His Christmas Assignment. Lisa Childs

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ own franchise now,” Nikki said. “I’m going to work for Cooper. You could, too. He’s bringing in his own team of former marines.”

      Candace hadn’t been a marine. But she had served.

      “Or with Parker,” Nikki continued, her voice lilting with enthusiasm. “He’s recruiting former cops. You’d fit in there, too.”

      “Logan would like you to come back to work for him,” Stacy said.

      Candace shook her head again. If that were true, he would have come himself; he wouldn’t have sent his wife and sister to find her. He might not even know that they’d been looking for her. So it was just curiosity that had her asking, “What’s his team going to be?”

      “Family,” Stacy replied.

      “I’m not family,” she said. “And that was made very clear to me.”

      “Is that why you left?” Nikki asked. “Because you thought there was too much nepotism—with me and Parker and Cooper?”

      “It wasn’t the Paynes that were the problem,” Stacy said, answering for her before Candace had had the chance. “It was the Kozminskis. We were why she quit.”

      Candace flinched at how petty she sounded. She wished that had been the reason she’d quit: pettiness. But fear was what had compelled her to quit. She hadn’t realized it at the time—because she had never acknowledged fear before. She wouldn’t have become a soldier or a cop if she had. So because she’d never acknowledged it before, she hadn’t recognized it.

      “Not all of you,” Candace said. “I have no problem with Milek. I actually feel sorry for him.”

      Stacy flinched now and quietly admitted, “I made a mistake.”

      Nikki glanced at her sister-in-law, and while there was affection, there was also disapproval in her dark eyes. “You kept a secret—a really big secret—from him.” The youngest Payne hated secrets and didn’t understand that there were reasons to keep them. To Nikki, there was only black and white.

      Candace understood gray. She had kept more than her share of other people’s secrets; that was another reason that she was always the buddy—the friend. She knew too much but she kept her mouth shut. “It wasn’t Stacy’s secret to tell.”

      A soft gasp of surprise slipped through Stacy’s lips. “I’m glad Nikki tracked you down.”

      Candace shrugged. “It doesn’t matter that you did. I’m not going back.” Not to Payne Protection. Maybe not even to River City.

      “Why not?” Nikki asked the question.

      Candace suspected Stacy knew. The woman’s dark gray gaze was focused on her as she studied her intensely. What had Garek told her?

      She fought the urge to blush. Surely, he wouldn’t have told his sister...

      But what if he’d told anyone else or everyone else? Despite her best efforts, her face flushed again. So she turned away from them to gaze out the window. Snow drifted softly to the ground but melted as soon as it hit the grass. The weather was unseasonably warm for December—which had caused the ski resort to be unusually quiet. “I like it here.”

      It was quiet. It was safe. Due to the weather leaving the slopes more green than white, it was nearly deserted. So it was boring as hell.

      “Why?” Nikki asked the question again, her voice full of confusion. She wanted excitement—had been fighting Logan for years to put her in the field. She didn’t understand that sometimes boredom was good.

      “It’s pretty here,” Stacy answered for her as she stepped closer to the window and Candace and watched the big fluffy flakes fall onto the grass. “And it’s peaceful. I can see its appeal.”

      Candace turned back toward them. Even if she ignored them, they weren’t going away. She might as well hear them out.

      Unconvinced, Nikki shook her head. “I can’t. You need to come back, Candace. The agency is taking off right now. We’re busy as hell. We need you.”

      Stacy said nothing—to Candace. Instead she turned to her sister-in-law and asked, “Will you give us a few minutes alone?”

      Nikki nodded and headed toward the door. “Hope your pitch works better than mine did.”

      Candace waited until the door closed behind Nikki then asked, “Why would you give me a pitch? Why would you care whether or not I came back?”

      “Because I care about my brother.”

      Candace had never had a problem recognizing fear in others. She heard it now in Stacy’s voice. “What are you talking about?”

      And what had Garek told her?

      “I’m losing him.”

      “Milek?” That was who they were talking about? Candace had never had a problem with the younger Kozminski brother, but she’d never had a relationship with him either. Not that she had a relationship with Garek either. She’d had just that one, unforgettable night...

      Stacy’s breath escaped in a shaky little sigh. “I think I already lost Milek. And now I’m losing Garek, too.”

      “Have they quit, too?”

      Stacy shook her head. “No. They both get along with Logan.”

      Candace couldn’t suppress a smile. Men were so simple. They could go from being archenemies one minute to best friends the next. Maybe that was why she’d always gotten along better with them than women. “Then I don’t understand what you want me to do. If Logan can’t help you mend fences with your brothers, I certainly can’t.”

      “I don’t want you to help me mend fences,” Stacy said.

      Her patience worn thin, she asked, “Then what do you want?”

      Stacy’s dark gray eyes glistened as tears welled in them. “I want you to help me stop Garek from getting himself killed.”

      While she hated to admit it, she found herself leaping to his defense. “He’s handled himself well in a lot of dangerous situations. He’ll be fine.”

      “Not this time,” Stacy insisted. “Not with these people.”

      “Did he take that assignment with the starlet?” That was another reason she’d gone off the grid and rented a place with no TV and no internet. She hadn’t wanted anyone or anything to find her—to disturb her peace. If only she’d really found peace...

      Stacy shook her head. “No. Logan sent Milek. Garek had already taken another assignment—one he sought out on his own. He’s going back to his old life, Candace. He’s working for Viktor Chekov.”

      Candace should have felt vindicated. It was what she’d been saying about him all along—that he hadn’t changed. But over the past year she had watched him closely, nearly as closely as he’d watched her, and she’d never seen any evidence that he was still a thief. He’d worked hard—nearly as hard as he’d СКАЧАТЬ