Gordon glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get out of here. I’m supposed to meet a friend for dinner and I’m already late. You need anything before I go?”
“No, I’ll only be another thirty minutes before I cut out.”
“See ya tomorrow.”
After Gordon left, Sean remained in his seat and pulled up the internal roster of congressmen and staff members. Crane had a staff of twenty-one full-timers and four temps; apparently he hadn’t replaced George Fenton. Malone had a staff of twenty-two and four temps, counting him. How many people would they have to cross-reference with the CIA background checks before they got to the right one? He printed a copy of the staff lists to give to Royce. His first stop in Crane’s office had to be George’s desk. He glanced at the time. Eight o’clock. Still early for snooping in another congressman’s office. Instead, he spent time going through all the desks and drawers of the staff members in Malone’s office, saving her inner sanctum for last.
Before he tackled the congresswoman’s office, he made a pass through the suite and poked his head out into the hallway. No one moved and, other than a few lights shining beneath doorways farther down the hallway, he didn’t see anyone. Then a door down the hall opened.
Sean ducked back in and listened for footsteps. They headed in the opposite direction.
Good. If he hurried, he could get into Malone’s office and close the door before anyone saw him. Sean hurried back to the congresswoman’s office, slipping a thin plastic lock pick from his pocket.
TIRED AND READY to call it a day, TJ left her office with a stack of inner-office mail envelopes marked with suspense dates of tomorrow. After she dropped these at various offices along the corridor, she could go home and heat up the leftover Chinese food she had in her refrigerator. Then again, would it be any good after four days?
She dropped two envelopes in Congressman Latke’s office and turned back to hit Crane and Malone’s offices.
Maybe just a piece of toast and a long soak in a hot bath.
Her plans made, TJ entered Malone’s office. Her feet sank into the plush carpeting, muffling the sound of her footfalls as she passed through the suite to get to Gordon’s desk positioned outside Malone’s door.
As she neared the inner-office area, a clicking sound alerted her that she wasn’t alone. Was Gordon still here? If so, she could explain her comments on the report she’d reviewed.
Rounding the corner to Gordon’s office, her mouth open to say hello, TJ stopped and stared at the empty room. Should she add hearing things to her list of hallucinations? Pressing her ear to Malone’s door, she listened for any signs of a late meeting with the congresswoman. No sounds penetrated the wooden door to the office.
The hairs on the back of TJ’s neck rose to attention and she had the uncanny sense of being watched. With more haste than care, she tossed the envelopes into Gordon’s in-box and turned to leave, a chill snaking its way down her spine. She took a step and stopped. Was that the sound of a door? The one leading to the hallway? “Hello? Is anyone in here?” No one answered.
A distinct click sounded from the outer office area. Had she left the door open and it had swung closed behind her? Her breath caught in her throat as she made her way back through the offices to the hallway. The door that she’d left open a moment before was now closed.
Creepy. TJ jerked the door open and stepped out into the hallway and breathed a sigh, chastising herself for letting her imagination get the better of her.
Then she saw him.
A man hurried down the hallway toward the exit.
What the hell? Had he been in Malone’s office snooping around? Should she call the Capitol Police and have him stopped? What if she was wrong and the man was rushing to meet his family for dinner?
TJ’s feet moved in the direction the man had gone. Maybe she’d follow him just to see who it was. What could that hurt? If he had been snooping, at least she might be able to give more of a description than the back of a man’s shadowy head.
The man disappeared around a corner.
Now, she could run and he wouldn’t know she was chasing after him. TJ slipped out of her shoes, clutched them in her hands and ran down the hall as fast as she could in her confining skirt and bare feet. When she neared the corner, she slowed and peered around.
The man had disappeared. How could she describe him if she didn’t actually see his face? If she didn’t hurry, he’d make the parking garage and escape before she had a chance to identify him.
Why she should be so fixated, she didn’t stop to question. Perhaps her earlier Sean “sightings” were making her punchy. Determined to catch up to the unidentified man, she hitched up her skirt and lit out at a jog, rounding the next corner at a flat-out run.
A hand reached out and snagged her arm, jerking her back against a solid wall of muscle. Another hand clamped over her mouth, muffling the scream rising in her throat. Her shoes slipped from her hands, dropping to the floor.
Instinct kicked in and she bit the hand, stomped on the man’s instep and cocked her elbow to jab into his gut.
At that moment, a voice penetrated her fog of panic.
“Damn it. Stop fighting me and I’ll let you go.” That voice. The same voice she’d heard earlier today coming out of Malone’s office. Her body froze, her skin tingling all over.
The hand over her mouth loosened. “Are you going to scream?”
TJ shook her head. She couldn’t scream if all the air had left her lungs. Hell, she couldn’t breathe.
He dropped his hand and slowly turned her to face him. “Why were you chasing me?”
All the blood drained from TJ’s face and the man’s image swam in her vision like an apparition floating through a cloud. When her knees buckled, she staggered backward until her back hit the wall. “Sean?”
Chapter Four
Sean gripped TJ’s arms to keep her from falling. Her face blanched and her eyes widened. Her knees shook as if she was about to drop to the floor in a dead faint, or so he told himself as he pulled her against his chest.
The scent of spring flowers wafted beneath his nose, sending him back to Dindi and the hotel suite he’d shared with this beautiful woman. For a long moment he allowed the good memories to wash over him. He wanted to continue holding her close until he recaptured that feeling of belonging he’d only experienced with her in that faraway room. But the good feelings were chased away by bad memories. The blinding flash of the explosion and the resulting blackness filled his mind.
Marty was dead. Sean had only sustained minor injuries—cuts, scrapes, ruptured eardrums and a mild concussion. He’d survived. Marty hadn’t.
With cold determination, he set TJ at arm’s length and stepped away. Somehow, he had to get through this mission without letting this woman distract him again. Detecting movement to his left, he painted a confused but friendly expression on his face. “Why were you following me? Do I know you?” He bent to retrieve her shoes and handed them to her.
As
