dead...” Her slow smile made his heart skip a beat.
To cover his unwanted reaction, he looked down, pretending to be lost in thought.
“Hey, it’s okay.” When she reached out and covered his hands with hers, he felt a jolt straight in his groin. His inner wolf, startled awake, sat up and took notice.
“I enjoy being useful,” she continued. “What I need to do is get you a full printout of our rates. We charge by the hour, plus expenses. There’s a flat fee—a retainer—that’s payable up front and is nonrefundable.”
Slowly he slid his hand out from under hers. “None of that matters. You’re dealing with a well-funded covert government operation. If you agree to assist us, we can pay you this.” Though doing so felt a bit melodramatic, he opened his briefcase to get a better look at the neat stacks of bills inside. “Twenty-five thousand dollars cash, up front. Another twenty-five once the mission is successfully completed.”
If he expected her to gape, he was doomed to disappointment. She looked coolly from the money to him. “This is most unusual,” she said. “I’ll have to consult with my partners.”
But he refused to accept this. “I happen to know your private investigative business is a start-up. You’ve only had one case, I believe. Cash flow has to be important. You can’t afford to turn this down.”
Stone-faced, she stared at him.
“And this is important,” he continued. “It’s not just a case. It’s your chance to make a difference.”
Watching her, he swore he saw that same flicker of interest in her eyes.
“Fine,” she finally said. “I’m in. Representing The Shadow Agency.” Her chin came up and she held his gaze. “But not just because of the money. I’ve always wanted to make a difference.”
Admiration warred with attraction. He nodded, closing the one briefcase before pulling a manila folder from the other. “We’ve taken the liberty of having a contract drawn up in advance. I’ll need your signature in three places.”
Though she accepted the pen he offered her, instead of immediately signing on the dotted line, she began to read through the contract. “No,” she said abruptly. “This part here is unacceptable.” She stabbed her long, bloodred fingernails at the page. “I refuse to keep my partners in the dark about this job. We’re in this together. Otherwise, you’re not hiring The Shadow Agency. You’re just hiring me.”
Somehow, he sensed this minor issue would be the one thing that could make her walk away. As far as he knew, they didn’t have a backup. “I agree,” he conceded. “Strike through that part and initial it. I’ll do the same.”
Once she’d done as he’d suggested, she finished her read-through and then signed. Handing him back the papers, she held out one elegant, pale hand.
“I should have told you,” Rick said, after neatly filing the contract in his briefcase. Then and only then did he slide the briefcase full of cash across the table toward her. “You and I will be partners for this case.”
She stared. “I work better alone. Plus, I already have two partners.”
“Not on this case, you don’t. You might want to put that somewhere safe,” he added, gesturing at the briefcase. “Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to let your partners know that you have to disappear for a while.”
“Disappear?” She didn’t really protest. “They’ll be used to it. It’s kind of what we Vamps do.”
He laughed, the full, rich sound filling the room.
“I just need to let Maddie know,” she managed to say, sticking to the topic at hand. “She’s the one I was supposed to meet here tonight. She’s probably out there right now, anxious about where I am even though I texted her.”
“Let’s go find her, then. After that, you’re coming with me.”
“Okay. Enjoying this, are you?” she drawled. “You might be pretty, but this is serious business. I don’t need a distraction, and believe me, I could see you becoming a big one.”
To her annoyance, rather than fluster him, her remark made him laugh. “Nice try, Vargas. But it’ll take more than that to make me go away. I’m going to be stuck to your side like glue, so get used to it.”
“Fine, whatever.” She gave in sullenly. “I was thinking I’d start in the lab first. I’m assuming you plan to provide me with tissue samples so I can begin to analyze the thing.”
“That won’t be necessary,” he said. “We’ve already got teams of the best scientists working on that.”
He’d managed to surprise her, and not in a good way. “I am one of the top biological specialists.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “True, but there are others. We’ve got them in the lab working feverishly for answers.”
He could see she didn’t like that. “Then why do you need me? Honestly, if you want to develop an antidote, I’m of the best use to you in the lab.”
“We need your help to neutralize the terror group. Time is of the essence. While the president has been fully briefed and continues to be, he’s not sold on the idea of declaring war on West Latvia.”
She nodded, watching him closely. “Have they given you a time frame?”
“Yes. Seven days. If war is not declared and troops deployed, they plan to infect Houston. If they release this virus into the general population, we’ll lose a couple million people in one day. No, Carmen Vargas. We need you in the field. You and I are going to try to infiltrate the terrorists. Our job is to unmask them and take them down from the inside.”
She nodded. “This job is sounding more interesting by the minute. How do you propose to do that?”
When he grinned, the flash of his white teeth made her fangs ache. “I have my ways. We’ve got people who’ve been working undercover. You and I are going to pose as people interested in joining the terrorist cell.”
“I thought you didn’t know who they were affiliated with.”
“We don’t. Not yet. They may be part of a larger group, or might have splintered off from one.”
“With a name like Sons of Darkness, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out it’s a bunch of teenaged kids,” she said. “Except for the virus.”
“Except for the virus,” he repeated. “I think we can pretty much rule out teens. Even if one of them turned out to be some sort of genius, I’d think they’d want cash rather than war declared on some small European nation sandwiched between Estonia and Lithuania.”
“West Latvia,” she mused. “I believe some of my ancestors came from that area, but I’ve never been there.”
Though he nodded, his mind was elsewhere. When he looked up to find her watching him, he grimaced. “Sorry. I’ve been going over the plans. Are you ready to get started?”
She nodded. The rush of anticipation that filled
