The Evasion (14 page)
Authors: Adrienne Giordano
Maybe Gabe was too close to it, but threatening witnesses might have been extreme. But he sat still, tapping his fingers against his thighs, mentally willing Jo to go against her instincts and keep. Her trap. Shut.
“Tom—”
So much for mental will.
“Quiet!” Tom’s eyes bulged and the veins at his temples throbbed, the greenish-blue tint coming through his skin.
Tom. Was. Pissed.
In his head, Gabe began counting. Nothing else to do. They just needed to get through this initial meltdown. The guy had one of those tempers that flared and raged and tore things up. Then he’d be done. Unfortunately for them, this tantrum had lasted longer than usual.
He ripped a file from his desk drawer, slapped it on the desk, the
thwack
filling the small office and making Jo flinch.
“And somehow,” he said, “you managed to not completely screw this up.”
Hell to the yeah on that one. They caught the guy.
Tom shifted to Jo. “Your guy Martinson isn’t much for jail cells. Their closed-in nature makes him talk.”
“Seriously?”
Of all the bad guys Gabe had encountered, Martinson ratting surprised him. And that was saying something. Not much shocked him anymore.
Tom nodded. “Martinson has a boss. In Los Angeles. He’s running networks in every major port in the U.S. He had a guy on the inside at the Port Authority who told Martinson the shipment had been seized.”
Gabe whistled. He’d love to know who that son of a bitch was. And who the leak in Tom’s circle was. For now, Gabe would sit on that one. No sense going there when his boss was already fired up.
Tom glared at him, one of those icy stares that severed limbs. He went back to Jo. “You, Ms. Pomeroy, in a completely back-assed way, have achieved your goal of expanding the task force. You’re about to help the mayor of Los Angeles duplicate Clean Sweep.”
Well, shit
. Suddenly unconcerned about his boss’s reaction, Gabe looked at Jo, studied her profile. She slid him a sideways glance, but beyond that, he couldn’t read her. Although he was damned sure her mind was laying down some serious rubber.
She swallowed once, then a second time. “L.A.?”
“Yes. At 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, the three of us are meeting with Bev and the mayor. Right after, we’ll have a video conference with the mayor of Los Angeles. I’m assuming you’re available.”
Now she turned to Gabe, her mouth slightly agape. Tom had silenced the mighty Jo Pomeroy.
“Hey,” Gabe said. “It’s the start of what you wanted.”
Part of him was proud of her. More than anyone, she deserved credit. She’d spent countless hours making this happen. The other part of him hated it. Los Angeles wasn’t a hop-skip. And forming the Clean Sweep task force had taken months of planning before they’d rolled it out. Would she leave New York for months?
And if so, would they survive a bicoastal relationship? A sick feeling gripped him, made his shoulders ache.
Jo’s eyes were on him, holding his stare—questioning.
She’s not sure
. And that, he knew, was his fault. Two months ago, she would have pissed herself over this. Now? Now she had guilt because he loved her and was a selfish prick who wanted her in New York. With him.
Tom sat back in his chair, the springs shouting from the strain. “9:00 a.m. tomorrow, people. We’re clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Of course,” Jo said. “I’ll be there.”
They filed out of Tom’s office, Jo in front of him. In the hallway she stopped and two patrol officers angled around her. Gabe kept moving.
Not in here
. “I’ll walk you out.”
Keeping his gaze on her, he slid her coat from her arm and held it while she maneuvered her briefcase and put the coat on.
On the sidewalk, the biting cold caught him up short.
No jacket, dummy
. His balls would turn to ice, but some things were more important. He veered away from the building to the corner where they’d find a cab.
“Gabe?”
“Jo, it’s good. You’ve worked for this and I’m proud of you. The rest of it we’ll figure out.”
“I’ll have to go to L.A. You know that.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“It won’t be forever.”
“I know that too.”
He stopped walking and faced her, blocking her path to the corner so he’d have her full attention. “Whatever needs to happen, we’ll make it happen. We’ll be bicoastal if we have to.”
“With your schedule, how would we do that?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.”
“I could say no. If you asked me to, I would. I’d walk away.”
And didn’t that slay him.
Say no
. It’d be easy. Just to tell her he wanted her here with him. Something deep in his gut twisted. From the day he’d met her, she talked about a nationwide initiative against counterfeiting. And he wanted to take it away from her. Selfish prick.
Resisting the urge to touch her because someone inside the building would see them, he folded his arms, pressed his fingers into his biceps trying to draw heat. “You need to do this. It’s the start of everything you want. As much as I want to tell you not to go, that I’ll miss you and worry about you, I’m not doing it. I’m not taking on that responsibility. I love you and this is your dream.”
Finally, she smiled at him. “You’re a good man, Gabe Townsend.”
“Don’t spread that shit around.”
Jo waggled her eyebrows. “If I get lonely out there we can send each other dirty pictures.”
“Uh, not happening. Just don’t go getting busy with some other task force guy. That’ll piss me off.”
“Not a chance.”
A gust of wind ripped into his bare arms and he hunched against the cold. “Besides, I’m sitting on three weeks’ vacation. California in January sounds pretty good. Are you in?”
