Blown Away (12 page)

“The problem is I don’t think he likes me. Except he kissed me last night and I’m pretty sure he meant it. He had—”

“Nope,” Mal jumped in, holding up one hand as all the color rushed back into his face. “Don’t need to say anymore there. I get the picture.”

After another deep breath, he leaned back in his chair, his expression leveling out to one she knew well. This was Mal thinking things through. This was Mal coming up with answers. This was exactly the Mal she needed.

“So,” he stared at her like he was reading her brain, “the mission is to get Jimmy to…like you. I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem. He kissed you, right? Not the other way around. Sounds like he already likes you.”

“You think?” God, wouldn’t that be amazing. “So you think I should tell him how I feel and we could just get to the good stuff? I hate dates. They’re so awkward and I never know what to say or wear and I almost always spill food on myself and—”

“Whoa, slow down.” Mal had both hands held up in front of him, but she wasn’t sure why he felt the need to surrender. “You’re telling me you
just
want to sleep with the guy?”

“Well, yeah. Why? I mean, there’s no chance we could have a real relationship. I live in DC, he lives here.”

It was
Mal’s
turn to roll his eyes. “But Mare, do you
want
to have a relationship with him?”

Did she? Her teeth lodged in her bottom lip. Was she ready to handle a relationship? Her stomach felt like she’d just gotten off the Green Lantern Roller Coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure just thinking about it. But that could be because, yes, she did. And was afraid to actually go for it.

She hated being afraid of anything.

“Fine,” she huffed. “What do I have to do?”

Chapter Five

“Jimmy, I want to know what’s going on with you and Merri. And don’t you dare stick your head inside that isolation chamber to get away from me.”

If he thought it would get him out of this conversation, Jimmy would’ve stuck his head inside a bonfire. He looked longingly across the room at the furnace then thought,
how bad can it be
. He could take Janey.

Even sitting, he didn’t have to tilt his head back that far to look into her eyes as she stopped in front of him. “And why do you think it’s any of your business?”

Planting her hands on her hips, Janey tilted her head to the side and gave him that look. He swore she’d been taking lessons from their mother. “Because Merri’s my friend and you’re my brother. That gives me two very good reasons to have an interest in what’s going on.”

Closing down the program he’d been working on, he shoved away from the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. Before he realized that made him look defensive. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“And why do you think there’s something going on?”

Janey rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Like you weren’t staring at her like you wanted to devour her. I know you want her, Jimmy, but I don’t want you to break her heart.”

What? Did he have “I lust after Merri” tattooed on his forehead? Or was he just that transparent? “Okay, so if I agree to consider the fact that what you’re saying is true, do you really think I’d do that on purpose?”

“So you’re telling me you plan to date her?”

“What if I told you she wants me to teach her how to pick up guys?”

There, that got Janey’s attention. “What? No way—”

“She asked me last night.”

Janey’s mouth clamped shut and he saw her running through all kinds of theories. “And what did you say?”

Not exactly what he’d expected her to ask. “I didn’t say anything.”

At least not about her request. But he had kissed her. And he really shouldn’t be thinking about that because Janey would read his mind.

“So what did you do?”

Yep, his baby sister was definitely taking lessons from their mom, except she hadn’t yet learned how to be as subtle.

“I told her I’d show her mine if she showed me hers.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Jimmy! You
didn
—”

Jimmy started to laugh. “Whoa, Jane.” He held up his hands in surrender as she pulled back and socked him in the arm. “
Ow
. That hurt.”

“Well, you deserved it. Jimmy, so help me, if you hurt her, I will crush you.”

His laughter died and he realized he needed to talk to someone about this and it might as well be his baby sister. Later, he might hit Nic up for advice but right now, he needed to talk to a female. And his mom was out of the question. “Let me ask you a question.”

She responded with a nod, her expression wary. “Okay.”

“How well do you really know Merri? What if I don’t agree to her plan? Will she go out to a bar and pick up some random stranger? Christ, anything could happen to her. She could pick up some serial killer or rapist. She’s a workaholic. She never goes out. What does she know about men?”

Janey opened her mouth then promptly closed it. He couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh in his face or blast him for thinking of Merri as some poor, defenseless female. A lamb among wolves.

But just the thought of her going to a bar and getting hit on by some douchebag made his blood boil.

Finally, Janey shook her head. “You’re not giving Merri enough credit. She’s not a teenager. She’s a grown woman.”

“Who never dates, spends most of her time working, went to college when she was sixteen, and has been shut up in Fort Meade for the past five years.”

After several seconds of Janey’s intent concentration, he saw her finally, seriously, start to think about what he’d said. And he knew she came to the same conclusion he did.

