After the Fire (2 page)

Freddie sat down and crossed her legs. Jason sat next to her, his foot knocking against hers as he hooked his ankle over his knee. He shot her a smile of apology, and then turned to look at the boss.

“I’m glad the two of you are both here. It means that I can kill two birds with one stone. Freddie, something important has cropped up, and I’m reassigning your entire case load. Sadie’s team will be taking them on. I’d like you to collect all the files and give them to Sadie personally before you leave the building. You can brief her on their current statuses.”

Shock filled Freddie as the boss spoke.
He’s reassigning all my cases? Have I done something wrong?
She knew some people resented her ability to work five cases at once and keep all the facts straight, but to just hand them over? Swallowing hard, she looked aghast at him. “Sir?”

“I am assigning both you and Mr. Bryant to the Constantine case. Your PA should have the file for you to read. John Constantine has reason to believe his wife is—” He broke off as Freddie’s phone beeped. His eyes narrowed.

“Sorry, sir.” Freddie pulled the phone off her belt. She hated being interrupted as much as he did, but Patsy wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t important. At least she no longer had the “na-na-na-na-na” message tone. She looked down at it, and read the text twice, her brow furrowing slightly. Normally she’d ignore this, but under the circumstances, she’d better deal with it. She sighed.

“Problems?” Jason asked.

“You could say that.” She hooked the phone back onto her belt. “I’m really sorry, sir. An emergency has cropped up with the Clark case. Ordinarily it could wait, but if Sadie’s taking charge of my cases, I ought to sort it out before I hand this one over. Is it all right if we do the Constantine briefing later?”

Mr. Jones nodded. “Of course. I hope you sort out whatever is wrong. Make sure you explain to Mr. Clark that Sadie will be handling the case from today. We’ll reconvene in half an hour. That should give you more than enough time. I don’t want to delay your holiday any longer than need be. Make sure you put today’s hours down on your time sheet.”

“Thank you, I’ll do that. See you in thirty minutes. Sir, Mr. Bryant.” Freddie got to her feet and left the room.

She shut the door carefully and headed past the secretary, nodding as she passed. Once in the corridor, she walked quickly to the stairs, annoyed for letting Jason get to her after all this time. He was in her past and that was where he had to stay.

****

Jason watched her go. The years hadn’t faded her lustrous mane of long red hair or taken the sparkle from her green eyes. Despite his best intentions, he hadn’t been prepared for the onslaught of emotion seeing Freddie again had produced in him. He sat there silently, looking down at his boots.

My feelings for her haven’t changed one bit. Lord, is this really where you want me? Wouldn’t I be of more use back on the other side of the world on the mission field, flying planes? Anywhere, but here.

Edwin’s voice jarred him from his thoughts. “There’s a lot of tension between you two.”

“That’s hardly surprising given what happened.” Jason massaged the palm of his hand with his fingers, before looking at the man he’d grown up calling Uncle Edwin, an old family friend he owed his current job to. “Honestly, I’ve been dreading this moment since I started working for you.”
Promotion and huge pay rise aside, working across town suited me much better. At least there I could avoid her
.

Edwin’s pen tapped out a slow rhythm on the desk. “Maybe this was a mistake.”

Jason shook his head. His heart ached and wanted to burst into a million tiny pieces.
I really don’t want to work with her. I don’t think I can manage. I need Your help here, Lord. Show me what to do.

“I made the mistake fifteen years ago when I left her, sir. Let’s face it, she’s never going to forgive me and quite honestly, I don’t blame her. I had my reasons, but I didn’t give either of us the chance to explain. I just left.”

“Fifteen years is a long time. Maybe she’s over you.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Jason looked at his hands. He doubted it. He sure wasn’t over her.

“Jason, as vice president you need to set personal differences and relationships firmly to one side. If you can’t do that, then you’re not the man for this particular job. I’ll find someone else. Leave you behind your desk a little longer until you can work with her without letting your emotions get in the way. Being vice president is a huge change from an agent in the field—even with seven years’ experience. There’s a lot more responsibility for one thing. And for another—”

Jason shifted in his seat and stared back. He shook his head. “I can do this. Yes, most of my experience is field work, but you know I’m good at that. I may only have been vice president for three weeks, but in that time I think I’ve shown you I can deal with just about anything. I can manage. I know you want me to work with as many people in this office as possible, and I can’t get away from the fact that Freddie also works here, so I may as well just do it and get it over with.”

