“Good grief,” she murmured as reality finally penetrated. “I nearly…”
“Yes, you did. And I wouldn’t have done a thing to stop you. Although the backseat might have provided more space.”
A brilliant image flashed into her mind of lying on the backseat with D.C. Naked. Limbs intertwined, moving as one.
The horn started up again—several impatient, staccato beeps. Releasing her, D.C. turned and waved a hand at the driver of the car behind them. “There just aren’t enough places in Washington private enough for car sex.”
Her head was still swimming a bit, but she managed to raise a brow. “And I suppose car sex is a regular part of your repertoire?” It had very nearly become a part of hers.
He chuckled. “Not recently. But I’m sure I haven’t forgotten the basics.”
A little disconcerted that the thought was so appealing, she said, “We have a job to do.”
“Agreed.”
“So no more kissing until we get through our to-do list.”
He snagged her hand and raised it to his lips. “A practical idea, but I’m not sure it will work. I’m thinking I made a strategic blunder when I didn’t follow my instincts at your apartment. We could go back.”
The warmth flowing up her arm almost had Fiona agreeing. What in the world was wrong with her? She was a sensible woman. At least she always had been. “I don’t imagine your general likes to be kept waiting.”
D.C. sighed. “There’s that.”
“Sir, if your order is complete, you can drive up to the next window.” Even through the tinny sounding speaker, the voice was annoyed.
“Coffee?” he asked Fiona.
“Small. Black.”
“And to eat?”
“Nothing.”
D.C. turned, ordered two coffees, and then pulled up to the payment window. “I thought you said you stopped on the way to work to pick up breakfast.”
“I do when I’m hungry.”
D.C. passed her a coffee, waited until she’d secured it in the cup holder, then handed her the box of donuts. “Humor me and try one of the blueberry scones. We have a long day ahead of us.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you going to keep nagging until I eat something?”
He grinned at her. “Guaranteed. The scones are General Eddinger’s favorites.”
“Bribing your boss?” Fiona asked. But she broke off half a scone before she passed the box back to him.
“Just smoothing the waters a bit.” He selected a donut, then shifted the box carefully to the backseat. “My impression is that General Eddinger likes Amanda very much. She’s not going to be pleased with the way things are shaping up.”
He pulled out into traffic. “The last thing you said to your captain was ‘good luck.’ Why does she need it?”
Fiona wrinkled her nose. “The commissioner is insisting that she hold a news conference to announce the attempted theft of the Rubinov. Chance has informed both the gallery and Shalnokov, so the story could leak any moment. She’s going to announce that the investigation is being headed up by me. She’s not going to mention the army’s involvement.”
“Shoot. There goes my five minutes of fame.”
Fiona shot him a look. “If she were to mention the fact that we’re…collaborating, she’d have to explain why. This way she can keep Amanda Hemmings’s name out of it for now. I wonder how much your general had to do with the decision.”
“Does it matter?” D.C. asked before he took a long drink of his coffee.
When Fiona didn’t answer, he continued, “Has Chance had time to figure out how the security was breached?”
“He’s working on it. But he did have some interesting news. When he visited the gallery bright and early this morning, he found a very good copy of the Rubinov in the display case.”
D.C. gave a long, low whistle. “So the thieves made a switch. That throws a whole new light on things. We’re definitely not dealing with amateurs here. A good replica would be hard to come by.”
“Arthur Franks would know people who could make something like that.”
“True. And if everything had gone smoothly, who knows when the robbery would have been discovered?”
“Yeah. By the way, Natalie’s just as suspicious as I am about Amanda Hemmings’s amnesia story. It’s so…convenient. One of our techs got the information off Hemmings’s cell phone. She doesn’t use it much, but in the last two months, in addition to one phone call to the Cumberland Federal prison, she’s called her cousin Billy Franks three times.”
“Jase says Billy’s reputed to have a real gift with computer systems. I’d like to find out just how good he might be at hacking.”