better than to seek his input before his second cup of coffee.
Instead of going to fill his cup, he crossed to his cubicle. It wasn’t his fault he had to pass hers to get there. He was more relieved than he cared to admit that she wasn’t at her desk. Though he planned to make nice with her today, it was too early to start.
But as Tony rounded the corner to his desk, the source of his agitation and lack of sleep sat waiting for him in his chair. Out of uniform, she looked different. Brown slacks, feminine cream blouse buttoned almost to the collar and sensible, low-heeled shoes. She could have traded places with any female FBI agent he knew. So how did she manage to make even that outfit look sexy?
“I didn’t think you’d ever get here.” She crossed her arms and settled back into the chair.
“What are you talking about?” He checked his watch. It wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. “Mind giving me my seat?”
He rested his briefcase next to his desk. Though she met his gaze steadily, she gave her nervousness away by tucking a loose tendril behind her ear. If only that hadn’t drawn his attention back to her hair, tied up the same way she’d worn it the day before. It was looser though, softer, as if she’d been less determined with a can of hairspray this time.
“I thought we could have a chat first.”
His jaw tightened, but he’d promised himself he wouldn’t let her get to him today, so he dropped in the guest chair at his own desk. All of this without coffee.
“So, what’s up?”
“What’s up is whatever’s going on between us has to stop.”
Tony blinked. He couldn’t help it. He was usually better at hiding his reactions than that, but he’d done a lousy job of it ever since she’d arrived. “Excuse me?”
“Special Agent Dawson told me to figure out what the problem is that you have with me, so we can find a way to work together.”
“He said that?” he asked instead of answering a question.
He shot a glance toward Dawson’s cubicle, nearer to the office door, but he really couldn’t see it through the maze of temporary walls. Leave it to him to piss off the one person who could delay his transfer even longer.
“Well, not in so many words.”
She was staring at her folded hands now, using one thumb to snap away from the other the way she would flick a lighter. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as he thought.
“Then with what words specifically?”
She stared back at him in what felt like a standoff and then lowered her gaze again.
“He said we need to work together.”
“And when did he say that?” Come to think of it, had he passed Dawson’s umbrella near the front door on his way in? He always had it with him, just in case.
“Yesterday.”
“You mean before we had our practice session?”
This time, she didn’t answer his question.
“Anyway, I know you don’t want me here. I didn’t ask to be assigned to this task force, either. But now that I have been, I am determined to help track down this suspect and help make connections to any other cases, if they exist. I’ll do my job. You do yours.”
“Okay.”
“You act like you know me, but you know nothing about me. And if you want to get rid of me, the fastest way to do that would be to close this case.”
What didn’t he know about her? The question struck him, though he had no business wondering or even the right to ask. But she’d brought it up. He had to give her credit for her moxie. Kelly was stronger than she looked, and she hadn’t appeared all that frail in the first place.
As Kelly tightened her arms across her chest, Tony tried not to notice how this gave her an extra lift that she didn’t need and one that wasn’t in his best interest to see.
“That’s fair.”
Tony was relieved that his words came out as something more than squeaks. He wasn’t a seventh grader. He was a grown-ass man, and he needed to start acting like it.
“Okay, then.”
He could have let it go at that. She’d made it easy for him to avoid answering any questions, but he couldn’t accept the gift. Besides, he wanted to close this case as much as she did. Like she kept saying, it was personal to him, too.
“About yesterday, I was just having a bad day. Can we start over?” He stood and extended his hand. “Hi, I’m Special Agent Anthony Lazzaro. Tony, for short.”
She stared at his hand instead of lifting hers. He couldn’t blame her. He’d made a point of not greeting her properly the day before. Still, she reached out and gripped his hand.
“Trooper Kelly Roberts. Good to meet you, sir.”
Her handshake was firm, professional and a mistake, he guessed from his tingling palm as he pulled away. He couldn’t worry about that now. He’d told himself he would focus on the case, and he planned to keep that promise.
“Well, if I’m going to get started on my job, I will need my seat back.”
Cory’s cell phone buzzed again as it had been all morning. He’d silenced the ringer and turned it face down on his desk so he couldn’t see the display, but it had continued to buzz about every thirty minutes. Mom never gave up when she wanted something. He was like her in that way.
At first, he’d been too focused on the messages scrolling up his laptop monitor to pay much attention to his phone, but the sound was distracting him now. The chat rooms weren’t much fun today, anyway. Just screen names he’d seen before, seeming to talk to themselves or each other. No titillating flirtations. No potential Cinderella or Snow White or even a beautiful Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.
He couldn’t ignore his mother forever. She might turn off the Internet. He couldn’t risk that. When the phone buzzed again, he answered.
“What is it?”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “I saw that you called a few times.”
“If you saw, then why didn’t you pick it up? It’s not like you have anything better to do. Like go to work.”
Cory straightened in his chair just as he would have if she were in the same room instead of in Boca Raton. At least she hadn’t video-dialed in this time. He hadn’t showered in a day or two. Or three.
He switched to his best cajoling tone. It had always worked before. “Come on, Mom. I told you that job wasn’t a good fit for me. Grocery-cart collector? I hated it. I’ll find something better. Soon.”