Her arms crossed over her chest. “There’s no way I’m going to agree to anything you just said. I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit.” She paused. “But maybe you do have one or two valid concerns. Still, if you think you’re doing her some big favor by leading her on—”

“Whoa, who said anything about leading her on?”

Janey’s eyebrows arched. “So you’re
not
going to take her out and show her how to pick up guys?”

“No way in hell. I’ll take her out and she can practice on me. At least I know she’ll be safe.”

Janey paused, her gaze narrowing. “All right, I can kind of see your point on that one.”

Yes, of course she could. It was totally logical.

“So when are you starting her pick-up training?”

“Tonight, I guess. After dinner.”

“And where are you planning to take her?”

Hell, the only bars he frequented were cop bars with
Caz
, and those wouldn’t do.

“Let me take pity on you and give you a suggestion.” Janey’s tone was dry enough to rival the Sahara. “Instead of going with us to dinner, take her to Serrano’s at the Tin Angel. It’s quiet and beautiful and the food’s good. If there’s no music, you can wander around Old City afterward.”

Sounded like a solid plan. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

Janey wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug. “Maybe because I love you and I think you’re a decent guy. But I’m warning you, Jimmy. You hurt her and I
will
set Mal on you.”

“So you’re not worried about me getting hurt?”

Janey shook her head, her expression wry. “I worry about you all the time.”

* * * * *

“So…I’m looking for a code?”

Nic nodded, leaning back in the chair across from her new desk. Which was a step up from her desk at Fort Meade. “Yeah. I need you to figure out how the bastard’s communicating with his brother from prison. I know he’s using these letters. I just don’t know how. Janey usually handles this kind of
shi
—stuff for me but she’s busy and
so’s
my mom. Since you’re gonna be around for a while, I figure I’ll let an expert handle it.”

She tried to contain her smile but couldn’t quite manage it. She liked Nic. Oh, not like she liked Jimmy, but Nic had a no-bullshit attitude that she appreciated. Reminded her of a lot of the NSA field operators, like Mal had been. Most were former armed services, usually from special forces.

Nic had been an Army Ranger, and he still had that air of danger surrounding him. She knew she didn’t really have to talk to Nic. He’d tell her what he wanted, she’d do it, and they’d get along just fine.

“No problem. It shouldn’t be that hard to crack. Most people use a standard numerical formula. Shouldn’t take me more than a day or two unless they got fancy and actually made their own. Then it might take three or four days.”

Nic’s mouth curved in a smile. “Confident. Good. I like that. Let me know when you get it finished. Be my pleasure to put that bastard away for good.”

Unwinding himself from the chair, he nodded and left.

Yeah, she liked Nic, though he definitely wasn’t her type in the looks department. He and Jimmy did share the same dark hair and blue eyes, but otherwise, you wouldn’t really be able to tell they were brothers if you didn’t know. Nic looked like their dad. Jimmy favored their mom.

Anxious to get started on the letters, she realized there were more of them than she’d thought.

Good. This would keep her brain occupied for hours.

Sorting them by date, she started with the earliest and made her way through the pile. On her first pass, she knew Nic was right.

The code was here, she could practically see it in the words. She just needed to find the keys to make it visible.

By the time someone knocked on her door, she’d eliminated a straight numerical code and had moved on to ciphers.

She considered telling whoever it was to just go away, but she wasn’t at Fort Meade, tucked in the corner of her office where no one dared bother her when the door was closed. Usually she was out with her guys on the floor, especially when they had a major project going, which was almost always.

“Come in.”

“Hey.” Janey leaned in, smiling. “Annie and I realized you probably didn’t pack a ton of clothes since you weren’t expecting to stay for a while. We thought we’d take a few hours and head over to the King of Prussia mall so you could pick up some stuff.”

“Uh…”

“Mom said not to take no for an answer and to tell you since she basically coerced you into staying and working for us, she’s giving us free rein with the company credit card.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t—”

“And again, Mom said not to take no for an answer.” Janey opened the door even wider so she could stand in the doorway and put her hands on her hips. “Come on, Merri. You’re doing us a favor helping Nic with his case. Let my mom repay you. Besides, we’ll have fun.”

Janey’s smile twinkled like it was Christmas Day. Of course she was one of those women who loved to shop.

Practicality finally won out over her hatred of shopping. She needed clothes. But there was no way she’d let the DeMarcos pay for them.

“You’re right. I do need to pick up some things. But aren’t there any stores in the city we can go to?”

Janey looked like she wanted to rub her hands together in glee as Merri grabbed the small Coach backpack her sister had given her one year for Christmas. She’d been shocked that her sister had actually found a purse she would carry.