Overheated (7 page)

“Out.”

“Fine!” Nina stalked to the door, and then turned. “When you’re finished with amateur hour, you know where to find me,” she said waspishly. She pulled the door shut with a snap as she left.

Dash turned to Sara. He blew out a heavy breath. “I’m sorry, Sara. Please don’t let her comments bother you.” He ran his big hands up and down her arms, clearly trying to offer comfort after Nina’s attack.

Sara sniffed. “Well, I guess I’d rather be an amateur than a professional at that, anyway,” she said, tongue-in-cheek.

Dash laughed openly at her unique take on the other woman’s insult. Sara kept confounding him with her honesty and her wonderful, teasing humor. He pulled her close and hugged her until she squeaked out a protest.

“Get to work, woman. And keep that connecting door open at all times so I can hear you if you need help. Don’t argue. I won’t get any work done if I have to worry about that asshole finding you, and I have a lot to do today. In fact, so do you,” he said ruefully, looking around at the numerous boxes taking up nearly every inch of space in the small office. “Once you get going, you’ll forget all about me, anyway.”

Fat chance, Sara thought, but she didn’t say so. She only nodded, and he moved reluctantly into his own office to begin making calls.

She sat down at her new desk and frowned into a box of files. When Dash got bored with her, as a man of his varied experience eventually would, she would have to look for another job, she realized. Being around him day after day, watching him from a distance, would be torture now that she had spent time with him. Now that she had fallen in love with him, she acknowledged with a pang.

She could never watch him with another woman, an experienced, elegant woman who would match him in the bedroom and out. A woman like Nina, with her flexible body and her rampant hunger for sexual adventure. A man like that, such a beautifully masculine animal, didn’t belong with someone plain and timid like Sara. She was afraid of her own shadow, running across half a continent just because an old boyfriend was too persistent. No, a man like Dash would never stay with a woman like her for any length of time. She would have to enjoy him while she could, and find a way to let him go at the end of it—without becoming a stalker herself.

Chapter 8

Isaac whistled through his teeth as Dash related the details of the confrontation that morning with Nina, laughing aloud at Sara’s clever comment. Even Grange smiled in appreciation.

Dash just shook his head. All three men had a soft spot for intelligent women, but sweet Sara exceeded his expectations at every turn.

“We’ll have to do something about Nina eventually.” Grange was simply stating the thoughts of all three. “She’s coming into work earlier and earlier trying to catch one of us.”

“Or all of us,” Isaac added.

Dash nodded in agreement.

“She’s not going to let up,” Grange continued. “She’s making some of the agents uncomfortable with her stories and suggestive comments. I spoke to her about it.” Grange never had trouble getting his point across. He didn’t sugar-coat anything. What you got was the unvarnished truth, as more than one raw recruit could attest.

Dash grimaced. “Well, it didn’t help.”

“Sara is an employee as well,” Isaac pointed out reluctantly. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing here?”

“Nina wasn’t an employee of ours at the time,” Dash protested, and not for the first time.

Isaac held up his hands. “Man, I know, but all I’m saying—”

“This is different,” Grange spoke up, giving Isaac a hard look, “because the woman is different.”

It was clearly a familiar argument to them, and Dash found himself wondering at the cause. His friends were glaring at each other, and Isaac had his fists clenched like he was about to start a brawl.

Dash stood. “Could we get back to the issue of a plan for Sara’s stalker?” he asked. “That’s the real reason we had to meet here.” Here was Grange’s office, with Carolyn in Sara’s office helping to sort out the mess, and another agent sitting at Dash’s desk.

“Yeah, whatever.” Isaac threw himself onto the huge leather sofa along the side wall, propping his booted feet on the arm.

Dash glanced over at Grange who just shrugged. His look said they would work it out themselves without Dash’s help.

“I’d like to set up a modified sting, maybe Sara and another woman working late alone. Well, not alone, really—”

“We’d have to sneak back in after leaving for the day,” Isaac put in. “He’s gotta be watching the office by now, at least doing drive-bys. I would be if I was a crazy-ass stalker.”

“We’ll need to ease back on the surveillance, at least give the appearance of it.” Grange followed the thought. “Maybe have Sara driving in her own car for a couple of days prior. Give the impression that we’re standing down.” Anyone who knew the three men would know they didn’t stand down ever. But a college career counselor wouldn’t think like that. He might be well-used to intimidating young women, but dealing with three hardened soldiers would be far beyond his experience.

Dash was never more grateful for his friends’ instant support. The three men had always been a formidable team, and as their ideas flowed, a simple plan took shape to draw Martin Brent in and rid Sara of her stalker problem.

“Carolyn would be the logical choice to stay after work with Sara,” Dash mused.

Two heads came up instantly.

“You both come to point like hunting dogs as soon as her name is mentioned,” Dash said in exasperation. “What the hell is wrong with Carolyn doing her job? She’s damn good, and her ankle won’t hold her back from accomplishing her mandate, if that’s worrying you.”

Grange and Isaac exchanged a complicated glance.

“She is good at her job,” Isaac allowed.

“We’ll take care of it,” Grange said at the same time.

Dash threw his hands up. “Okay, I’ll let Sara and Carolyn in on the plan. The three of us will sneak back in through the maintenance tunnel. What about a backup team? Any suggestions?”

“We’ve never needed a backup team. Our backups always bitch because we never leave any work for them to do,” Isaac smirked.

