Page 20 of Special Agent Joseph

Joe held the stare without flinching or looking away. What made her take notice was the whole time during this byplay, Joe’s body stayed loose, his attitude light, and his eyes clear.

Christ, even Megan had to admit to a certain amount of trepidation, but Joe appeared cool, calm, and collected. Once the question had been asked and answered, he’d moved aside for Megan to go in front so he could cover her back.

Jesus.

Legs slightly weak, she walked to the car and got inside, never once looking at the four mobsters whose dark glares drilled holes into both her and Joe.

“Well that was fun. You do this all the time?” Joe’s joking voice held humor.

Shrugging, Megan answered without thinking. “It’s the job.”

“Excuse me? I thought you were a bodyguard?”

“I am. Like I said. It’s the part of the job when a person guards folks like Lucia who’s family runs with those types of criminals.” Praying he’d accept her answer and not delve further, she breathed a sigh of relief when he just chuckled. “Could have fooled me. You sure did remind me of a cop… just like that scumbag called you.”

“Yeah? Thanks.” Deciding they needed to change the subject, she asked, “What now?”

“Hell if I know. Not sure if you heard when you were crouched behind the curtain the other day, but my memory is on the blitz. Honestly, Vegas is a puzzle to me. I don’t have any recollection of the place. Guess I’ll leave it to you to decide where to next.”

While Joe drove, following Megan’s directions, she thought out loud, sharing with Joe in the same way she’d do with a partner. “I’m pretty sure that Lucia didn’t look online for places to go or she would have come across one of the youth centers we’ve covered. I’ve called the hospitals and nearby clinics just to be safe. Since none of them have any helpful information, I’m betting she doesn’t want to be found.”

“I agree. So you know, I reached out to a friend at the FBI, agent Kramer. He just got back to me. They got nothing either.”

“Yeah, me too. I have a friend who works for the LVPD. I figured it was time to check in with the local authorities to be on the lookout for her.”

Heading out onto the highway, Joe spoke, his disappointment obvious. “Let’s return to Vinnie’s and find out if he’s got anything. See what he’s decided to do next.”

Chapter Thirteen

Earlier, Joe had lied to Megan Whittall. The conversation she’d interrupted between Vinnie and himself hadn’t been finished. In fact, he knew he had to return to Vinnie’s estate to continue discussing their plans. The ASAC and Kramer were depending on his intel. And since they already had a poor opinion of him, he didn’t want to give them more ammunition. For some reason, in his heart, he still had a hard time believing he could have done the things they had proof of.

In fact, it made him feel queasy inside whenever he thought of the crimes they’d revealed. How the fuck could a man break all the rules of decency and not feel it? Wouldn’t that person have to be filled with hate or at the very least a darkness of the soul that would enable him to cheat others, steal, and break the law?

Yet, he had no way of knowing the truth other than to try and prove to everyone he’d changed. And to do so, he had to get the goods on Vinnie and his crew and help take them down. Becauseif he didn’t find a way to redeem himself, a jail cell in his future looked promising.

He glanced over at Megan and wondered how long she’d be sticking around with no Lucia to protect? Her whole demeanor gave him a feeling of well-being which was pretty silly when one thought about it. After all, he was the bad guy in this picture. He snuck another glance her way and saw her on her cellphone, her profile stunning. A smooth complexion of peaches and cream with full lips of cherry red intrigued him. Her dark hair seemed off somehow, too stark for such a fragile complexion but the curls were appealing.

Jesus… what the hell was he doing? Mooning over stuff he had no business thinking of. Yet… for such a beauty, she seemed unaware of her looks which made him feel drawn to her in more ways than he cared to admit. Hell, maybe she’d stay and help them find Lucia. Losing the young girl didn’t sit right with him no matter how one looked at it. And he’d swear she felt the same way.

Shaking off the retrospection, he accepted that the kid had to take priority right now. He’d seen her at a distance the first time he’d visited the estate. Didn’t know who she was. She’d been out walking, and he’d caught up, slowed down, and offered her a ride back to the house. She’d stopped to refuse and right from the first her demeanor had been rude. After staring him down, she seemed to come to a decision. Probably that he meant her no harm, which of course he didn’t, and so she’d backed off a little with the sassy bullshit.

“You a friend of my grandfather’s?”

“Actually, I’m an FBI agent. Seems we’re working together on some things.”

“Right. You’re the dirty cop I heard them talking about. Vinnie’s got you in his back pocket, helping him break the law.”

Uncomfortable now, he shot back. “Where’d you hear that stuff?”

“They made a mistake when I first arrived, giving me the run of the house and then leaving doors open.”

“Aha. A sneak. You’re mother ever tell you that’s not a nice trait?”

“My mother’s dead, and what’s not nice is selling drugs, dealing in prostitution, and gun running to name just a few of the things they mentioned.”

Gun running? That was news to him.“You got me there.” Joe felt his face redden.

Seeming to know she had made him uncomfortable, the kid got nastier. “You’ve been MIA and – and pissing my grandfather off. Did you know that? He’s been looking everywhere for you.”

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