Page 34 of A Soldier's Temptation
“That makes me feel a teensy bit better.”
“Good. Why don’t you get changed and I’ll pour us some wine? We can watch a movie and relax. How does that sound?”
“Great. But Mr. Darcy needs to go for a walk first.”
“Okay, I’ll take him. You’re not leaving the apartment, remember? Unless we want your protection team breathing down our necks.”
“Oh crap. I forgot. I’m sorry you’re stuck with all of this. Do you mind taking him?”
“Of course not, we get along great, don’t we, buddy?”
A low “woof” followed by the thumping of Mr. Darcy’s tail against the wood floor made it clear John was right.
“Okay, but remember, Mr. Darcy, you better behave or we’ll be tossed into a safe house with mean strangers.”
As if he understood exactly what she’d said, he licked her hand and she’d swear he smiled at her. Dogs don’t smile, do they?
John chuckled, kissed the side of her neck and then went to find Mr. Darcy’s leash. Did he really believe what he said? That she wasn’t to blame. If she could convince herself she wasn’t at fault, maybe she’d be able to get rid of the guilt she carried around. Who knew how many innocent lives were in danger because of the stolen information. Living with the knowledge that someone could have been hurt or worse had been eating her alive for the last eight months.
Mr. Darcy nudged her and licked her hand. “It’s okay, I know you love me. And I love you more than anything.” She bent to kiss him on the head as John returned.
“Hold on, you love the dog more than anything? Where does that leave me?”
“Sloppy seconds?”
“Eww, make that stinky seconds, maybe. No more buttered bread for you, Darcy. That’s a horrific smell you let loose.”
Ari couldn’t stop laughing. The look on John’s face as he wrinkled his nose was hysterical. He was right though, it was a ripe one. But in all fairness, it’s not like he hadn’t known Mr. Darcy was a fart cannon when he invited them to stay.
“I better get him outside before he lets something besides a toxic gas balloon loose in here.”
She was still giggling as John dropped a soft kiss on her lips and took the dog for a walk.
* * *
Yellow crime scene tape crisscrossed the door to Ari’s apartment and Mr. Darcy whimpered as they walked past. John understood, their girl was in danger and they needed to make sure she stayed safe.
“It’s okay, boy. We’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”
He hadn’t been worried about leaving her alone in the apartment. Colin had added an extra agent to her detail. Besides the agent outside, there was one in the lobby of the building monitoring all access on and off their floor. She might be his woman, but she was the witness on Colin’s case and he had to follow orders too. He understood but it still irked him.
Something Ariana had said to Chase made him wonder if the second phone was what the conspirators were after. It was worth a call to Colin to check, because if the FBI didn’t have the phone, then it was out there somewhere, and they needed to find it.
“Rogers.”
“Hey, Ariana mentioned that Chen had a second phone. Does the FBI have it?”
“The second phone? I haven’t heard anything about it. I guess you and Ari have been chatting. I’ll double-check the files but when we picked him up he only had one phone and it was clean. Maybe that’s what they were searching for?”
“That’s what I was thinking. I don’t think she remembered it until tonight when Chase and I were asking her to tell us what happened.”
“Dammit, that’s why we told her to keep a journal. So it would trigger memories like that.”
“It’s not like she did it on purpose. I’m betting the shock today might have knocked the memory loose.”
“Maybe. I’ll get back to you when I have an answer. And remember, you are only supposed to help keep her safe. You’re not cleared for this investigation.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. But if we turn something up, I’m not going to ignore it.”
