“Really? Be sure to read some of it. She’s really good.”
Dupree turned to leave, and Rome stopped him.
“That’s it?”
“I had to make sure you weren’t going to use her. I’m not going to be around for a good long while.”
“Mission?”
“Just a feeling I have. Make sure you take care of her, or I will come back here and kick your ass.”
With that, he slipped out of the conference room and left Rome alone. Damn, he didn’t really want to like the man, but he did. And he had to respect him. Rome knew what BUDS training was, knew what a hardass you had to be to make it through. But it still didn’t mean he could take the fact that one of her ex-lovers just seemed to pop up on the island. He would definitely check out just where and when Dupree had been deployed in the last year.
That would give him something to do other than dealing with his feelings for a woman who turned out to be more complex than the serial killer they were chasing.
Chapter Fourteen
Sitting on Rome’s back lanai, Maria rubbed her temples and tried to concentrate. She couldn’t seem to keep anything straight. Between the lack of sleep, her involvement with Rome, and now Mal showing up, she was having a hard time doing anything but freaking out.
An agent runs a good, tight ship. Life doesn’t get in the way.
Oh, put a sock in it, she thought, then instantly felt guilty. Her father had been a bad parent, especially after her mother had been killed. But in his own way, he’d been trying to teach her what he knew. The fear that some other killer would come out of the woodwork and kill her bothered him until the day he died. It had been one of the last things they had talked about. No long discussions of their lives together. No, her father had been worried that someone would kill her.
She pushed that aside and tried to work on the scene she had thought would be easy. But nothing came. With a sigh, she looked over Rome’s backyard and contemplated the man himself. He’d been amazing the night before. Hell, what night wasn’t he wonderful? The man knew her every emotion, everything she needed. Unfortunately, she knew nothing he needed. She wasn’t even sure he needed her or if she was just a fill-in for the moment.
Dammit. She couldn’t think about that. She only had a brief amount of time to catch this bastard and then go back to DC and prove everyone wrong. She was ready to do it, ready to take that next step. But the moment she thought it, the sense of accomplishment she once felt didn’t seem as strong. Maybe it was going back to DC that was bothering her. Who could blame her. It was February. The coldest month of the year there, usually, with its slush and snow and cold, blow-right-through-you winds. She liked the snow, but when you had to trudge out into it for work, it wasn’t any fun. But here she sat outside, shorts on, enjoying the cool trades as they shifted through her hair and over her skin. It was a little hot for her today, but every now and then a breeze would filter across the lanai, and she was content.
Her phone rang, and she frowned at the number. It was a Hawaii area code, but not a number she knew.
“Hello?”
“Hello, pretty lady.”
She recognized the accent immediately. Elias St John.
“How did you get my number, Mr. St John?”
“I have a way with people.”
She said nothing. This wasn’t good. The man found her cell number, and it wasn’t easy to do. She never gave it out except for work. He must have connections, and she was pretty sure they weren’t the good kind.
“So you won’t tell me the source?”
“Nope, sworn to secrecy.”
She sighed, knowing there was no way she would find anything out from him like this. “What did you want?”
“I saw you leave with another man last night.”
“And?”
“I was wondering if you were a free agent yet.”
“Yet? As in, there is a good chance Rome Carino will dump me soon, so why not move on?”
He chuckled. “No. What I mean is that I thought you would come to your senses. You’re probably one of the most spirited subs I’ve met in a good, long while.”
She said nothing again.
“Oh, you are very good. Well, if you aren’t a free agent, then I figure I will go on the hunt again. Have a good day. Remember, you have my number now if you change your mind.”
She shivered as the phone clicked off.
She realized now that she needed to definitely get someone really digging things up on St John, and fast. His interest in her wasn’t normal. She already had Masters running info on Ashton, although he came up clean at every turn. He was a slime, but he didn’t seem to have anything in his background tying him to the killings in other cities.