Page 24 of Bad Situation

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Eli

Bree slams her desk phone in its cradle at the same time she expels a string of cuss words. Since no one in their right mind can ignore that, I lean back in my chair and roll myself backwards until I see where she sits catty-corner from me in another cubicle. Dean does the same and we both watch her march toward the boss’s office.

“Who killed your dog?” Dean calls to her.

She stops abruptly and turns on an angry heel. “Montgomery’s attorneys have been busy the last couple days and filed a motion to dismiss. Something about an alibi for when the dummy corps were made.” Her face turns ugly, something between being aggrieved and hungry for revenge, when she goes on, “If she thinks she can waltz into court with her high-dollar attorneys and get out of this, she’s got another thing coming. I’ve worked too long on this case—no way am I letting her get off.”

I school my features but tip my head. “And how are you going to go about doing that?”

“I need to find out what her alibi is, but I’ll do what I have to do,” she growls right before marching off.

“It’s late on a Friday,” Dean calls after her. “Settle down. Nothing’s gonna happen in court ‘til next week.”

We both watch her turn the corner and disappear.

Since going undercover, I haven’t worked with other agents for a while. Partnering to work a case with someone else can be a delicate thing. An agent has to trust the person at his back and that isn’t built overnight. At this point I have no desire to work on anything with Bree and I’m still trying to figure Dean out.

I look over to him. “She always like this?”

Dean shrugs. “None of her cases have stuck. She’s become more and more determined to win over the past year and thought this was the one. The big one to make a name for herself.”

I nod and ask, “You still doing active surveillance on the case?”

“No, thank fuck. Covering Montgomery was the most boring thing I’ve ever done. She’s still tapped, but that’s it. I’ve finally got a free weekend for the first time in almost two months. All Bree does is work. She has no life.”

I nod and leave it at that.

Thirty minutes later, Bree storms out of the boss’s office without a word. She stuffs her shit in a bag and, when she grabs her gun and keys, she’s gone.

Dean watches her walk away with a frown and I do everything I can not to smirk.

Thirty minutes later, I watch Dean do the same. I follow suit soon after, wrapping up my first full week of work in Dallas. It’s nowhere near the same intensity as working undercover but it’s been interesting. I’m not used to having my weekends off, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do.

What I do know is, I’m starting it off with a phone call to an intriguing CFO.

Chapter 7

Elijah Pettit is an Ass Man

Jen

Eli called earlier on the prepaid cell, informing me he was bringing dinner to my place tonight.

I told him I don’t have dinner with strangers, but I’m sure he could hear my smile through the phone.

He said that was odd since I had no trouble dancing with them.

I had no comeback for that.

After informing him I wouldn’t be home for another few hours and he shouldn’t wait to eat, his response was “no biggie, that’ll give me time to hit the gym and grab a shower.”

He never asked me what I wanted for dinner.

He never asked how to get into my parking garage.

And he didn’t tell me what time he would be here.

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