Testing The Boss(53)
“Night is young,” he promised. “I have plenty of time to keep corrupting you.”
He started to pick her up, but she shook her head. “Wait.”
Luke winced. Was he going to have to convince her that this was a good idea all over again?
Evelyn reached back and grabbed her holstered gun and cell phone from the counter. “I’m ready now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Tell me everything you know about Easson Harper.” Evelyn pulled Hotchins into the conference room next to Luke’s office.
He held out a folder and set it down. “Nothing good. He’s military background, but his files were sealed. If you can read between the blacked-out sections, you’ll know as much as me.”
Evelyn frowned as she pulled the folder from his hands and opened it on the conference table. “Military? What branch? What squad?”
“Nothing. Everything was classified, even for me. It took me three days to even get this.”
She frowned as she flipped the pages in the file, skimming over everything that wasn’t concealed by a fat black marker. “This doesn’t make sense. He seemed trained, but I was able to fight him off easy enough.”
“Well, you’re special. He probably wasn’t expecting a fight when he came up on you.”
He hadn’t expected a fight as he snuck up on a woman alone in her apartment. “This man is dangerous,” she muttered.
“Does Luke’s assistant realize what she’s gotten herself into?” Hotchins took a seat.
“I didn’t tell Luke about it.” Hotchins frowned and Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Don’t judge me. She was out with this guy for the entire weekend and didn’t have a scratch on her. What harm could a few more days do?”
He raised a brow. “Since you already know the answer to that, I’m not going to dignify it with a response.”
“Fair enough.”
“But you should’ve told Luke,” he said.
“Scared of a lawsuit?”
“You seemed to be getting along lately. I’d hate for that newfound trust to be ruined.”
Evelyn felt the blood rush from her face and tried to keep her reaction neutral. Did Hotchins know exactly how well they’d been getting along? Ever since that episode on Luke’s counter, she’d hardly been able to take her hands off him. The only boundary she’d been able to maintain was no showers. At least she could slightly concentrate on hearing if anyone broke into the apartment.
“We’ve been able to set aside our differences for a common goal,” she said carefully.
“That’s good. He mentioned that you were hoping to get back to Texas when this investigation was over.”
Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest and stood up straighter. What was Luke doing talking to Hotchins behind her back? “That’s hardly a secret. You’ve already declined three of my transfer requests.”
“You do good work here. I know it feels like you’re running on a treadmill getting nowhere, but you’ve made more progress with Thirteen Stars in a few months than we’ve done in years. I’d hate to lose a resource like you.”
“I appreciate the praise, sir, but this was only temporary until I recovered enough to head back.”
Hotchins sighed. “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Price.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“The man you shot back in Texas didn’t die from his wounds.”
“You know who he was?” She’d been under the impression that the man had never been found.
“His name is Victor Morales.”
“Shit.”
Hotchins stood and put on his official face that told Evelyn that nothing good was going to come from this conversation. “So you know who he is?”
“The nephew of the leader of one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico. I’m familiar with the family,” she said bitterly.
“You should be happy he’s not dead. If he was, their hitters would’ve tracked you down no matter where you were transferred to. But even though they haven’t found you, you’re officially on the do not enter list down there. If the cartels find out that you’re back, you’ll be dead before you can get any shots off.”
An uneasy feeling settled in Evelyn’s stomach as she realized exactly what Hotchins was telling her. “This wasn’t a temporary transfer, was it?”
“I hoped that you would see how well you fit in here and want to stay, but I suppose I overestimated my charm.”
“You could’ve told me up front.”
“In my experience, people don’t like being told what to do. I prefer to lead them to the right decision and let them think it was their idea.”