Cash frowned at her. “I can’t pay you a compliment?”

“You won’t win me over with flattery.”

“Flattery implies I’m lying.”

He had moved closer to her. “Aren’t you always?” She wasn’t threatened by the closeness. She would stand her ground and make him move first.

“I wasn’t lying. You know you’re gorgeous. Every man and woman on the team thinks so. I’m the only one bold enough to say it to your face.”

She scoffed. “You can’t possibly know what everyone else is thinking about me.”

“Again, I have a talent for reading people. When people look at you, they have the same interest in their eyes that I have. You’re so beautiful they need to look for an extra few seconds to take it all in. But unlike most of the people on our team, I plan to do something about it.”

“What is it you’re planning to do?” she asked, unable to help herself.

“I’ll win you over and make you forget how much you dislike me. Once that’s out of the way, you’ll see that I have a great many talents you may enjoy.”

Taken by

the Con

C.J. Miller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

C.J. MILLER loves to hear from her readers and can be contacted through her website, cj-miller.com. She lives in Maryland with her husband, son and daughter. C.J. believes in first loves, second chances and happily ever after.

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To my big brother Shawn. Master of the art of persuasion, the definition of grace under pressure and loyal to a fault. I’m glad you’re on my side.

Contents

Cover

Excerpt

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

Lucia Huntington peeled off her blue-and-white-pinstriped blouse and dropped it in her dry-cleaning bag. She’d spilled coffee down the front of her shirt at her morning meeting, the first in a series of bungles that had lined her day.

At least the day was over, paperwork filed and everyone’s notes reviewed and approved. After she returned her mother’s phone call, she’d have a few hours to sleep before she did it all again tomorrow.

A knock sounded on her door. Lucia hadn’t buzzed anyone into the building, but her neighbor Audrey from across the hall periodically stopped by before she went out for the night. Audrey had a great sense of humor and would provide some comic relief after Lucia’s dreadful day. On her way to the door, Lucia took another sip from the glass of wine she had been drinking.

Looking through the peephole and seeing David “Cash” Stone’s face stirred several emotions, primary among them anxiety. Ever since he strode into her morning meeting with his cocky swagger and dark hair, captivating sapphire eyes and buff shoulders, Lucia had been controlling her libido’s overreaction. Sexy with a hint of danger, everything about him screamed warnings. He was a take-no-prisoners kind of man. If she gave him an inch, he would take a mile.

Her workday was over and that meant she didn’t have to deal with him. This was her turf.

Another tap sounded on the door. “Come on, Lucia. I know you’re home.”

Not willing to hide in her condo like a coward and wait for him to leave, Lucia grabbed a coat off the coatrack and pulled it on over her bra. She wasn’t a love-struck teenager and she was in control of her hormones. Composing herself, she pulled open the door and met Cash’s steely stare. It was as if he was seeing right through her cool facade to the part of her that was panting and restless just looking at him.

“Can I help you?” she asked. She had other questions, like “How do you know where I live?” and “How did you get past my building’s security?” but she’d stick with the one that would get rid of him fast. The less time she had to spend with Cash Stone the better.

He leaned against the doorjamb. “Aren’t you going to ask me in?”

His visit was inappropriate at best, but Cash played by his own rules. He radiated charisma and self-assurance on top of his playboy good looks, and most women found the combination irresistible. Lucia wasn’t most women. She had hard-won, carefully exercised control.

Since knowing about his criminal past didn’t put a damper on her lust, she needed to find something physically wrong with him and latch on to it. The one physical flaw she could find was that his secondhand clothes lacked style. She needed to mentally harp on that point and banish any sensual ideas of him. He wasn’t someone she was planning to date. He wasn’t part of her personal life. He was the con man skilled in fraud, counterfeiting and high-tech crimes, brought in to help in an important investigation. He had an abundance of confidence and he was an untrustworthy criminal, a dangerous combination.

“I am not asking you in,” she said. “I don’t fraternize with my coworkers in my home.”