Edwin looked at Jason long and hard, making him feel as if he were sitting in the principal’s office. For a moment he considered taking his brave statement back and begging to be assigned elsewhere, but that wasn’t his style.

“All right, show me you can. No doubt she’ll get her PA to give Sadie the files and try to leave on holiday as soon as possible. So, I’d like you to go and see her and send her back here. I’ll brief her on the Constantine case and explain why I’m reassigning her caseload. Once she’s on her way up here, get your things and wait by her car, just in case she does a runner without seeing me.”

“Look, sir. I know Freddie pretty well. Yes, she’s hot-headed, but she said she’d be back. If there’s one thing I know about her, it’s that she keeps her word.”

Edwin opened the drawer and pulled out a red file. He held it out to him. “You need to read this.”

Jason took it. Freddie’s name was on the front cover, but it wasn’t the file he’d read previously. He glanced up, then back down and opened it. As he read, his stomach plummeted and bile rose in his throat. He swallowed hard, desperate to control his feelings. He raised his gaze in shock. “You’ve
got
to be kidding me? Freddie?”

“Everyone has their price, Jason. Just keep tabs on her, make notes and if there is the slightest doubt about her loyalty, you know what to do.” The ice in Edwin’s voice froze the blood in Jason’s veins. He tried to read his boss’s expressionless face and failed.

“This is Freddie we’re talking about. Not some clerk from accounting or some rookie fresh out of training. Yes, she’s got a maverick reputation, but she does the job well and gets results. She’s the last person who’d betray you.”

“If you can’t stay professional about this, Jason, then I’ll assign someone else.”

“There’s no need for that. Just promise me that if my findings don’t agree with yours, you’ll take my word over some report that crossed your desk written by someone who’s jealous of her talents.”

“If you can promise me that those findings will be unbiased.”

“Of course they will be. I’ll see you later.” Jason closed the folder and stood. He left the office still dazed. He didn’t want to believe what he’d glimpsed in the file. As he walked down the corridor, he opened it again and skimmed the pages. His stomach roiled. There had to be some mistake. He knew Freddie. There was no way she’d be capable of this. Or was there?

Everyone has their price, Jason…

The question was, what was Freddie’s? Maybe she’d changed. Perhaps he didn’t know her at all. He closed the file and headed to his office. Throwing a few things into his briefcase, he left a note for his secretary and headed out.

2

Freddie reached her office, and smiled at Patsy. “I don’t want to be disturbed for a bit while I deal with those calls.” She shut the door, walked swiftly to her desk and grabbed the phone. It took her precisely three minutes to deal with the Clark case. Then she dealt with the second matter the text mentioned. Setting down the phone, she sat in shock for a moment. She didn’t want to believe what she’d just been told.

Corruption within the company wasn’t something she could just ignore and hope it went away. The head in the sand method might work for an ostrich, but in her line of work it meant something only came back and bit you hard, usually sooner rather than later. If Mrs. Rafferty was wrong and it was a genuine mistake, Freddie had to clear his name. If it wasn’t, then she had to see justice done.

Either way, it was now more vital than ever that she continue with the Rafferty case and find the truth. If it was true, the consequences would no doubt reach much further than she wanted to consider or could imagine.

Freddie reached across the desk and hit the intercom, drumming her fingers as she waited for a reply.

“Yes.”

“Patsy, could you alert security for me, please? I’m going down to the locked storage and I need to sign something out.”

“Sure, will do. Are you going down there now?”

“I need about fifteen minutes or so to finish up, and then I’m heading out. Sadie is taking over the current cases. I’ll drop the files in on my way down.”

“Sure. What about your appointment with Mr. Bryant?”

