Chapter 1 #3
“I understand. It was brave of you to come all this way to help your uncle. Especially since I don’t believe you’re law enforcement or military.” Actually, he was positive of that.
“No, no I’m not. I’m a personal assistant. I’m virtual part of the time, but sometimes I—oh never mind, I won’t bore you with that.” Her eyes sharpened on his. “Your turn, Mr. Bridger. What’s going on? And what does it have to do with Leland?”
Oh, boy. Here we go. “Ms. Faraday, what do you think your uncle does for WhiteRock?”
“What do I think . . .“ Her eyes left him, focusing on nothing for a few beats. “What I think . . . meaning what have I been told?“ Thoughts he couldn’t read pulled her brows down and curved her lips into her mouth.
“Ms. Faraday?”
“My uncle doesn’t have a desk job at a company that sells security systems, does he?”
Oh. Eric was right. Leland gave her a cover story. “No, ma’am. He’s never had a desk job. And while security is WhiteRock’s business, we don’t sell security systems.”
Her eyes slowly met his. And he felt another uncomfortable pang in his chest. Leland’s lie hurt her.
“I think I knew he was hiding something.” Her voice was an almost-whisper.
“I don’t know why. It just felt ‘off’ sometimes.
Several times, actually. The job he described didn’t match his personality at all.
” She forced a little more composure. And narrowed her striking blue eyes at him. “So, what does he do?”
“I should let him explain.”
“You said ‘security.’ Do you work for the government?”
“We occasionally liaison with agencies from different governments, but WhiteRock is a private company.” A new worry line creasing her brow told him he needed to clarify. “Hey, we’re the good guys. We’re not supporting terrorists or corrupt governments.”
She processed the information with a slow nod. “I see. I didn’t assume you were.” She closed her eyes with a long exhale. “But I do believe Leland is the type to do questionable things for the right reasons.”
“Like lying to his niece to protect her?”
She looked like she was going to respond to that, but he didn’t give her the chance.
“Look, I don’t mean to get into anything between you and your uncle.
Right now, I need to find Leland and ask him why he’s here.
I’m here on another matter, and I need to know if our situations are connected.
” Though, in the last couple of minutes, he’d abandoned all doubt they were connected.
She looked confused. “But if he is here for work, why wouldn’t Eric Kitts know? Leland always said Eric was his boss. Was that a lie, too?”
“No, it wasn’t. Eric’s our boss. And I have no idea why Leland is here without a directive from Eric. I need to talk to him. When you were at Leland’s house, did you notice anything at all that would give you a clue why he came here?”
She shook her head. “The only thing I know is that two armed men were looking for him.”
“Do you know if they found his laptop?”
“He doesn’t have a laptop.”
Jason didn’t hide his expression. She read it easily.
“Oh. He has a laptop?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I didn’t see it. And I didn’t hear them say anything about a laptop.”
He nodded and took a last sip of his coffee. If he could get the waitress’s attention, maybe she could bring him another coffee in a to-go cup. He needed the caffeine, and he needed to get moving.
“Thank you for speaking with me. I’m going to find Leland. Today. I’ll tell him to contact you ASAP.” He motioned for the waitress and requested his coffee to-go.
Tayla declined a to-go cup. And leaned forward again after the waitress was out of earshot. “Where are you going to start? I’ll go back and speak with the front desk. They may be able to—”
He held up both hands. “Whoa. No. What you’re going to do is wait in your room. I’m handling this now. Eric is sending two more agents to help. They’ll be here in a few hours. If you give me your number, I’ll text you when we know something about Leland.”
She gave him an uncooperative look, but didn’t argue. They exchanged numbers. “Keep me updated,” she said.
“I will. And I’m sorry about these circumstances, but it was nice to meet you.”
She stood and pushed in her chair. “It was nice meeting you as well, Mr. Bridger.”
“Please, call me Jason.”
She nodded with a look he couldn’t decipher. “Okay, Jason. You can call me Tayla. Well, good luck, Jason. I hope you find Leland soon.” The waitress returned with his coffee, and Tayla walked away.
You can call me Jason? When was the last time he said that to a woman while on an assignment? Or anywhere, for that matter?
He walked out of the bistro, and his eyes immediately landed on Tayla.
Not at the bank of elevators, like she should be.
She was chatting at the front desk. A few long strides and he was standing next to her.
“Just one moment,” he said, smiling at the receptionist, and tugging Tayla’s elbow to lead her away from the desk.
He pivoted to face her. “I thought we discussed this.”
“Discussed?” She flashed a not-so-sweet smile. “We didn’t discuss anything. You gave your opinion on what I should do.”
He forced himself to take a calming breath. “Tayla, I don’t know what’s going on here yet, but it probably isn’t safe. I have a lot to do and I need to get started, so please, go wait in your room. I told you, I’ll let you know when I find Leland.”
She set her jaw and glared at him. And he found it attractive for some reason. Which was all kinds of surreal.
“Look,” she said, “I came a very long way to find Leland. I’m not going to wait in my room. I can help you, or work on my own, but I’m not just sitting around. You said those other men wouldn’t be here to help you for a few hours. I can help. You’re only one man.”
Why was everyone saying that today? He was very capable on his own. She had no idea the kinds of assignments he’d completed by himself. But he didn’t feel like explaining that to her.
He paused two beats, attempting to devise a response that would convince her to wait in her room. He noted the resolve stamped on her features. And drew a blank.
“Under the circumstances—the circumstances being that you are very stubborn—I think I could save time by allowing you to help.”
That was the first time he saw her smile, really smile. And he tried to ignore the effect it had on him.