She grinned up at him. “Oh, I’m in, Mr. August. I’m in.”
– THE END –
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The Evasion.
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And now for a sneak peek at
STEALING JUSTICE
A Justice Team Novel
by
USA Today
Bestselling Authors
Adrienne Giordano and Misty Evans
Coming January 2014!
Justice “Grey” Greystone was fired from the FBI for insubordination. Now the FBI wants him to use his renegade skills to take down a serial killer who’s above the law. To trap the Lion, he’ll need to send the perfect woman undercover.
Sydney Banfield runs a women’s shelter and bends the law daily to help victims of abuse escape their painful lives. Three of the women she’s recruited for government jobs have become victims of the Lion. If Syd has her way, the vicious killer will never touch another woman again.
Grey and Sydney set a trap—with Sydney as the sexy bait—but the Lion adds a complex twist to his homicidal agenda. With Sydney’s life on the line, Grey must race against the clock to catch a killer who’s as unstoppable as he is evil.
Chapter One
Justice “Grey” Greystone stood in the shadows near the main staircase of the mammoth mansion, his ear bud in place, his security service badge in plain view, and his eyes roaming the crowd as senators, diplomats, and other male politicians moved past him. In a sea of navy, brown, and black suits, pops of red, pink, and bright blue caught his attention.
Beautiful women, their taut young bodies dripping with diamonds, brushed seductively against the men, offering a drink, a snippet of conversation, a laugh.
A private encounter behind closed doors.
Inside the Panthera, sixteen miles north of Washington, D.C., drinks flowed, deals were made, and powerful men ignored the fact that one of them was a killer.
A woman bumped Grey’s arm. “Oh, excuse me.”
Her dress, nails, and lips were a matching wine color. Her brown hair was twisted and pinned on top of her head. But those eyes, even with the getup, screamed young. She couldn’t have been legal, and yet according to the Smoking Gun Escort Service, they never hired anyone under twenty.
Yeah, right. And he was the Pope.
The woman grabbed a champagne glass from a passing waitress. “Do you know when the entertainment is supposed to be here?” She turned her big eyes to him over the rim of the glass.
Hazel. Just like Molly’s. Grey stuttered.
Not now. Don’t think of her now
. “Entertainment?” Didn’t she know
she
was the entertainment? “You mean the actor running for a senate seat? I believe Chas Loughlin is simply attending tonight’s function to talk to the politicians, not to perform.”
Hence the increase in security
“Oh.” She gulped the champagne, her gaze now scanning the crowd. “Damn, I was hoping for a distraction.”
The vibe she gave off made him curious. Not just young—inexperienced. “First night at the Panthera?”
“How did you…oh, shit,” she ducked behind him. “Shit, shit, shit.”
He glanced in the direction she’d looked and saw a man who generated a similar response in his own gut. Ahmed Khourey. “The Lion” as Grey had dubbed him, since he prowled the Panthera Leo like he owned the place.
Moving so he blocked the woman from Ahmed’s view, he reined in the instant anger boiling inside. “He giving you trouble?”
She waved a hand in the air, signaling a waitress. Another glass of champagne. Another big gulp. “He’s handsome and charming and very, very rich.” She chuckled. “He’s also … intense.”
The sound of her soft laugh was so similar to his sister’s, Grey flinched.
Molly
…
Not. Here.
“If he’s bothering you…”
She downed the last of the champagne and set the empty glass on a nearby bookshelf. Hiked up the fur shawl that had slipped down her shoulders. “I can handle it.” Her gaze lifted to his once more. “Thank you.”
Before she whisked away, Grey touched her arm and handed her his business card. He resisted telling her she should lay off the booze; that in this place a drunk woman would be easily compromised. “Here’s my card if you need…assistance. My personal number is on the back.”
She gave him a look that told him she thought he was flirting with her. If she only knew the truth. Sticking the card in her tiny evening bag, she sauntered away, deliberately avoiding The Lion and cozying up to an overweight representative from Alabama.
Grey locked his back teeth and resumed his stance, keeping an eye on her and The Lion.
Romantic Suspense Books Available
by Adrienne Giordano
The Private Protectors series
Negotiating Point
(novella)
Justifiable Cause series
The Chase
(novella)
Dog Collar Crime
(Romantic Mystery)
Acknowledgments
With the completion of every project, I’m continually amazed by the generosity of those who have shared their time and expertise with me.
Milton Grasle, of all the action scenes you’ve helped me with, the bomb scene might be my favorite. What started out as a simple idea became so much more, and I loved every second of creating that scene.
To Scott Silverii, thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge with me. Hopefully, I’ve gotten it right. I’m now on a quest to build the perfect go-bag.
And to my usual suspects, John Leach, Kelsey Browning, Misty Evans, Tracey Devlyn and Theresa Stevens, thank you all for your continual support on this fantastic journey.
For my guys who make me smile every day, I love you.
About the Author
USA Today
bestselling author Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and mystery. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog and Lady Jane’s Salon-Naperville, a reading series dedicated to romantic fiction.
For more information on Adrienne’s books, please visit
www.AdrienneGiordano.com
or download the Adrienne Giordano app.