He laughed. The gun at her hip tingled against her skin. Were her instincts sending her a warning? Cash was remarkably bold and she was tempted to close the door in his face. She clamped down on the urge. She wouldn’t have an emotional outburst and let him know he’d gotten to her. Unacceptable.

“Benjamin wants us to make nice,” Cash said.

Lucia gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to make nice with Cash Stone. She wanted him gone. “Benjamin has not advised me of that.” She was out of the loop on matters concerning her team. With Cash joining today, she was the second newest member, but she was supposed to be Benjamin’s right hand. As the assistant special agent in charge, or ASAC, she should be consulted on matters affecting the team. In reality, her new job duties were paperwork and spending extralong hours at the office.

“Check your phone,” Cash said.

Lucia left the door and grabbed her phone from the counter. Sure enough, there was a text from her boss: Cash on his way over. Make it work. We need him.

Annoyance caused a rush of heat to flame up her neck. Lucia set the phone on the counter and shook the irritation off her face. When she turned around, she smiled. “We don’t have a problem. As long as you don’t break the law or run a con on me, we’ll be fine.”

“I think you’re forgetting that Benjamin hired me because I can read people and I know you’re lying. I piss you off and I need to know why.” Cash was darkly good-looking and maybe he was accustomed to every woman falling at his feet. He’d have to learn she wasn’t every woman and she didn’t throw herself at men.

“Benjamin cut a deal with you because you have connections to a criminal we’re hunting, and catching that criminal will make him look good for a promotion he wants.” There. That should set Cash straight. He had skills they could use, but she wasn’t giving his ego a boost by acknowledging them.

Broad shoulders lifted. “He hired me for both reasons. Tell me why you can’t stand me. No one else on the team has a problem with me.”

That her team had welcomed and embraced him added to her agitation. They hadn’t been nearly as warm with her. Lucia shouldn’t have a problem with Cash. She didn’t know why he got under her skin. She dealt with criminals on a weekly basis. She’d been on stakeouts and watched scumbags commit crimes. She’d been undercover and lived with the lowest of the low. It hadn’t taken a personal toll.

But Cash Stone grated on her. “You shouldn’t have been released from prison. You need to serve your time. With you at my back, I’ll be waiting for you to put a bullet in it.”

What she’d said was blunt, but that was how she rolled these days.

His eyes sparkled with amusement. Was he enjoying this? If she’d hoped to get a rise out of him, she’d failed.

“I am serving my time. For the remaining three years of my sentence, I’ll be chained to you.” He lifted his pant leg to show her the ankle monitor. “You can trust me to do my job. If I don’t, I’ll earn myself seven more years in prison.”

“Unless you skip town before you’ve worked your three years,” she said.

“Won’t happen,” he said. “I want you to give me a real chance and treat me like everyone else on the team.”

Lucia rolled her eyes. He would run the first chance he had. Men like Cash didn’t change. He was a con man and a felon. He was probably conning her now, saying what he thought she’d want to hear. She wouldn’t mince words with a known liar. “You can count on me to behave professionally.”

“I don’t know what it’s like at the FBI, but in my world, professionally doesn’t include showing your colleagues you hit the gym six days a week.”

“What are you—”

He gestured at her and she looked down. In her anger, she’d set her hands on her hips, which had opened her jacket and given him a view of her white lace bra and bare stomach. Fantastic. She’d flashed a convict.

She refused to show remorse or embarrassment. “You came to my home. Deal with it.”

His eyes were wide and a smirk played across his lips. “Gladly.”

Lucia pulled together the jacket. He was infuriating. “How did you get in here, anyway?”

Cash tipped his head to the side. “Do you want me to point out the security weaknesses in your building? It won’t help you sleep better at night.”

“I sleep fine at night next to my gun,” Lucia said. The words weren’t intended as a threat. They were the truth. Lucia worked hard to practice constant vigilance. In her line of work, she made enemies. She wouldn’t be someone’s victim.

