pleasant smile. Daisy was a sweetheart. A cute, plump little brunette the staff referred to as Ms. Efficiency. Every agent thought of her as a kid sister. Even he did, and there weren’t that many people Vic took a shine to, especially women in general. Oh, women had their place in his life, but only on a temporary, mutually satisfying yet non-emotional basis. Having been a loner since childhood, he liked his solitary, uncomplicated life. He’d been involved once, maybe even in love, but the experience had been bittersweet, to stay the least.
“Good morning, Vic,” Daisy greeted him when he stopped at her desk. “Sorry to cut your down-time short, but you’re the only available agent. We’ve been working shorthanded for quite some time, ever since Frank, Kate and J.J. all left us this past year. Mr. McNamara told me to thank you for taking this assignment.”
“No problem,” Vic said, but a peculiar glint in Daisy’s eyes warned him that something wasn’t quite right. “Or is there a problem?”
“Not that I know of.”
Her smile widened, going from warm and friendly to forced and phony. Not a good sign. Vic smelled trouble with a capital T.
“You’re not a very good liar,” he told her.
“I’m not lying. There is no problem.” She picked up a file folder and held it out to him. “You’re booked on a flight leaving early this afternoon. I’ve arranged for a rental car and everything else you’ll need. You’ll be flying into Huntsville, Alabama, and driving from there about sixty miles to Alabaster Creek.”
“What’s going on in Alabaster Creek, Alabama, that requires a Dundee agent?”
With her fake smile in place, Daisy cleared her throat. “Mr. McNamara did ask me to explain that we’re taking this case because the client is a relative of a friend of a friend, if you know what I mean.”
Vic leaned over her desk and looked directly into her eyes. “Whatever it is, just tell me. It can’t be that bad.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Who’s the client? What’s the job?”
“The client…the lady who hired us is Penny Sue Paine.”
Vic grinned. Penny Sue Paine? Could that name actually belong to a real person? It sounded more like the name for a cartoon character. “Why does Penny Sue Paine need a bodyguard?”
“She doesn’t.”
“Then why does she need an investigator?”
“Well…Ms. Paine needs you to find out who’s trying to kill the…uh…the client she is hiring you to protect.”
“I thought Ms. Paine was the client.”
“She’s the person who has hired Dundee’s, but she hired us to protect someone else, someone who is recovering from a gunshot wound.”
“And this someone is?”
“Uh…” Daisy hesitated, then said in a rush, “His name is Lucky. Lucky Paine. He’s a four-year-old mixed-breed dog who just inherited twenty-three million dollars.”
Vic pulled away from Daisy’s desk, squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. “Let me get this straight—I’m traveling to Alabaster Creek, Alabama, this afternoon to guard a dog?”
“Twenty-four/seven.” Daisy’s fake smile returned.
“Send somebody else.”
“There is no one else. Every agent is already on an assignment.”
“Then call somebody in. I’ll swap places with any agent who’s—”
“I’m sorry, Vic, but nobody is willing. Mr. McNamara figured you wouldn’t want this assignment and asked me to see if I could find another agent willing to swap places with you. Of course, he really wanted to hand this one over to Lucie. She was his first choice. You know how that would have pleased him, getting her all riled up over an assignment. But she’s out of the country and there’s no way she can come back right now, even if she wanted to take this job.”
Vic cursed under his breath.
“If you’ll go to Alabama today, I promise that the minute another agent works off, I’ll get down on my hands and knees and beg him to relieve you.”
Vic considered the situation. If he took this job, the other agents would never let him hear the end of it. He wasn’t exactly known for his sense of humor and although he was on friendly terms with the other agents, he kept his distance on a personal level. He was a guy who traveled alone, traveled light. No ties that bound, no entanglements weighed him down. In his former line of work, as a CIA operative, he’d been known as the lone wolf.
“Call Sawyer and tell him I’ll go to Alabama until another agent is available. I want time-and-a-half pay and two weeks’ paid vacation when I come in.”
“I’m sure he’ll agree.”
Vic grabbed the file folder Daisy held. “Call him anyway. And once he’s agreed, call Ms. Paine and let her know I’ll phone her when I arrive in Huntsville.” He fanned the file folder at Daisy. “I assume her phone number is in here.”
“Her home phone, her business phone and her cell phone.”
“Just what business is Ms. Paine in?”
“She owns her own business. A shop called Penny Sue’s Pretties. It’s a specialty gifts and home-decorating shop.”
Vic groaned. Oh, God, she was one of those women.
“She’s also running for mayor of Alabaster Creek, population 5,437. I understand it’s a part-time job that pays about fifteen thousand a year.”
Vic groaned again.
He knew, right this minute, before he ever left Dundee headquarters here in Atlanta, that this would turn out to be the assignment from hell.
“Do you really think pink will work in our bedroom?” Hazel Carruthers studied the pale-pink satin material. “Alton’s not big on anything too feminine. He likes navy blue and green and red and brown.”
Penny Sue sighed. “This is your bedroom, too, isn’t it? You shouldn’t have to do all the compromising. Pink is your favorite color.”
“I know, but I have to live with that man, and if I use pink as the dominant color in our bedroom, he’ll sleep on the sofa.”
Penny Sue knew Alton Carruthers. If he were her husband, she’d rather have him sleep on the sofa than in her bed. The man was as ugly as homemade soap, with a grumpy disposition and an I’m-head-of-the-household mentality. He’d chosen wisely when he married Hazel, a plain, skinny redhead with a sweet, gentle temperament and a willingness to please. Although Penny Sue wished the woman would grow a backbone, she liked her nonetheless.
“Paint the walls beige. A light beige with just a hint of pink,” Penny Sue suggested reluctantly. If she pressed Hazel to go against Alton’s wishes, she would be doing her client a disservice. And the
