The Agent's Surrender. Kimberly Van Meter

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СКАЧАТЬ standing rigid, looking as if she’d just sucked a lemon, but she forced a smile. “See you tomorrow. Be prepared to work. I want to get this over with. Some of us have real work to do and don’t have time to chase fairy tales.”

      He chuckled. “Nice try, but I don’t bait that easily. Good night, Fallon.” He shut the door before she could retort. Work with Fallon? Nope. That woman was the original ice queen. And to think at one time he’d thought he was falling in love with her. What a joke. Besides, he worked alone. Fallon could do whatever she pleased as long as she stayed out of his way.

      * * *

      That’d gone about as well as she’d expected. But a girl could hope, right? Of course, she hadn’t expected him to welcome her into his home with open arms and offer her a beer, but she hadn’t quite expected him to be so rude. Well, yes she had. They weren’t buddies, and she preferred it that way.

      She walked with strong, purposeful strides to her car, suppressing a shiver at the bitter cold of a Washington, D.C., winter, and pushed the reality of working with Holden as far from her mind as possible. She was a strong investigator. Holden couldn’t have anything in his hot little hand that would change the outcome of her investigation. And that was exactly what she’d tell her father in about fifteen minutes, when she was expected for dinner with her brothers.

      There was a chance her father, retired Major General Gregory Fallon, hadn’t heard of this recent development, but then her father still had scarily deep connections, and a reverberation of this sort was bound to ripple some water under the boats. However, if he didn’t mention it, she’d keep the information to herself.

      She walked into her father’s house and followed the sound of voices to the living room, where her father and two brothers, Ian and Walker, sat enjoying a beer and talking shop. For a brief moment, a familiar envy arced across her heart for their easily defined relationships. Simply put, The Major was openly proud of his marine sons for their varied accomplishments, but when it came to his marine daughter, he always found cause to criticize. What would it be like to sit and enjoy a beer with her dad like her brothers did? The Major frowned upon women drinking—he said they lacked the constitution to handle their liquor. Yeah, her dad was unapologetically sexist and there was nothing she could do about it, least of all change him. Time to run the gauntlet. “Hey, Dad,” she said, announcing herself as she entered the room.

      “There she is, only a little bit late this time,” The Major said with a wink at Ian, who laughed at her expense.

      “Work kept me late,” she said, hating the defensiveness of her tone. “Reed threw me a big case,” she added, though she immediately wished she hadn’t.

      “Oh?” her older brother, Walker, said, intrigued. “Anything as good as that Archangelo case?”

      Her dad grunted. “Those Archangelo boys, waste of good military training... Twisted branches never grow into strong oaks,” he said, repeating the same bit of advice he’d shoved down her throat when he’d found out about her and Holden.

      “Yes, Dad, I’m well aware of your feelings about Holden,” she said, mildly irritated that she found herself defending the man. “But Holden is nothing like his brother—he’s a good investigator with a solid record.”

      The Major shook his head. “The man has no respect for authority, which points to a weak character. Add in the fact that Miko was Holden’s twin...mark my words, he’ll show his true colors sooner or later.”

      Why was she wasting time defending Holden when she knew there was no winning this argument with her father? Total waste of energy. She’d long ago learned to pick her battles, and this situation was no different.

      “So what’s the big case?” Walker asked.

      “I don’t have details yet,” she hedged. “I will know more in a few days.” Her father narrowed a speculative gaze at her, as if he were reading her mind and discovering her secrets, and she suffered an uncomfortable moment. “When I can divulge details I will,” she clarified. Anytime she tried to act as their equal, they managed to shoot her down with the equivalent of an indulgent pat on the head. Well, that was how her brothers handled it. Her father? He just got that look on his face that said, “Girl, you’ll never be as good as your brothers because you’re a woman and incapable of critical thinking” and she ended up doing and saying something that invariably started an argument. So tonight, she was determined to steer clear of any potential land mines. Yet...she’d just lobbed a big one in her own path. Self-destructive much? “I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

      The Major grunted and returned to his sons. “Walker, tell us about the latest detail in Afghanistan.”

      “Dad, you know I’m not supposed to talk about that—it’s classified,” he said, winking at their father. The Major laughed as if they were sharing a big private joke, and Jane hated she couldn’t just enjoy an evening with her family like normal folks. Her thoughts wandered to Holden, and she pushed them back. She didn’t want to think of him. Not now. She was already surrounded by big, tall, muscular numbskulls with too much testosterone. She certainly didn’t need to muddy her brain with one more.

      “Dad, how was the summit?” she asked, trying to steer the conversation. “Anything worth reporting?”

      “Bunch of politicians jockeying to be top dog,” he said. “Nothing new. Food was adequate for the situation, but I was more than happy to be home where a man can get a decent steak.”

      Adequate. Top chefs catered the military summit each year. It was mildly gratifying to know her father was difficult to please on all fronts. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t be eating so much steak at your age,” she countered. “Your cholesterol is probably through the roof.”

      “My cholesterol is fine,” her dad said. Then his brow arched in a knowing fashion, and Jane’s stomach flopped. He knew and he’d simply been waiting for a convenient segue. Damn the man’s connections. He probably had a line to God so he knew when to pack an umbrella. “Let’s get back on topic. Jane, an interesting conversation floated my way concerning the investigation you closed on that Archangelo man.”

      “Yes? Such as?” she asked, feigning polite interest when she really wanted to forgo eating and split this dinner invitation. She grabbed a handful of pretzels and tossed one back. “Anything good?”

      “Talk is that his brother is asking questions.”

      “Well, that’s not surprising. It was his brother after all,” she answered, trying not to choke on the pretzel. “What’s the big deal?”

      “The big deal is the whole I.D. debacle was an embarrassment to this country and everyone is ready to put it to bed. You did a decent job closing that investigation to everyone’s satisfaction. Perhaps you could persuade your peer to let sleeping dogs lie,” The Major suggested, but his tone told her it was anything but. She hated when her dad pulled rank. “I.D. was a toxic extension of the government that ended up with gangrene. Many good people went down on that ship. No one wants to dredge it up again.”

      “I told him that,” she said, biting her tongue too late. She looked to her brothers for help, but they were watching her as keenly as their father was. Damn boys. They stuck together, no matter what. Well, cat’s out of the bag. No sense dancing around. She tossed back the last pretzel and said, “He’s never going to stop asking questions. He doesn’t believe Miko was guilty.”

      “The guy was caught red-handed,” Ian said with a snort. “He couldn’t have been more guilty СКАЧАТЬ