“Benjamin wants us to move past the hostility.”

It wouldn’t happen. At least, not until she’d had time to figure how to get Cash kicked off the team. They didn’t need him to crack this case. She could find Clifton Anderson and the hundreds of millions he’d embezzled. She’d return the money to the people it belonged to, people who were counting on that money. She didn’t need a felon to help her.

“Stay out of my way in the field and we won’t have a problem,” she said.

“Then you won’t mind if I join you for happy hour tomorrow after work?”

Lucia felt the familiar sting of rejection. Someone had already invited him to the weekly happy hour. Lucia hadn’t been invited to it, although she’d overheard others talking about it. She was an outsider on her own team. Again.

Cash was too charming for his own good, but she pegged his laid-back, easy demeanor as hiding something dark and dangerous. “You should do whatever you want,” Lucia said.

“What’s that scent?” he asked.

She didn’t smell anything, but her condo was over that of a gourmet chef and she had grown accustomed to the tantalizing smells that wafted to her place. “Maybe it’s trash.” She might as well dump on the conversation. She didn’t want to have a gourmet-food discussion with Cash.

“It’s not trash. It’s something delicious. Earthy. Sexy.” He leaned forward and inhaled. “There it is.”

Outrage jolted her at the same time her legs tightened and heat pooled between them. “You cannot speak to me like that.” Boundaries. They desperately needed boundaries.

Cash frowned at her. “I can’t pay you a compliment?”

“You won’t win me over with flattery.”

“Flattery implies I’m lying.”

He had moved closer to her. He smelled like a fresh shower and spices, a scent she enjoyed but ignored. The kitchen breakfast bar was at her back and Cash was standing a few inches from her. He was six inches taller, but when he looked at her she felt as if they were eye to eye. “Aren’t you always?” She wasn’t threatened by the closeness, but he’d view it as weakness if she asked him to back away. She would stand her ground and make him move first.

“I wasn’t lying,” he said. “You know you’re gorgeous. Every man and woman on the team thinks so. I’m the only one bold enough to say it to your face.”

She scoffed. “You can’t possibly know what everyone else is thinking about me.” If Cash didn’t already know it, she wouldn’t point out that most people thought first about her family’s wealth, not how she looked. Or, if they weren’t thinking about her family money, they were wondering about her time with the violent-crime division and why she’d been transferred.

“Again, I have a talent for reading people. When people look at you, they have the same interest in their eyes that I have. You’re so beautiful they need to look for an extra few seconds to take it all in. But unlike most of the people on our team, I plan to do something about it.”

“What is it you’re planning to do?” she asked, unable to help herself.

“I’ll win you over and make you forget how much you dislike me. Once that’s out of the way, you’ll see that I have a great many talents you may enjoy.” Sexual innuendo laced every syllable.

She had never been spoken to this way and it turned her blood hot. She had no doubt some of Cash’s talents related to his bedroom activities. Heat rushed low in her belly and her thighs tingled. “Does anyone buy that crap you’re selling?”

Cash smiled. He had to know it was his ace card with most women, but it didn’t work with her. Seeing a handsome man didn’t make Lucia giggly and weak in the knees. Considering his past, he was front and center on her “men to avoid” list.

“I can read you. You’re turned on. You want to kiss me and you hate that.”

Lucia inhaled slowly to calm herself. Lust was quickly overtaking the anger she’d felt. Interrogation techniques. Hiding her emotions. She called on the skills she’d learned as a special agent, but felt them failing. Cash was rattling her and Lucia didn’t rattle easily. She fought for composure and clear thinking. Was something in her face or posture giving away that she was attracted to him?

He was tall, handsome and confident. She could acknowledge he had certain attractive traits. That didn’t mean she wanted him in her bed. “You can’t read me as well as you think.”

“Kiss me and prove it.”

She laughed. He was contemptible. “I’m not kissing you.”

“I’ll go on believing the reason is that you’re afraid of what might happen.”