Freddie glanced over at the window. Working with him, being anywhere near him, was going to be hard, if not impossible. But, she had to convince him to let her finish this case first—without telling him why and without him firing her on the spot. That was a chance she had to take, because, if this new information was right, she might not have a career to come back to. She pinched the bridge of her nose. Why did things have to get so jolly complicated all of a sudden?

“Ms. Flynn? Are you all right?”

Freddie allowed herself a small smile at the concern in Patsy’s voice. She’d never had a more dedicated PA, or one who knew her so well. “Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry about Mr. Bryant. I’ll go and see him before I leave.”

“All right, Ms. Flynn.”

“Thanks, Patsy.” Freddie pulled open the bottom drawer of her desk and removed her rucksack. Moving over to the filing cabinet, she pulled out the folders she needed. She tucked them under her arm and locked the filing cabinet. Putting the files in a neat pile on the blotter, she rummaged through her desk. She tossed a few things into her rucksack, including the Rafferty file and the inhaler that had started this whole mess. She closed the rucksack, slung it on her shoulder and picked up the files.

Glancing over her shoulder to be sure she hadn’t dropped or forgotten anything, she pulled the door open and almost walked straight into the tall figure standing behind it, his hand raised as if about to knock. A hint of dark chest hair peeked through the top of his white shirt, his cologne filled her senses, and a strong hand clamped down on her shoulder.

She jumped and managed to stifle the gasp of surprise.

“Going somewhere, Ms. Flynn?” His chocolate coated voice sent shivers down her spine, curling around the pit of her stomach. Her knees weakened and the files threatened to upend all over his highly polished boots.

Freddie raised her gaze to look at his eyes as she eased out from his grasp. She couldn’t afford to let him affect her. “Yes, Mr. Bryant. I’m taking these files to Sadie as requested.”

“I’d like a few minutes of your time, first.” He blocked her exit, nodding her back into the office.

“Perhaps Patsy could help you? Or it could wait a few, until we meet up in the boss’s office?”

“Patsy’s not here. I sent her on a break.”

“It’s a little early for coffee.”

“That’s the exact thing she said. It took some persuading. That’s one very loyal PA you have there.” Jason held her gaze.

“She is. Did you threaten to fire her if she didn’t go?” The words were out before Freddie could stop them. She shivered as his eyes glinted.

“Admittedly my status as vice president gives me that right, but no, I didn’t threaten her with anything. Charm works a lot better than threats, Ms. Flynn. I simply promised her I’d be in and out in a few minutes and wouldn’t delay your trip.”

“Thank you, because I’m pushed for time. I have to check in before five, but I can give you two minutes.”

Jason’s unexpected smile rocked her to the core. “Two whole minutes? That’s very generous, but I only need a few seconds. I have been assigned to you as your partner for the duration of the Constantine investigation, and therefore—”

“Yeah, about that...” Not prepared for the sudden wave of sadness, she broke off and sighed. How different would things have been if...

She shook her head.
Get with it, girl. You can’t let your feelings control you like this. Not again.

Jason stood there with an amused look on his face. “Is there something wrong?”

“Yes,” she managed, struggling to control her emotions. “I don’t have a partner. I work alone. The boss knows that.”

“You’re really not very good at taking orders are you? Maybe you need to learn.”

Freddie snorted. “If I wanted to take orders, I’d have joined the military.” She broke off. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Jason frowned, his eyes hardening. “No, you shouldn’t have. You can’t always have things your own way. Tell me, what do you have against a partner, Ms. Flynn?”

“I prefer to depend on myself. If I work alone, I don’t have to trust anyone, and I don’t get hurt when they let me down or betray me.”

Something flashed in Jason’s eyes and a shaft of guilt pierced her. She brushed it aside. He deserved that one. Taking a deep breath she continued, using the professional tone he’d adopted. “What did you want to see me about, Mr. Bryant?”

“The boss wants to see you. I’ll wait here. We’ll talk when you get back.”

The last thing she wanted was for him to sit in her office, touching her things. A flash of his hands running along her CD’s, putting music on her stereo, and caressing her arms, ran unwanted through her mind. “I still have to brief Sadie on all my cases. I don’t know how long I’ll be. I can’t ask you to sit here and wait.”