her chin. “This person, whoever he is, has tried to bomb you twice in two days. If he’s still not caught before I’m deployed, you’ll probably be dead, and since I’m with you most of the time, I most likely will be six feet under with you.”

  “Nothing like thinking positively.” She scooted up in the bed, yanking back the covers and pulling them over her body. “I need a couple hours of sleep, and then we’ll get to work. Besides, no one will have anything for us until at least five in the morning, and that’s wishful thinking.”

  “Agreed.” He pulled off his shirt and undid the button on his pants.

  “Sleep. Not sex,” she said.

  He laughed. “I can’t sleep in jeans.”

  She rolled to her side, tucking her hands under her cheek while he climbed in behind her, wrapping his arms around her body. He pressed his warm lips tenderly on her temple. “I set my alarm to go off at five. Not sure I’ll sleep that long, but just in case.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Sleep well.”

  “You too.” She closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. There had never been a man in her life that she enjoyed spending the entire night with. The few longer relationships that she’d tried to do overnights, she always ended up crawling out of her skin in the middle of the night when cuddling ensued.

  But Cove was different. Even though he was practically on top of her, she didn’t feel as though her personal space had been invaded.

  She certainly hadn’t minded waking up in his arms the other morning, and that totally freaked her out on a different level.

  His breathing slowed as his chest rose and fell against her back in a rhythmic motion, sending her off into a land of dreams where she walked through Central Park holding Cove’s hand and children ran between their legs, laughing.

  Those images bombarding her mind’s eye should terrify her, yet they helped her fall into a peaceful sleep where not only did Cove protect her with his strong arms, but his heart as well.

  8

  Serenity sat behind her desk and looked out over the main room. Even though it was a Saturday, the office still bustled with people, though not always the usual staff. Only people working on active cases that were sensitive or of high importance.

  Agent Ross Greene waved from across the room, holding a couple of files. He navigated between the sea of cubicles until he was standing in front of her door. Greene had been transferred to the New York City office right out of Quantico. He was maybe twenty-five and as green as his last name. That said, he was smart, and his instincts were spot on, when he spoke them. He tended to be a little gun-shy, something she was going to have to help him overcome.

  Especially if he wanted to become a negotiator, which is what his employment records indicated.

  “Sorry for bringing you in on a Saturday,” she said
.

  “Are you kidding? This beats helping my girlfriend pick out party favors and game ideas for a bridal shower she’s throwing for her sister.” Greene set the folders on the desk and made himself comfortable in one of the chairs. “She’s even contemplating making it a couples’ thing.”

  “That would suck for you,” Serenity said. “So, what did you find?”

  “I found something interesting.” He handed her one of the files. “That there is a similar series of bank robberies from five years ago down in Miami. It’s got Big Mike written all over it.”

  “Big Mike’s been a staple in New York City crime for the last three years. It’s rumored he worked for Hans Miguel. Nothing interesting about that.”

  “I’m getting there,” Greene said. “Before Hans was sent to prison, he said he believed one of his crew turned him in.” Greene pulled out another file. “We didn’t handle the case.”

  “No. NYPD did. The only reason we even know about it is because of the bank heist involving Big Mike.” She flipped open the file and glanced between it and Greene. “Wait a second.” Blinking, she lifted the pages closer. “The crew member that turned him in was an undercover cop?”

  “That’s what the file says,” Greene said. “And Hans never knew. Of course, he was murdered an hour after he was bailed out.”

  “And where’s this cop?” She scanned the file in search of a name. “Victor Tulles.”

  “Dead.”

  She glanced over the papers with an arched brow. “How? And when?”

  “Car accident about two months after Hans was arrested. But his sister said ever since he’d come out of that assignment, he’d been paranoid. He thought someone was following him. He was unable to work, and the department shrink diagnosed him with PTSD and claimed he was suicidal.”

  “So, maybe not an accident,” Serenity said. “I’d like to see that accident report and all the police files on this guy.”

  “I’ve requested them,” Greene said.

  She turned the folder over. “Why do we have a file on this if we weren’t involved?”

  “That’s where it gets interesting.” Greene leaned over and turned to the very last page and pointed to the signature on the report.

  “Jesus,” she mumbled. “What the fuck was Nimitz up to?”

  “That’s a good question because this report was created six months before the first Big Mike bank heist, and then it got buried.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It appears that Nimitz was asked to look into Victor’s death by his sister, Lisa. They grew up near each other. So he did. And while he created a report that isn’t complete, he filed it as closed, and it never went under a typical review.”

  “That must have been before Rachel’s time,” Serenity said. “She has to sign off on everything.”

  “Well, she didn’t sign off on that. But guess who did.”

  “Bosley,” she said. He’d been acting agent in charge until Rachel took over the office, and while he acted as if he didn’t care, everyone believed he was at least a little bitter he’d been looked over for the promotion considering he had fifteen years both in age and experience on Rachel.

  But he hadn’t had the kind of record she had.

  Or the drive, determination, and leadership qualities that Rachel possessed. The fact was that Bosley, while good at his job, tended not to go the extra mile, which often got him overlooked for promotions.

  Which was too bad in some ways because Bosley was a good guy and was always willing to help out; he just couldn’t get out of his own way.