Afraid? Never. She feared nothing. Not even a player with thick brown hair that skimmed the tops of his ears. A strand had fallen over his forehead as if he’d styled it to draw her attention to his too-perfect face.

A surface-level attraction held no sway over her. It would pass. A kiss would change nothing, but a kiss would happen on her terms.

One hand cinching her coat together, Lucia grabbed the back of his head with her free hand and brought his mouth to hers in a hot, fierce kiss. She was unaffected by anything he could dish out. She could take it and not let it break her stride.

Except the kiss was like none she’d ever had. It sizzled and scorched her. She should stop it and throw him out, but her libido urged her for a few more seconds to taste him, a little more, a little longer. His tongue moved in sync with hers, his mouth brushing over hers with the right pressure and the right speed. The man had skills. She wondered what he was like in bed.

“How much have you had to drink?” he asked in breathless pants between kisses.

He must have tasted the wine on her lips. His question gave her a moment to think. She’d drunk half a glass of wine, but more importantly, she was standing in her condo kissing Cash Stone.

He had manipulated her so easily. Her guard hitched up and she broke away. She slid to the right, away from the counter and straightened her coat around her, ensuring everything was covered. He wasn’t getting another peep show.

She folded her arms. “See? Nothing between us but air. Now write this down as a rule so you don’t forget it. None of my other colleagues come to my home uninvited and unannounced. If you need something, you can tell me at work. Or better yet, don’t tell me. Tell Benjamin and he’ll pass it along to me.”

Cash studied her and Lucia refused to shift under his blue-eyed gaze. She tipped her chin up proudly. The master of reading people wouldn’t know how much he’d excited her. Thrills of pleasure still danced over her. Her knees felt weak and her thighs were quivering. She blamed the length of time she’d been alone.

“Benjamin will ask how our meeting went,” Cash said.

Would Cash tell him about the kiss? Would it matter? How her boss and colleagues saw her was important to her. Her reputation had been tarnished when she was moved from the high-profile violent-crime division to the lower visibility of the white-collar division. She had so much riding on this case. She had to prove she was a good agent. A great agent. “I’ll tell him it went fine and we won’t have any issues working together.”

“I think we might have an issue,” Cash said. “You’ll have to keep your hands off me.”

She sputtered.

“Come on, Lucy, I was joking. Lighten up.”

“Don’t call me Lucy. It’s Lucia.”

“Can’t we be friendly, Lucia?” he asked.

“If saying yes will get you out of my home, then yes.”

“That’s not very friendly,” Cash said. He looked around the condo. “Do you mind if I go out on the balcony?”

And invade her space further? “I’d prefer that you leave.”

“I spent the last four years in a cage and the last thirty seconds having my mind blown by a topless FBI agent. Let me grab some fresh air and cool down.” He strode to the balcony and opened the double doors leading outside.

“Fresh air is also available on your walk home,” she said.

“Come here a minute,” Cash said. “Please.”

The word please surprised her. Until now, he had been bold and confident. He hadn’t seemed like the type to ask, but rather that he would expect she do as he requested.

She walked to the balcony. He was a difficult man to say no to. His eyes and voice beckoned like a siren song—a very hot, very male siren.

“Look up,” he said, pointing to the sky.

She did and the sight took her breath away. The moon was bright and full, and stars filled the sky. How long had it been since she took a moment to enjoy her view? “The full moon explains that kiss.”

Cash put his arm around her shoulders. “Whatever story you want to tell, I’m game.”

She shrugged off his arm. “We can’t be friends. I don’t make friends at work.” Easier to define her role in clear terms and not wonder why no one looped her into their personal lives.

Cash took a deep breath. “Whatever you say, boss.”

He sounded sad and a touch of compassion brushed her. He seemed to be enjoying the view. What harm would it do to stand out on the balcony for a few minutes?

“I guess you aren’t married,” Cash said.

