The Agent's Surrender. Kimberly Van Meter

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      He chuckled. “What a ball buster. Your family must be so proud. Tell me, Fallon, when was your father aware he had three sons instead of two?”

      “I hate to break it to you, but you suck at stand-up comedy. Perhaps an alternative career in sanitation would be more suited for your skill set.”

      “Ouch. Sanitation...that’s brutal. Are you calling me a piece of shit or just implying I’m only good for cleaning it up?”

      “Take your pick.” She shrugged.

      Damn, this was gonna be one long week.

      * * *

      Jane was fuming. If she were a cartoon character, heat waves would’ve been steaming from the top of her head. She hated how Holden had manipulated her into opening this case, when in fact there’d been no true reason to do so. Now if she went to Reed and admitted she’d fallen for Holden’s bait, she’d end up looking like the weak-minded investigator who had no confidence in her skills. And now he was trying to joke? Even worse, bring up their sexual history? Who the hell did he think he was? She found nothing funny about the situation and she sure as hell didn’t appreciate him throwing in an inappropriate sexual reference. If she thought she could get away with it, she might’ve unloaded a clip into his numbskull. “What do you hope to find at the bar?” she asked in a clipped tone. “And if you thought there was something at the bar, why didn’t you look before now?”

      “Because I wasn’t thinking clearly after I heard the news about my brother. It’s called grief.”

      Oh, good gravy. She had to let that pass or else she’d end up looking like a heartless bitch. “Don’t you think if you had such a tight bond with your brother he would have told you he was in some kind of trouble?”

      “Yes.” He nodded but added, “Unless he thought doing so would put me in danger. A few months before he died, he’d been acting really strange. Evasive. Twitchy, even. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve said he was doing drugs, but my brother was against illegal substances. We’d both seen too many good soldiers get messed up by meth or heroin. My brother would never touch that shit.”

      “But if you were so close, why didn’t you try to pin him down and get the answers?”

      “I tried. By that point, my brother must’ve been in too deep and I couldn’t reach him. At the time, I thought Miko was just going through a weird phase and maybe needed some space. It happens with twins—going your whole life attached to another human being, you sort of lose your own identity—so I figured it might be something like that. But it wasn’t, and by the time I realized something bad was about to happen he was dead.”

      “And you have no idea what he could’ve been into?”

      “No. His work with I.D. was classified, and honestly, I didn’t think I needed to care. It wasn’t until he started acting weird that I realized maybe I ought to poke my nose where it didn’t belong.”

      “And what makes you think Miko didn’t know what he was doing?”

      He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he did, but he was trapped by circumstance. Sometimes when you’re knee-deep in mud and you’re sinking fast, your first and only thought is staying alive. Maybe that’s what happened.”

      That was a lot of maybe. “You’re going to need a lot more than flimsy theory to make any meaningful change to your brother’s file. Unfortunately, brotherly love doesn’t supersede the facts.”

      He bristled with mild insult. “Of course not. I would never expect it to, but when you have a man who has lived his life by a certain code of honor and prides himself on being someone you can respect, ignoring the clues to dig deeper is just lazy investigating.”

      Did he just call her lazy? The man had balls. “Do not ever call me lazy. Just because you’re having a hard time accepting facts doesn’t mean you get to throw my skills under the bus. I went above and beyond to find the answers. More was at stake than just your brother’s life. High-ranking officials were killed, and I.D.’s rot caused the disintegration of an entire department. I’d say more than your brother’s honor was destroyed.”

      “You’re right,” he conceded, but followed by saying, “but my brother’s honor is all that I care about.”

      Jane knew he spoke with raw honesty. He’d do anything to prove his brother’s innocence, which made her wonder—would he be willing to lie to save his brother’s ass? She’d have to keep a close eye on him.

      Holden might be just as dangerous as Miko in an entirely different way.

Chapter 5

      Reed Harris shook hands with his unexpected visitor, curious as to why Ulysses Rocha, one of the owners of Tessara Pharmaceuticals, had requested an audience. Ulysses, who, also with extensive military experience, had turned to the private sector for more lucrative opportunities; and in spite of the negative press incurred by the situation involving Penelope Granger, another high-profile shareholder, Tessara Pharm was still turning a substantial profit.

      “Forgive me, but what is this about?” he asked, getting straight to the point. Ulysses, a barrel-chested man with eyes as hard as flint, cracked a smile that looked entirely out of place on his face, making Reed wonder what the hell was truly going on. “It isn’t every day that I receive requests for a meeting outside of certain circles.”

      “I can appreciate that. As you know, Tessara Pharm has suffered a number of unfortunate events lately, most notably with one of our major founders, Penelope Granger, aka Penny Winslow, who was found guilty of running I.D. as her own personal hit squad through her association with Tom Wyatt.”

      “Yes, I am aware,” Reed said. “Corruption is an equal-opportunity contaminant.”

      “Yes, so it would seem. Tessara Pharm has suffered its fair share of bad press, and as such, we would be happy to leave all that sordid business in the past, as you can well imagine.”

      “Of course.”

      “So when we heard the case involving Miko Archangelo had been reopened, we were concerned how that might affect Tessara Pharm.”

      Ah...the true reason for the visit. “These things happen. New evidence cropped up and we’re obligated to follow the trail wherever it may lead.”

      “New evidence?” At Reed’s noncommittal nod, Ulysses frowned. “What possible new evidence could there be? Both Penny and Miko are dead and I.D. has been shut down.”

      “Let’s put a pin in that question for a moment and draw attention to a question I have—how exactly do you have knowledge of a classified investigation? As far as I’m aware, Tessara Pharm is not on the executive payroll...or is it?”

      A slow, cold smile spread across his face, as if amused that Reed was questioning him. That alone was enough to get the man thrown out, but something stayed Reed’s hand. Something wasn’t right and it wasn’t just that Ulysses was trying to pry information out of him.

      The man cocked his head to the side. “Let’s just say that people in high places have expressed an interest in seeing that the СКАЧАТЬ