“They might get some work this time. I can’t be allowed to get my hands on this bastard. I think of him tormenting Sara and I want to kill him.” Dash was serious. “I don’t want to do it in front of Sara, but I’ll tear him apart if I ever get near him. I want to.” His voice was cold, vicious.

Dash could tell from Grange’s sudden nod that Grange had wondered why Sara wasn’t involved in the meeting since she was the most logical bait for the trap, and had some experience working with the team. Excluding her from the planning process didn’t follow Dash’s normal operating procedure, but he felt his control was compromised and that it might threaten the outcome. His team needed to know that. His unusual behavior would make more sense now to his friend.

“Heard and understood.” With those three words, Grange was assuring him he would be there to help Dash keep control in front of Sara.

“Why not just lure him in and beat the hell out of him to teach him a lesson?” Isaac asked bluntly. “You slay the dragon and rescue the princess. Perfect fairytale. Women love that.”

“I would. I want to.” Dash hesitated. He wasn’t sure how to put into words what his instincts were telling him. “Sara has been sheltered by older parents all her life and then browbeaten by this bastard ex. She thinks she’s shy and scared of everything. But she got away from him. And she argued with me the first week she was here, standing up for what she believed. She’s a lot stronger than she thinks she is. I want to help her see it.”

Isaac shook his head. “Then you won’t get to rescue her,” he warned jokingly.

“Maybe she’ll rescue me.” The weight of seven years of combat was in the tone of Dash’s voice. It was more serious than he meant it to be, but his friends understood. They had been with him in some of the worst places and the darkest moments of his life.
      

Sara represented light to him. He needed both her beautiful soul and her generous loving nature more than he had ever realized. He had been strangely drawn to her from her first day at the company, and it was only getting stronger with time.

“She has spirit,” Grange mused. “Let her help to catch him.”

Dash nodded, agreeing with the assessment and the suggestion.

“Okay.” Isaac’s strength wasn’t in planning, but in putting the plans into effect and matching individual agents with the requirements of the mission. “Roberts for backup. Burgess,” Isaac said, thinking aloud.

Grange considered. “Maybe Conn as well? He’s out of the hospital and campaigning to get a case. He could just walk in anytime. He hasn’t been here recently to be seen as a regular employee by our resident psycho.”

“Good.” Dash was pleased. “I’m ready to get this over. Let’s call in Carolyn and Sara and see if they have anything to add to our plan.”

Carolyn immediately volunteered to be the second woman working late, as Dash had known she would. Sara protested until she heard about the backup team, and then she also agreed. The other agents were called in and a date was chosen for the beginning of the operation, Wednesday of that week, giving them two days for setup.

Martin Brent had been spotted cruising his rental car past DIG and Sara’s apartment building, but the agents watching had reported and stayed hidden, letting him get comfortable.

Sara was nervous but determined to do her part. When she first heard the confirmation of Martin’s identity, she had felt scared and nauseated, but she pulled herself up sternly. These people were putting themselves on the line for her, and she was not going to be the weakest member of this team.

“It’s not just you,” Carolyn said as the other agents began to file out. She was careful to speak quietly to avoid drawing attention. Dash and Grange were still in the room arranging the minutest details of the plan. “We all feel a bit nervous when we start a new operation. It goes with the territory.”

“You sure don’t look nervous,” Sara said feelingly. Carolyn was perfectly put together as always, slender and graceful in her tailored suit.

Carolyn smiled kindly. “If you could see my knees knocking together, you’d know.” She gestured comically and the women laughed together.

Sara impulsively hugged her friend. “Thank you,” she said simply.

“Anytime,” was the quiet reply.

Chapter 9

The next day, Sara marveled as she followed Dash into the new workout room. She stared at the array of equipment, mats, and weapons. And the size. They could train a battalion in this one room.

“If you’re going to be involved in an operation, Sara, you need some idea of self defense, or at least working through your fear,” Dash was saying. “In case he gets too close to you. I’m not expecting that, but I don’t want you to be afraid if it happens.”

“Well, I think that’s unrealistic.” Sara was still looking around, but she felt Dash stiffen beside her. “I mean, I ran because I’m already afraid of him.”

Dash blew out a breath. “Okay.” He toed off his shoes and motioned for her to do the same before stepping onto one of the large mats. “Okay, you ran because you were afraid. We can work with that. The best reaction you could have with an attacker is to get away as fast as possible.” He turned and faced her.

“What did he do to make you afraid, Sara?” Dash tried to keep his fingers from curling into fists at the thought of Sara being frightened by a man. There were too many things a man could do to frighten a woman, and a woman as small as Sara could be injured so easily. So permanently.

Sara fidgeted on the mat. “He shouted when I did things wrong, shouted in my face.”

“In your face.” Dash moved much closer. “Like this?” His voice boomed out in the room, echoing and re-echoing in the large space.

“Yes, like that,” Sara said quickly, waiting for the fear to take hold of her. Then her palms would sweat and she would cringe in front of him, praying for the screaming to be over, trying not to offend him any further. But it didn’t happen.

“It’s not the same,” she said slowly. “I can’t run from you just for that. You need to—to be closer, maybe, to lean over in my face and shout.” She couldn’t quite believe she was giving a man clear instructions on the best way to intimidate her. And Dash was a large man, certainly much taller and more muscular than Martin. It seemed ridiculous.

Dash loomed over her small frame, using his great size as a silent threat. His expression was fierce and he spoke again. “Sara, did he do this?”