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“This is ridiculous, Agent Rhodes.”
“Cut the agent bit. It’s too easy to slip up in front of the wrong person. Call me Erren or honey or babe.”
She watched him fix that gorgeous smile back on his face. Yes, it was totally for her benefit. And it was halfway doing its job.
“It doesn’t matter. I won’t be approved to work with you.”
“Who are we asking?”
Erren stared as O’Malley didn’t crack a smile.
“You aren’t sanctioned for this operation?” She continued to nervously drum her fingers on the console between the seats. “There’s no chance your supervisor can help clear this incident? No safe contact?”
“Let’s say the DEA will be ecstatic when I’m not causing any more problems. Pike was my safe contact. Always has been.”
“Good grief, you can’t mean to find Pike’s killer completely on your own. Especially with no plan or backup or resources.”
“I’ve got you, babe.”
“Why do you need me?”
Erren had no specific answer, but wasn’t it obvious? She wasn’t his partner, only an unanswered question in his investigation.
“Somehow Pike’s death has connected us, O’Malley.”
“Do you have a theory about that?”
“I don’t know who left the map leading me to your house.” Had she opened her eyes the slightest bit wider? “Maybe you do. Can we discuss this while you drive?”
Glowering, his reluctant detective turned the key, shoved her Camry in gear and merged back into traffic. The photo had come from Butthead. His working theory? Beavis and Butthead would pick him up, follow the map and kill them both in her living room, leaving the picture. He didn’t know why yet…it was only a theory.
But something more than Pike’s picture had convinced her to come with him. He didn’t care why as long as she delivered Pike’s stuff and he could finish the job. He would find the murderer, give him what he deserved and disappear. Simple. Yeah, he definitely had a plan.
“Tell me exactly what’s going on.”
“I was ambushed. My cover’s blown. And my Dallas handler disappeared when shots were fired.”
“If they decided to take you out, no offense, but it wouldn’t require an ambush or shooting their own men. And that doesn’t explain the Dallas P.D.’s involvement.”
That x-ray vision of hers was starting to unnerve him. She looked as if she could see through the persona he cloaked himself with on the street. The same personality that had kept him alive for six years. He couldn’t afford to exchange innuendos or smiles with her, just the facts.
“It was a setup. Whoever was at the end of the alley wasn’t with Beavis and Butthead. Those two guys were as surprised to see the cops as I was.”
“Or impersonators,” she said loyally. She wasn’t naïve, just staunch. Even after a dirty cop tried to kill her.
“I tried to surrender, but they kept firing.”
“And missed.” There she went shaking her head again. “So what were they really after? Your credibility? What’s your usual procedure when something like this happens?”
“Never happened.”
Why did he suddenly sound as if he was lying? He was an excellent liar. But he was telling the truth. So why did her questioning make him feel like a liar? He must have hit his head harder than he remembered. “I have to be close to something, because they want me out of the picture. But why not dead?”
“Dead doesn’t go away.” Her voice was emotionless and unsettling. “It gets cops crawling out of the woodwork, which is something they probably don’t need.”
Right answer. And logical. Pike had said O’Malley was one of the best. Yeah, she might have that rare quality he could admire. And admiration wasn’t something he spared for too many people—especially cops. Strangely, it was there the first time he’d looked into the detective’s emerald-green eyes. And he still didn’t know her first name.
“If I help you—”
“If?” Better for her to know there wasn’t a choice.
She shot him a look like… Just what was that look? Cute, yes. That one curious eyebrow thing suggested he was the crazy one and she was totally in control.
“If I decide to help you, we’re partners,” she stated.
“Now wait a minute.”
“Equal in all decisions.”
“I don’t care how much undercover experience you think you have.”
“Equals.” Looking straight ahead, she was confident again and his insides were jumping.
“Nope.” He didn’t really have a choice and he could see the control slipping from his fingers. What was it about this woman that got under his skin? “No way.”
Lie.
All he had to do was lie. Agree with her until he got the package. Other than “south,” she’d given no other directions. He still didn’t have a clue where they were headed. He could lead her to believe they were collaborating. Nothing new about that. So why did he feel compelled to be honest?
“This is for real, O’Malley. Don’t think for a second they won’t kill us.” Even in the dark, he was certain her knuckles turned white from her death grip on the wheel. “We can pretend to be equals, but it’ll be my experience that’s going to keep us alive. Got it?”
Truth had spewed from his mouth. She must have agreed since she didn’t disagree. He leaned back in the seat, very aware of the condition of his clothes. Everything hurt. His side wasn’t exactly on fire, but it wasn’t nice and comfy either. He clamped his hand over the wet gauze. As long as he stayed immobile he was fine, but he needed a couple of stitches or some Krazy Glue.
“I guess you should issue your orders using my name. It’s Darby.”
The unusual name fit. Darby O’Malley. Nice. A complete Irish bundle with dazzling red hair.
“Can you make out that alert sign?” she asked.
They were on a major thoroughfare cutting through Dallas, and the flashing alert ahead of them had nothing to do with road construction.
“Abducted. White female. Suspect armed. Silver Camry TX SGT MJR3.” It was worse than he’d originally thought, but he couldn’t let O’Malley know that. “You have personalized plates?”
“How can they think I was abducted? He said he was a cop.”
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