Why had Gage sent the envelope to her? Based on her memories of him, he never did anything without a plan. Therefore, the woman at the far end of the table—whoever she was—was Bailey’s ticket to finding Jed Calhoun.
Just then a couple at the table next to the women’s rose and started toward the door. Bailey quickly wiggled her way back three trees, stepped out and moved toward the now-vacant table.
As she sat down, she saw the woman at the far end slip the envelope into her bag. A moment later they all stood up and the three tall women on her side of the table momentarily blocked her view. They were chattering about James Bond. Turning, she looked quickly at each one of them, committing the faces to memory. She recognized the tall redhead as a D.C. cop. Natalie Gibbs. Bailey recalled meeting her briefly on a case involving an international art theft ring.
The conversation shifted to movies and whether or not they still had time to take one in. Bailey found herself envying the laughter and the easy camaraderie that these women were enjoying. Working in what was essentially a man’s world didn’t offer many opportunities for her to hang around with other women.
Bailey checked her thoughts. No wallowing, she scolded herself. For years now, she’d put her career first. As a result, she was very good at what she did. That was important to her.
The cop she’d recognized turned then and Bailey caught another glimpse of the woman at the end of the table. This time something clicked and she remembered exactly who the woman was.
Zoë McNamara was the mousy little analyst who’d been Hadley Richards’s protégé during her brief career at the CIA. There’d even been those rumors that she’d had an affair with Hadley before she’d resigned.
What in the world was Gage Sinclair doing using her to deliver a message to Jed Calhoun? Even as she tried to think about the possible implications, the women at the table began to move past her table.
“Welcome to the Blue Pepper. What can I get for you?”
The question from the cheerful waiter only distracted Bailey for a second, but when she glanced back, Zoë McNamara was nowhere to be seen.
8
FROM HIS POSITION in the shadows of a store entranceway across the street, Jed had a fairly good view of the Blue Pepper’s patio. Intermittent screens with hanging plants bordered the sidewalk and partially blocked some of the tables from sight, but through a small gap between two screens, he could see Zoë sitting with her friends, and he could just make out her face in the candlelight.
Moments ago he’d seen Rad hand her the envelope from Gage, and she’d put it in her bag. The bad news was that Bailey Montgomery was currently seated with her back to the street at a nearby table. Later, he would berate himself for dragging Zoë into this, but right now, he had to figure out a way to get that envelope.
After he’d left the Blue Pepper, he’d walked around Georgetown, ducked through a few alleys, cut across some lawns and made his way back to the Blue Pepper. In doing so, he’d lost anyone who’d been tailing him, including the men Ryder had assigned to him.
In the twenty minutes or so that he’d been watching her with her friends, he’d had time to examine his motives for having Gage send the envelope to her, and they weren’t pure. He’d known that retrieving it would give him an opportunity to see her again. And right now, he could admit to himself that he wanted very much not only to see her again, but to kiss her. To touch her.
He wanted to spend an entire night with Zoë McNamara.
The realization had surprised him. He couldn’t recall ever wanting to do that before. In the past, he’d always made sure to keep his relationships with women simple. One way to do that was to lay down ground rules, and number one for him had always been to leave before morning. He’d almost convinced himself that his desire to spend a whole night with Zoë was solely because there’d been so little time and space in that hammock.
For the past thirty minutes, he’d been spinning a little fantasy in which he’d corrected that problem. In his mind, he’d imagined savoring the foreplay they’d hurried through the first time. First, he’d undressed her layer by layer in a bed—a very large bed with cool white sheets and stacks of large, soft pillows. He’d been about to lay her back on those pillows when he’d seen Bailey Montgomery sit down at a table near Zoë’s.
The reality check was sudden and abrupt, sending all the very enjoyable images he’d conjured up right out of his mind and leaving a cold knot in his stomach. Obviously, Agent Montgomery had seen Gage pass the envelope to the bartender and she’d waited to identify the recipient.