Prying, but she allowed the question. “I’m not married.” She had once been close to being someone’s wife, but it had been years since she’d dated or had much of a social life. Since the heartbreak of her broken engagement, she’d changed focus and had sacrificed a private life for her career. She now enjoyed being alone. She liked her space and preferred to do whatever she wanted with her free time and not feel guilty about working late.

“I was married once,” Cash said.

A personal conversation was unnecessary. She didn’t want to share details of her own misadventures in love. “Why are you telling me this?”

“You said you’re worried you can’t trust me. I’m giving you a reason to trust me.”

“That reason is what?” Lucia asked. “That you convinced some woman to marry you and now she has to live as your ex?”

“Not ex-wife. My late wife. She died in a car accident.”

She was a jerk of the worst kind. She’d gotten prickly and snarky and run her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

Cash held up his hand. “Please don’t apologize. It was years ago and I’m okay now. But we have a son.”

Benjamin hadn’t said anything about Cash’s personal life and Lucia found herself riveted by what Cash was sharing with her, even as traces of doubt slipped through her thoughts. “Where’s your son?” she asked, scared of the answer. Cash had been in prison. His wife was dead. What had happened to the little boy?

“He lives with my wife’s mom. If I stay out of trouble and make a life for him, the court may let him live with me. That’s how you know I won’t betray you. My son is my life and getting him back means everything to me. Next time you worry about me running away, know that I have everything that matters riding on making this job work.”

* * *

Cash hated being chained to the FBI office in Washington, DC, and he hated the place where he was living. He hated being a free man in name only. He hated his crappy motel room where he was forced to live. He hated the tiny stipend the FBI paid him that kept him from enjoying any part of life. But most of all, Cash hated being away from his son. Adrian lived in Seattle, Washington. He was ten years old, a fifth grader, and he loved soccer and martial arts. Thank God Helen had written Cash weekly, sending along pictures of Adrian while Cash had served his time in jail. Those letters and photos were the only possessions Cash cared about. Adrian had visited him once in prison, but the visit had given the little boy nightmares for weeks after, and Cash and Helen had agreed it was healthier not to bring Adrian again.

Since learning he’d be turned out on the FBI’s release-and-reform program, Cash had been begging Helen to bring Adrian to DC to see him. Without money for the trip, and while he was living in a fleabag motel room, Helen thought Adrian was better off in Seattle. Helen had a life in Seattle and she didn’t have the resources or desire to pick up and move across the country, even temporarily.

At least Adrian’s cancer hadn’t returned, making the jail time well worth it. The experimental surgery and treatments had saved his life. Cash had broken the law and he’d made a deal with the devil, but his son was healthy. To his way of thinking, the end had justified the means.

He’d purchased a phone card from a nearby gas station and used the pay-per-call landline in his room to call Helen in Washington.

“Hi, Helen. It’s Cash. Is Adrian around?” Cash asked.

“Cash, honey, are you safe? I’ve been praying for you.”

He was as safe as he could be living in a motel that advertised hourly rates. “I’m fine. I’m hoping to have a better place by the end of the month. I’m saving every penny and as soon as I can, I’ll send a plane ticket to Adrian so he can visit.”

There was a heavy pause and then the sound of a door creaking open and crickets chirping. Helen had stepped onto her porch and out of Adrian’s earshot. “Cash, I’ve cared for and loved this boy for the last four years. I don’t feel right sending him across the country without me.”

Cash’s heart squeezed hard in his chest. She had legal rights to Adrian, but Cash had to have his son back in his life. He was tied to DC for three more years. Three more years lost of his son’s childhood. He couldn’t stand that. “Please, Helen. Don’t keep my boy from me.” He couldn’t keep his voice from breaking.

“I’m not keeping him from you. I’m trying to do what’s best for Adrian. He’s finally doing better in school and making friends. I can’t tear him away from that.”

Adrian was best with him. “Tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it.”

“We’ve discussed that. It’s not only your living situation and the money. It’s how he’ll feel about seeing you. You remember the nightmares he had after the last time. He doesn’t know you. You’re a stranger to him.”

