Covert Desires. Sondrae Bennett
attractive. A few years younger than her, if she had to guess.
Batting her lashes and widening her eyes, Amber allowed her lips to form the slightest pout. She knew her part, and knew which poses could knock off a few years.
“Can you?” She was going for airhead, but the narrowing of Danny’s eyes told her he wasn’t buying it. She switched gears, raising one eyebrow and smirking to show she’d only been playing the vixen. If possible, his smile got even wider, showing her a perfect row of pearly white teeth.
“Oh yeah.” He rumbled. The shift from shy boy to practiced charmer had her eyes narrowing. Her original instinct came rearing back. Something wasn’t adding up.
If he wanted to play games, she’d play along. She’d played with some of the best, and here she was, a bit worse for wear maybe, but still alive and kicking it. He might be good, but she was better.
“And what would you recommend first?” she asked, leaving him with two options. Drop the innuendos and back off, or go all in and proposition her. She was curious to see which he’d choose. And worried he’d call her bluff. Because no matter how sweet or how handsome Danny was, she wasn’t inviting him inside, especially not with the sexual innuendoes they’d been passing between them. No matter how much she might want to, or how long it had been since anyone had touched her with anything beyond sympathy. Not since Nick. Amber barely managed to suppress the instant panic that surfaced at the thought. Here and now. Concentrate on that.
“Why don’t I take you out for dinner and drinks? Show you around town a bit.”
She blinked, not hiding her surprise. A date? She hadn’t expected that. She’d been more worried about what would happen if he made a move on her. Maybe Danny wasn’t more than he seemed. Just a nice, attractive guy interested in a girl. Too bad he chose her, someone who was an agent first and a woman second.
Before responding, she analyzed him. Brown hair, medium height but stocky, and with a lot of muscle. If she had to guess, she could take him, but it would be one hell of a fight. Her stomach rolled with another swirl of unease. An air of strength surrounded him, but with something more. Something hiding just beneath the surface, tightly restrained.
Amber had been around a lot of powerful men in her lifetime. Men who wrapped power around them like a shield, and she recognized the differences between those who sought power and those who radiated it without trying. Danny’s power infused his very being. Not something he sought, but something he was straight down to his core. So the question became, what were his motives? And whose side was he on?
If only she could simply come out and ask, excuse me, where do your loyalties lie? To your country, or to a secret anarchist organization we think is operating in the area?
“I’d like that,” she finally replied. After all, she needed information about the town and the people. First dates were all about questions. A perfect way to learn some basics about him and about the town. That was why she was saying yes. The only reason.
“Shall I pick you up around six, then?” he asked.
She looked at her watch. It would give her two hours. Plenty of time to run a background check and do a bit of research. Amber didn’t believe in the phrase being too careful.
“Perfect.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
As he passed, she smiled, not taking her eyes off him until the car door was firmly between them. Good or evil, nice guy here to welcome her, or enemy here to keep an eye on her? Her guard would stay up until she knew for sure one way or the other.
As he pulled away from the house, she turned her attention to his trunk, committing his license plate number to memory. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his head turn her way, and quickly met his gaze, raising her hand in a cheery wave until he passed out of sight.
As the tension of the moment disappeared, she became aware of the pounding in her head. Relief rushed forward, filling her with giddy euphoria.
She inhaled deeply, and put a hand against her temple. To trust or not to trust, that was the question.
She knew her job. Had once been able to do it without questioning every move. Now questioning seemed to be all she did. Constantly wracking her nerves. If only she could get out of her own head, away from the memories of another time and place.
A stronger person than her would have overcome these issues by now. It had been eight months since her last assignment ended, and although her therapist had lauded her progress, Amber still felt it was too slow. She couldn’t do her job if she was scared all the time.
Not for the first time, she wondered if she should quit. And maybe it would be the simple thing to do. But being an agent was all she knew. After college, she’d gone straight into the FBI and been promoted to field agent in two years, moving to undercover work almost immediately. For whatever reason, facing down a madman with a gun scared her less than a nine-to-five desk job.
With a sigh, Amber glanced around at the forest surrounding her cabin. Maybe here she could gain a level of peace. Or maybe this would be the job that put the final nail in her coffin as an agent. She knew the higher-ups were watching her closely, testing to see if the last assignment had broken her or not. But she’d prove to them she could be the same agent she’d been in the past. Better, even.
Somehow…
Dejection and determination warred as she turned and strode inside. The satellite phone that allowed her to check in with the agency even in the most remote locations sat on the island in the kitchen. She kept it on her and hidden at all times. At least she usually did. It had saved her ass on more than one occasion. But she hadn’t expected visitors this soon and had only left the house for a short walk around the perimeter of the property. For security, but also to clear her head.
Stupid. Leaving the phone had been a rookie mistake. Even though she hadn’t thought she’d need it, the phone should have been glued to her from the moment she’d stepped off the plane. Not like her at all. She was better than that, and had to start acting like it.
Sweeping a lock of hair behind her ear, she sighed as it swung back in her line of vision. Her new short haircut showed the nerves behind the useless gesture.
Picking up her phone, she pressed the number preprogrammed into speed dial.
“Jiffy Dry Cleaners, we clean your clothes in a jiffy,” a woman on the other end answered.
“This is Agent Mason, passcode Alpha Gamma six, requesting a background check on the owner of a blue Ford Explorer.” Amber rattled off the license plate number from memory.
“Okay, the requested information will be sent to your email momentarily, Agent Mason.”
Efficient, as always. The Agency always was.
“Thank you,” Amber replied before hanging up.
The information would take a while to assemble, but she knew that thank you would speed things up a little. Remembering the frustration other agents expressed when they discussed her average information wait time, she smirked. It always amazed her how many people forgot the simple courtesies. Sure, providing agents with information was the operator’s job, but that didn’t mean a little thanks wasn’t appreciated. Gratitude went a long way.
Amber glanced at the clock. If she got ready for the date now, she could spend all the time leading up to Danny’s arrival to check up on him. With a nod, she headed for the shower. Time to get beautified. The more he stared at her chest and legs, the less he’d notice if she seemed a bit too inquisitive.
2
Daniel Christopher Callahan. No criminal record to speak of. A couple minor traffic incidents, including one at-fault crash when he was seventeen, but no injuries. Started a software business with his two older brothers with inheritance money from their grandmother. He also had two sisters, one older, one younger. Took a few online college courses in computer programming from