Page 66 of The Hacker
It was harder not to roll her eyes this time.
“We’ll see you at Arthur’s. First beer’s on me.” Chad smiled, but something in the tightness of his jaw was not friendly.
“That certainly sweetened the pot. I’ll be sure to join the fun now.” There might have been a wee bit of sarcasm in her tone. “I have to get home to change for the celebration.”
In four strides she was through the door. As she walked home in the gathering dusk, she groaned at the thought of treading the fine line of being kind to Josh while making it clear that he had no chance with her. She wished Tiffany hadn’t shared that particular bit of gym gossip with her. Ignorance was bliss, in this case.
Her step quickened as she realized she needed to shower and change before she called Leland. She didn’t want to have to rush their conversation since all they could do tonight was talk.
Damn Chad and Tiffany! She started to jog.
The encrypted phone began to dance across Leland’s desk. A blip of something that might be happiness dinged in his chest as he seized the cell. “Dawn! I was going to call you soon.” He’d forced himself not to dial her the moment he thought she might get home.
“I hope you can talk now. I got roped into going to a birthday party for one of the trainers at nine.” Her voice dropped into a flirtatious purr. “I’m told he has a crush on me, so I have to give him a birthday kiss.”
“I am extremely envious of him.” He could hear the rasp in his own voice as he pictured her soft lips pressed against another man’s mouth. “Don’t make it too good.”
Her laugh was light and delicious. “I wouldn’t have gone but Chad was being unusually persistent tonight. That man is beyond irritating.”
“Chad was worse than normal?” Leland lost all desire to flirt. “That worries me.”
“He’s just a harmless jerk. I know his type. Besides, I have Tully’s bodyguard to keep me safe, right?”
“You have two shadows now. Tully has some gut instinct that makes him think something will happen tonight, so he doubled up.” In fact it was Leland who had insisted on that.
“Wow! Really?”
Chad’s refusal to take no for an answer combined with Tully’s forecast of activity sent a chill down Leland’s spine. “Where’s the party?”
“At a bar called Arthur’s. Why?”
“How are you getting there?”
“Walking. It’s not far from my building.”
Leland put the phone on speaker and did a fast search on his computer. It would take her about eleven minutes to walk there. “Dawn, be very careful. Stay with people you trust at all times. And stay away from the gym!”
“You’re making me nervous.” There was a tension in her voice that made his chest ache.
“As much as I hate worrying you, that’s a good thing because you’ll be alert.” Uneasiness hollowed out his chest. “I don’t like this at all. I need to tell Tully and then I’ll call you back.”
“I only have another twenty minutes before I have to leave.” He could hear the disappointment in her voice.
“I’ll get back to you before then. And if you’re awake, we can talk after the party.” He deliberately slowed the cadence of his speech. “Maybe while you’re in bed?”
He heard the catch in her breath and congratulated himself on giving her something else to focus on. Although now he couldn’t stop himself from picturing her spread naked across that green comforter of hers, her skin glowing, her eyes heavy lidded, her hand cupping ... He pulled himself up short.
“I’ll be sure to get home by ten,” she said, the purr back in her voice.
“I’ll be waiting for your call.” He put all kinds of undertones into the sentence and then disconnected and headed for Tully’s office.
His partner was talking into a phone headset but waved Leland into a chair in front of his desk.
“I want someone on the roof across Park Street with a camera.” Tully stared at his computer monitor, his eyes narrowed. “Use the fire escape on the north side. Remember this is a DNA operation. Do not approach, surveillance only. We don’t want to spook them. Let me know when we’re set up.” He pulled off the headset. “What’s up?”
“You’ve got two people watching Dawn now, right?”
“They just reported in. She’s at her apartment. No signs of unwelcome interest.”