  “Okay, so if this were me,” Serenity said, “and an old friend asked me to look into something, and let’s say I thought for a second that there could be something to it, so I opened a case file, but based on what I’m seeing here, there was nothing, so I would have done what I could have to bury it so that no one gave me shit for using company resources, and I would have done so while I had an interim agent in charge.”

  “That makes sense, except we’re talking about Nimitz,” Greene said. “I might not have known the man well, and I generally keep my opinions to myself, but what if this is where it started?”

  She had to admit that Greene was onto something. “Carry that statement all the way through with me.”

  Greene glanced over his shoulder as if he were afraid someone were standing behind him and listening to their conversation. Serenity couldn’t figure out if he’d been told to keep his mouth shut when he’d been a kid by an overbearing or abusive parent, or somewhere along the way in his FBI training did some higher ranking agent tell him his ideas or instincts were bad.

  Either way, she was going to have to encourage him to speak up.

  “So, this file wasn’t buried like you or I would do it?”

  “Okay. Explain.” That wasn’t where she thought he was going with his train of thought, but she’d circle back to it.

  “As I said, Bosley signed off on it, and it was Bosley who closed it, not Nimitz. It was Bosley who buried it and not very well.”

  “You’ve lost me, Greene.” She leaned forward and folded her hands across her desk. “You’re talking in circles.”

  He shoved another file under her nose. “This is the bank robbery. Do you know who it was that clued Rachel in that Nimitz had gone rogue?”

  “You know Rachel; she has to have her hands in everything. She’s just now starting to let go a little as she gets used to being in a position of power, but she still enjoys micromanaging.”

  “I agree, but it was Bosley that called her.”

  “What?” Serenity flipped open the file that she’d seen a million times. “How do you know that?”

  “This call log right here.” Greene stood and pointed. “He made the call before Rachel called you. And he tried to bury that. The only reason I caught it is because I have this weird habit of memorizing phone numbers.”

  “Interesting and a bit weird.” She scanned the call log while she pulled out her cell and checked the numbers. Greene was right. And what was interesting was no one put in the names on this part of the log, but when she flipped the page, all other logs were filled in with number and name.

  She rubbed her temple, understanding why Greene might be leery of speaking his mind. He didn’t do it in a linear fashion, which was key in an investigation. “I need you to back this up, speak it through logically.”

  “Yeah. I get that a lot,” Greene said. “Bottom line is that I don’t think Nimitz worked alone, and I’m wondering how Bosley might fit into Nimitz and his plan with Big Mike and what’s happening to you now.”

  Holy fuck. That was some big-ass conspiracy theory. “Jesus Christ. Do you hear yourself?”

  “I do. And I know how close you are to Bosley. Hell, I really like the guy myself. But you have to admit, this file is questionable, and Bosley doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would close a case for another agent.”

  She couldn’t deny Greene’s observations, but her mind and heart didn’t want to go there. Not completely. Thing was, Bosley had a big heart, but he was fundamentally lazy. He wouldn’t close out a file for anyone. He might talk a newbie into doing it for him, but never the other way around. “Have you spoken your thoughts to Rachel or anyone?”

  “No.” He shook his head wildly. “I feel weird telling you, but I’d feel worse if I didn’t bring it up.”

  “No. You did the right thing, but a little piece of advice.”

  “Bring it.”

  “Learn to give details in a linear fashion. You jumped around too much.”

  “Duly noted,” he said. “Now what do you want me to do next?”

  “Follow the paper trail,” she said. “I want to know every case that crossed between Nimitz and Bosley between the time Big Mike first showed up in New York City and yesterday. I also want you to find out who the fuck is Miliana Farms. She was putting funds into the commissary account for Nimitz, but she never visited the prison, and I don’t have a clue who she is because
there are so many when I Google her.”

  “Could be a business,” Greene said as he took out a notepad and jotted down the name. “Also, the prison system doesn’t care who puts the money in as long as it’s real and it’s not coming from a felon. It could be a fake name and doesn’t even have to match the name on the account.”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. A throbbing headache built from behind her eyes and stretched all the way to the base of her neck. “Bosley is the one who gave me that intel.” So, if he was involved, that didn’t make sense, unless it was to throw her off, or send her down a wild goose chase.

  “I’m going to need to get a warrant to find out if there is a different name on the account and that might flag Bosley. I don’t think you want to do that,” Greene said.

  “You’re right. I don’t.” She snagged a piece of paper and copied Geri’s contact information on it. “You call this agent at Quantico. You tell her you’re working with me and ask her to help you get the warrant, but ask her to make sure it’s her name on it, not ours, which means she’ll have to execute it. But don’t do it in this office. I don’t want to run the risk of Bosley finding out. I will let Geri know you will be contacting her, but keep it quiet. Got it?”

  “I can do that.”

  “All right, now get out of here and enjoy the rest of the weekend, unless something comes up, then your ass is mine.”

  “I hate to say this, but I hope something comes up because I don’t want to help with a bridal shower,” he said as he gathered the files. “I’ll be in touch.”

  She glanced at her cell.

  Three in the afternoon.

  Cove should be at the office within the next hour to walk her home. She resented feeling as though she could use a bodyguard, but she couldn’t ask for one as adorable as Cove.

  Fuck. She was going to have to put a sock in her schoolgirl crush. It was bordering on annoying.

  Worse, it tickled her heart in a way that no other man ever had.

  It was real.

  Too real.