Colton Undercover. Marie Ferrarella

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Chapter 2

      “Just remember, you don’t have access to a bottomless expense account.” Andrew Arroyo’s voice crackled a little, thanks to a poor cell phone connection. “The budget’s been cut, so be sure you watch how you throw that money around, Howard,” the FBI assistant director in charge of the San Antonio field office warned him. “Just because you’re supposed to be this big shot billionaire doesn’t mean you have to spend money like one. As a matter of fact,” Arroyo hinted helpfully, “a lot of billionaires are known to be tight when it comes to their money.”

      Josh was beginning to regret checking in with his superior so soon after arriving in Shadow Creek. He should have waited until he had something a little more solid by way of an alternate plan to offer the man.

      Still, Josh felt he needed to say something defensively before he found his hands completely tied in this little undercover drama he’d found himself taking part in.

      “I can’t exactly penny-pinch, Assistant Director Arroyo,” Josh told his boss matter-of-factly. “I am supposed to be a billionaire.”

      “The operative word here being ‘supposed to be,’” Arroyo pointed out.

      If he’d really liked Arroyo, he would have just kept quiet about this lecture. But he didn’t. Arroyo liked to micromanage everyone assigned to him and that wasn’t the way that Josh liked to operate.

      “That’s three words, sir,” Josh replied matter-of-factly.

      He could almost hear Arroyo scowling. The assistant director had the kind of scowl that took in every single part of his face. “Don’t nitpick, Howard.”

      “I won’t if you won’t, sir,” Josh responded. And then he grew serious as he tried to explain his position. It was the only plan he could think of to make himself privy to Leonor’s movements without arousing her suspicions. “It’s a work in progress, but the plan is to have Leonor Colton try to get close to me so she can try to convince me to donate to the museum.”

      “You can play hard to get,” Arroyo suggested. “Nothing makes a woman want a man more than if he acts as if he’s not interested.”

      In his opinion, his superior would be the last person anyone would go to for advice on getting close to a member of the opposite sex.

      “Which might explain why you’ve never been married,” Josh observed under his breath.

      “I heard that,” Arroyo snapped. “We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you and the Bureau’s rather limited expense account.”

      Calling Arroyo had definitely been a mistake on his part, Josh thought. He was just going to have to work things out to his own satisfaction. “As stimulating as this conversation is, sir, I’ve got a plan to get into motion. I’ll check in with you later,” Josh promised vaguely.

      Just before pigs begin to fly, he added silently.

      The next minute, Josh terminated the call and put away his cell phone before his superior could protest or say anything else.

      He was on his own, Josh thought, going back to the laptop he’d left open on the desk. Sitting down, he pulled up the site that had caught his eye. The one currently featuring the Everything’s Blogger in Texas story about the individual members of Livia Colton’s family.

      It contained, he couldn’t help thinking, an amazing amount of information, the kind that families generally liked being kept private. At least some of it had to be true, right?

      He went on reading.

      * * *

      Leonor opened the studio apartment door in response to the knock she’d heard. Mac was standing on the landing just beyond the wooden stairs that went down to the back of the stable. He looked just a little larger than life—the way he always did. Stepping back to give him access to the apartment, she looked at him curiously.

      “Something wrong?” she wanted to know.

      Mac crossed the threshold, but made no attempt to come in any farther. If she were to make a guess, she would have said that he looked a little uncomfortable, which was unusual for the man.

      “Don’t take this the wrong way, little girl,” he began, “because you know I care about you and I always have.”

      She didn’t think she liked the sound of this, but Mac had never been anything but kind to her. “What are you trying to tell me, Mac?”

      His kindly expression didn’t match the words that came out of his mouth. “Get out.”