he merged with the flow of traffic on the street, he stole an assessing glance at his assignment. If it was a war of wills Miss Ryan had in mind, Ric could teach her a thing or two about perseverance. This was one time the pretty lady was not going to get her way.
And he was going to enjoy every moment of teaching her how to compromise.
Chapter Two
As her new cameraman snapped on his utility belt and then gathered his equipment, Piper scanned Hope Place to determine which shots of the housing area she wanted Martinez to take. Unlike her relationship with Jones, she would likely have to tell this guy each and every pan of the camera. Piper tamped down the irritation that wanted to bubble up inside her yet again. She had promised Dave that she would get along with this guy and she would. If only he wasn’t so damned cocky. Martinez obviously had his share of testosterone and someone else’s, too.
Her two G-men shadows stayed in the background, but still close. For the first time since this whole thing started, she was immensely grateful for their presence. Although it had been a stranger who saved her this morning, she knew the two federal agents were highly trained and dedicated. Piper was at fault for not taking their presence more seriously. She should have been more careful not to get too far ahead of them. The way she darted in and out of traffic, how could she expect them to stay on her tail where they belonged?
She pushed away the memory of staring into the business end of that handgun. She couldn’t think about that right now—it would only undermine her sense of control. And currently it was tenuous at best. The Feds would take care of the police report, relieving her of the hassle and still satisfying the requirements of her insurance company. Sometimes it paid to have an uncle in the right place.
Martinez pivoted and hoisted the camera onto his shoulder. The turn drew Piper’s gaze to his rhythmic movements. She frowned as she considered what exactly it was that captured her attention. There was something vaguely familiar about the way he moved. But that was impossible. She didn’t know the man, had never even seen him before their introduction outside Dave’s office only an hour ago.
Still, something niggled at her. Piper dismissed the distraction and turned her attention back to the business at hand. She had an interview to do. Six residents had agreed to speak out on camera against the increasing violence in their neighborhood. And that was no small thing, as Piper was well aware. Retaliation was a definite possibility. She knew it and so did the half-dozen people who had asked for the opportunity. Piper would never have asked anyone to purposely put themselves in danger. Her last segment had been based on what she referred to as anonymous tips. But the people of Hope Place had decided it was time to stand up for their rights and make their intentions known.
Hope Place had been built just over ten years ago in a goodwill effort by the city’s mayor at the time to offer affordable housing to low-income families. It had been well received and had helped numerous families. In Piper’s opinion, the mayor’s appointed planning committee’s one oversight had been not proposing strong clean-up steps for the nearby crime-ridden neighborhoods. Eventually those problems had crept into the new housing area, a seemingly unstoppable epidemic.
“Tell me how you want it, boss lady,” Martinez said smoothly, his smile quick, the flicker of insinuation in his eyes even quicker as he moved in her direction.
He made the request sound intimate…sexual.
“My name is Piper,” she reminded him firmly.
“Piper,” he acquiesced, adding emphasis and a sultry tone to the one word so that she shivered at the sound. “I’ll try to remember that.”
He was too handsome, too close and too darned infuriating. Piper stepped back. “Why don’t you tell me how you would do it, Martinez?”
He inclined his head in acceptance of her clear challenge. “My pleasure.”
She wanted to rant at him. She wanted to hit him. Piper blinked. But mostly she just wanted to touch him and see if he felt as hot as he looked.
Damn. She hated this crazy attraction.
“Sweep the block,” he suggested solemnly with a wave of one massive hand. Junked automobiles and battered trash cans lined the street. “Zero in on the run-down high-rises, and the laundry hanging from the lines outside the windows, then the cluttered alleyways.” He took his time surveying the area once more. A scrawny cat peeked from behind one of the dead cars and then scurried away. “That about sums it up, I think.”
Gone was the easy smile and the teasing glimmer in those dark eyes. Piper saw the glimpse of sadness before he closed his expression. She frowned. Surely Mr. I’m-too-sexy-for-my-own-good wasn’t the sentimental type. Before Piper could make a decision on that possibility, the voice of Mr. Jackson, one of her interviewees, called out to her as he and the other residents he’d rounded up ambled closer.
“That sounds good, Martinez,” she told him before turning away. It actually sounded better than good; it was precisely what she would have said herself. But she wasn’t about to admit it and give him one more thing to enlarge that already-overblown ego.
“Whatever your heart desires, querida.”
Piper ignored the extrafoolish beat of her heart that invariably accompanied his persistent use of the Spanish endearment. She absolutely would not let this cocky Casanova get under her skin.
“THE SITUATION IS under control, Mr. Camp.” Ric kicked off his shoes as he crossed the living room of his temporary apartment to lower the volume on the television. “No, man, I’m telling you I was on top of the situation.”
Ric blew out a breath as Lucas Camp continued to re-hash this morning’s events on the other end of the line. Jack Raine had been poised from his point position to take out the guy with the gun, but Martinez had gotten to him first. Which was okay with all concerned since it left Raine in an anonymous position and the would-be shooter alive to be interrogated. But Lucas Camp hadn’t been happy that the bastard had gotten that close to his niece without encountering resistance. Outside of forcing Piper to ride in a bulletproof vehicle, there wasn’t any way to prevent the same thing from happening again. And she refused to change her routine. Allowing the Feds to follow her around was the extent of her concession.
If she discovered that her dear old uncle had not one, but two, additional personal protectors in place, she would likely go berserk. The woman had no intention of making Ric’s job easy. She was dead set on maintaining her normal routine. As much as he hated to admit it, Ric respected her for her courage.
Most, male or female, would have cowered in fear under much less threatening circumstances. But not Piper Ryan. She didn’t intend to let the bad guys win. As risky as it was, she wasn’t backing down in the least. A smile slid across Ric’s face. She was one tough lady for a spoiled little rich girl. He suddenly wondered what events in her life had given her that much backbone. He doubted she would ever share anything that personal with him, but his respect for her had grown somewhat today. She wasn’t just another pretty face on the television screen.
“She doesn’t know it was me,” Ric assured him when Lucas asked if Piper had recognized him outside her car that morning. “My cover is intact. She thinks I’m some sort of Casanova.”
Definitely the wrong thing to say. Ric regretted using the term immediately. “No, man, I am not flirting with your niece,” Ric lied. As far as he could tell, flirting with Piper Ryan was the only way he’d found to throw her off guard, to make real contact. She clearly did not allow anyone close. He wondered
