Finally, Had nodded curtly and rose from his chair. “If anything changes, if you hear anything, notify me immediately.”
“Yes, Mr. Richards,” she said as he moved out of her office. Then she wadded up the piece of paper she’d been meticulously taking notes on and hurled it at the door. The act was childish she knew. But the man was beginning to really annoy her.
Worse, he was beginning to worry her. Not that he hadn’t before. He’d been worrying her for six months, ever since he’d walked into her office and handed her the reports that “proved” Jed Calhoun had murdered Frank Medici for the Vidal drug cartel. They sure as hell had made Jed Calhoun look guilty.
But her gut instinct had told her that Jed Calhoun hadn’t killed Frank.
Bailey had known Frank Medici personally. They’d even dated for a while when he was in between assignments. She had a hunch that was why Hadley had assigned her to handle the Jed Calhoun matter. Hadley Richards knew people and he knew how to play them. She was pretty sure he’d tried to play her.
He’d given her the assignment of contacting Jed to meet with Frank and deliver an urgent message that someone in the Vidal cartel might be on to him. So she’d been the one to send Jed Calhoun into that bar. When Hadley had presented her with the evidence of Jed’s guilt, he’d told her he’d recommended her for the job of taking Jed out. And Jed hadn’t suspected a thing. It was a very neat plan. Send one of Frank Medici’s old lovers to take out his killer, someone who’d sent that killer to the meeting that had cost Frank his life, and you could really up your chances of getting the job done.
What Hadley couldn’t have known was that Jed Calhoun had been one of the agents that Frank had most admired. He’d talked about Jed all the time, about what a straight arrow he was.
After pushing away from her desk, Bailey walked to the wad of paper, picked it up and dropped it neatly in the wastebasket as she moved toward the window. The late-afternoon sun sent long shadows sprawling across the parking lot below her. Her gaze moved quickly to the trees beyond. There was a small area with picnic tables for office workers who wanted to take their lunch breaks outside in good weather. Her office didn’t have one of the best views, nor did it have a corner window, but she liked it.
For some reason, looking out on the small picnic area helped her to center herself and think. Evidently, Hadley Richards had been wrong about her. She hadn’t gotten the job done, and now she could only hope to hell that she hadn’t been wrong about Jed Calhoun.
But the past couldn’t be changed. She had to stick to the present. Hadley Richards only suspected that Jed Calhoun was alive and back in D.C. So she still had the advantage. She knew that Jed would be meeting Gage Sinclair at the Blue Pepper tonight.
Once she’d spotted him at that party, she’d taken some precautions. There were two men Jed Calhoun was likely to contact: Ryder Kane or Gage Sinclair. She hadn’t been able to tap Ryder’s phone. The man’s security setup was impregnable. But she had managed to get a tap on Gage’s phone. Yesterday it had paid off. They’d been careful in the conversation. But then, Gage Sinclair had always been a very careful man.
She wondered if he remembered her at all. The first time she’d met him face-to-face was eight years ago. She’d been twenty, going into her senior year of college and he’d come to her school on a recruiting visit. She’d been so impressed that she’d done what she could to find out more about him. Gage Sinclair had had a very distinguished career with the CIA. He was not only a brilliant analyst, but he was also one of their best field agents. She supposed, looking back, that she’d developed a sort of crush on him, and the fact that he was a handsome, older man probably only facilitated her feelings. Bailey nearly smiled at the memory. Gage Sinclair was the reason she’d joined the CIA, and during her training, he’d been her mentor. He was the man who’d told her always to rely on her instincts.
She hoped to God they hadn’t failed her where Jed Calhoun was concerned.
Tonight she’d have her chance to get to Jed Calhoun before Hadley did. She had to talk to him. Her job and his life, and perhaps her own, depended on that.
6
THE SUN ON THE BACK of her neck was warm and soothing. Zoë sighed contentedly. The hammock wasn’t moving and she concluded vaguely that the breeze must have let up. She was alone. But Jed was near. She could feel his fingers, featherlight, moving from the base of her neck, down her back. The slow stroking of his hand, languidly seducing, lazily arousing, brought sleepy, exquisite pleasure. With a little moan, she arched her shoulders into the gentle caress of that magical touch. She was floating, suspended.