style="font-size:15px;"> “What you did at the bank. What you seem to be a natural at doing, if we’re not mistaken. Reading people.”
Andrea’s gaze darted over to Grace then back to Drackett. “You don’t even know me. Maybe I just got lucky at the bank.”
Steve tilted his head to the side. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. There are some tests that can help us know for sure. We’ll pay for you to fly to Colorado Springs and for all your expenses during testing.”
Andrea grimaced. Tests, books, schooling were not her strengths. The opposite, in fact. She looked down at her feet. “I’m not too good at tests. Didn’t finish high school.”
“It won’t be like math or English tests you took in school,” Grace said gently. “It’s called ‘behavioral and nonverbal communication diagnostic testing.’”
Now Andrea was even more confused. “I don’t know what that means.”
Grace smiled. “Don’t worry about the name. The testing will involve a lot of pictures, or live people, and we’ll see how accurately you can pick up their emotions and expressions.”
Okay, only reading emotions, not words. Maybe she could handle it, but she still wasn’t sure. What if she failed?
“Andrea!” Harry yelled from the door. “Time’s up.”
Steve looked at Harry then back to Andrea. “There are no strings in this offer,” Steve said, his voice still calm and even. “You can check us out before you get on the plane, make sure we’re legit. Read up about Omega, so you feel safe.”
Andrea studied them both. There was no malice in either of them as they looked back at her, just respect, concern and a hopefulness. They legitimately seemed to want her to join them.
“What if I can’t do what you want? If I’m not as good as you think?” she whispered.
“Then you’ll be paid handsomely for the time you’ve spent doing the testing,” Grace said. “And we’ll fly you anywhere you want to go. It doesn’t have to be in Arizona.”
“Andrea.” Harry’s voice was even louder. “Get your ass back in here. Now.”
“And we’ll help get you started in another career. It may not be with Omega, but it doesn’t have to be here. This is not the place for you. Why don’t you leave with us tonight?” The compassion in Steve’s face was her undoing.
She looked back at Harry. He was livid, wanted to hurt her physically, emotionally, any way he could. It seemed as if there had been someone wanting to hurt her all her life.
But Steve and Grace didn’t. They wanted to help. She just hoped she didn’t disappoint them.
Andrea slipped her jacket all the way onto her body. “Okay, I’ll come with you.”
There was nothing worth keeping her here.
Four years later, Andrea stood in front of a bathroom mirror inside Omega Sector headquarters. She smoothed her straight black skirt and made sure—again—that her blouse was tucked in neatly before checking her reflection in the bathroom mirror one last time. Blond hair, cut in a sleek bob—the most professional haircut she’d been able to think of—was perfectly in place. Makeup tastefully applied and nothing that would draw attention to herself.
She was about to be fired from her job as a behavioral analyst at Omega Sector’s Critical Response Division.
Why else would Steve Drackett be calling her into his office at ten thirty on a Monday morning?
Actually, she could think of a half dozen reasons why he would be calling her in: a new case, a new test, some assignment he needed her to work on or a video briefing where her analysis was needed. But her brain wasn’t interested in focusing on any of the logical reasons he wanted to meet with her.
“Steve and Grace both know your background and still want you here,” she told her reflection. The scared look didn’t leave her eyes. She forced herself to vacate the bathroom and head down the hall. If Steve was going to fire her, there was nothing she could do about it.
No one said hello to her as she walked through the corridors and Andrea didn’t engage anyone. She’d utilized this keep-to-herself plan ever since she had realized exactly how important Omega was and the caliber of people they had working here in the Critical Response Division. Ever since Steve and Grace had officially offered her a job four years ago after six weeks of testing.
She may have a gift of reading people, but Andrea didn’t think for one minute that she was the sort of person Omega normally hired.
She’d known from the beginning she needed to keep her past a secret. Announcing to her colleagues that she was a runaway, dyslexic high school dropout who—oh yeah—used to be an exotic dancer would not inspire much confidence in her. So she’d made it a point not to tell anyone. Not to ever discuss her past or personal life at all. If it didn’t involve a case, Andrea didn’t talk about it.
Her plan hadn’t won her any friends, but it had successfully worked at keeping her secrets. She could live without friends.
Andrea pushed on the door that led to the outer realm where Steve’s assistants worked. One of them stood, welcoming and walking her to Steve’s office door and opening it. The clicks of Andrea’s three-inch heels on the tiled floor sounded more like clanging chimes of doom in her head as she stepped through.
“Hey, Andrea, good to see you,” Steve said from behind his desk, looking up from a stack of papers.
She supposed he was handsome, with his brown hair graying slightly at the temples and his sharp blue eyes, but since he was nearly twenty years older than her, she’d never even thought of him in that way. She respected him with every fiber of her being. Not only for getting her out of a dead-end life back at Jaguar’s in Buckeye, Arizona, but because of how fair and respectful he acted toward all the people who worked at Omega.
But he was tired. Andrea could tell. “You need a vacation, boss. Some time away from this circus.”
Steve put his elbows on his desk and bridged his fingers together, grimacing just the slightest bit. “You know why I don’t invite you in here very often? Because you see too much.” But his words held no fire. He knew what she said was right.
Andrea nodded.
“Sit down, Andrea. I’m afraid what I have to say might be a little difficult to hear.”
Oh my God, he is going to fire me.
Andrea took a breath through her nose and tried not to let her panic show. She had known this was a possibility from the beginning. Not just a possibility, a probability.
She tried to mentally regroup. Okay, she wasn’t the same girl who had left with Steve and Grace from Buckeye. She had managed to successfully complete her high school equivalency degree and even had two years of college under her belt. Yes, her dyslexia made some classes difficult, and she had to take them at a slower pace than most people, but she was making progress.
She
