“I had every right,” Kabita snapped back, interrupting him. Something he didn’t take very well, if the scowl on his arrogantly handsome face was anything to go by. I’d never seen her so pissed off before. Wow, the guy must really get under her skin. “Not only is he responsible for the deaths of several civilians, the unbalancing of power within the local vampire clans, the kidnapping of one of my agents and the theft of a priceless artifact, he was also the mastermind of a plot to enslave the human race. I think that gives me the right to lock his ass up. That’s why you pay us, isn’t it?”
The leather chairs that normally sat in front of Kabita’s desk had been shoved aside so the combatants could snarl at each other without obstruction. Inigo was lounging on the matching leather sofa looking amused. Jack didn’t look like he was going to step in, either, so I did. It took a good five minutes of throat clearing and “Excuse me’s” before I finally gave up and shouted. “Oi! You two. Shut up!”
Their twin expressions of utter shock were priceless. The man recovered first, a smooth mask sliding into place, ever the bureaucrat. Oh, he was good, but I could smell a company man a mile away. “Ah, you must be Morgan Bailey. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance at last. Trevor Daly. I am your government,” he hesitated. I’ll just bet he’d planned to say ‘handler’, but my glare made him think better of it. “I’m your government liaison.”
He held out his hand so I took it. He had big hands, smooth but strong with a slight callous on his right index finger. I bet he spent a lot of time on the firing range. His grip was just the right balance between strength and gentleness. It was the sort of handshake that said, “Look I can crush you with one hand, but I’m not going to unless you give me good reason.”
Of course, he didn’t know what I was. If any one’s hand got crushed, it wouldn’t be mine.
Trevor Daly might be a pain in Kabita’s ass, but I had a feeling he’d be a good man to have behind you in a fight if you could ever convince him to join your side in the first place. Company man to his core, I’d bet. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Daly.”
“Trevor, please. Call me Trevor.” He flashed me what I could only assume was his most charming smile. Oh, he was real good. Unluckily for him, it didn’t work.
Jack scowled. Inigo looked amused. All the testosterone was giving me a headache. I was going to have to haul out a hose any minute now.
“Look Mr. Flirtypants.” I almost laughed out loud as his eyes widened in surprise and a dull flush spread under his dark skin, highlighting the most amazing cheekbones I’d ever seen. Instead I glared him down. It annoyed me when men pulled the charming thing because they thought I was dumb enough to get sidetracked by it. I may have an overactive libido, but I didn’t let it control my intelligence. Well, not usually. “Don’t you start that bullshit with me. I take it you’re the asshole I can blame for this fiasco.”
“Excuse me?” He was practically spluttering with outrage. He clenched his hands into fists so hard his knuckles turned white before he regained his composure, that bland mask slipping back into place. Interesting. They’d trained him well, but underneath he was pure fire and heat.
“Morgan.” There was a warning in Kabita’s voice, but I ignored it.
I propped my hands on my hips and thrust my chest out, Fury personified. Go me. “You heard me. I hold you personally responsible for this fubar situation. Brent Darroch as a client? A ‘magical’ artifact? Really? Did you expect me to fall for that bullshit? I don’t know why you want some supposed ‘Sunwalker’ dead, if Sunwalkers even exist, and I don’t care. Next time you want your dirty work done do it yourself. Don’t expect me to do it for you and don’t use some bullshit story to cover it up, ‘cause I ain’t buyin’.”
I turned my back on him and spoke to Kabita who was staring at me like aliens had just taken over my body, “Darroch? The goons?”
“Daly called in a clean-up crew for the dead ones. I don’t think we need to worry about the ones that are still alive. They’re just hired muscle so we let them go. We don’t exactly want them telling the police what happened. They’ll be tracked to make sure. Darroch,” she nodded at Trevor who was still gaping at me like a fish out of water, “the government will take over there. They’ve got a nice cell for him out at Area 51.”
Area 51 in the Nevada desert was where the government stuck felons whose crimes were of a supernatural nature. A public trial and imprisonment in a regular jail cell were out of the question. I was fairly certain Area 51 didn’t have anything to do with aliens.