He was a stranger to his son. It was a knife hit to the heart. “I’ll buy plane fare for both of you. Put you up in a hotel. Whatever you need for you both to be comfortable.” He was desperate and he knew he sounded it.

“Let’s start with a talk. Let me get him.”

Cash waited, feeling dizzy and sick. He had missed Adrian every minute he was in prison. It was torture being away from his son. If there had been any other way to save his son’s life and not break the law, he would have taken it.

Helen came back on the phone. “I’m sorry, Cash. He’s tired and doesn’t want to talk now.”

Cash squeezed his eyes shut. His throat was tight. “Thanks for asking. Please tell Adrian I love him and I miss him. I’m working on things here. I really am.”

“I know you are, Cash. I know you’re trying.”

He said his goodbyes and disconnected the phone. Looking around his room, he didn’t feel defeat. He would find a way. All that stood between him and his son was money and 2,700 miles. He’d close the gap. He had to.

He had a few hours until his 11:00 p.m. curfew, and Cash fled his room to walk alone on the dark street. He refused to think of the motel as home. The drug dealers that hung out in the parking lot made it unlikely that he could rest easy. The noise and constant fights in other rooms were disturbing. But, he’d been in prison for four years. Outside was good. Outside was the most wonderful place with fresh air and endless sky.

Cash didn’t have money for a cab and he didn’t have a car. The rules of his release prevented him from traveling unescorted farther than ten miles away and his movements were tracked by the FBI via the GPS tracking device he wore around his ankle. Benjamin would have a report emailed to him the next morning detailing every step Cash had taken.

He kept his pace brisk, loving the openness of the sidewalk. He saw a help-wanted sign in the window of a deli. Maybe a second job could help with his money problems.

His old contacts could increase his cash flow by sending some jobs his way, but Cash was finished with that life. He didn’t want money from running cons. Every penny he earned for his new life with his son would be earned legally.

Turning down a familiar street, he realized he’d been walking in the direction of the house where he’d grown up. The house where he believed his father still lived. Not looking to dredge up buried memories or walk in old footsteps, he changed directions.

This was a fresh start. Another one. When he’d married Britney and talked her into moving to DC, he’d promised to leave behind contact with the criminal world. His single foray back into that world had been to save Adrian’s life.

Benjamin knew about Adrian, but he’d said he needed Cash in DC, working to find Clifton Anderson. The faster they closed the case, the sooner Cash had more options. At least, that was what Cash was telling himself.

To ease some of the hurt in his chest, he forced his thoughts away from his son and they turned instead to Lucia Huntington. He’d find out why she had a chip on her shoulder. From what he’d gathered from the others, she carried power in the organization, although she was quiet and didn’t seem close to anyone in the office.

He’d win her over. Having an enemy in Lucia could mean his return to prison. Having a friend in her could mean a transfer to an FBI field office closer to Adrian after the case was closed and maybe even a raise. The more money he could sock away, the faster his son was back in his life.

As attracted to her as he was, Lucia seemed equally put off by him. She was the first woman he’d met since his late wife who got him hot under the collar. She was smart, sophisticated and articulate. It didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous. Brown hair and deep brown eyes, delicate features and lips that on some women might look too big. On her, it worked, drawing his attention, making him think about the things she could do with her mouth. She was put together and in control, but he sensed that, if she allowed it, passion and heat would come roaring out. He’d gotten a peek at her bare midriff, which showed him enough to say she had a body to match her face. It was rare to cross paths with a woman who was the complete package. He wondered why she was distant from the team. A professional code of conduct or was something else at play?

He crossed the street and walked past a man and his dog sleeping on the cement steps outside a church, both curled near the railing. Cash reached into his pocket and pulled out the rest of the cash Benjamin had given him that morning. It wasn’t much, about thirteen dollars and some change. He tucked it under the man’s hand.

“Thank you,” the man muttered. His dog whimpered.

“You’re welcome,” Cash said.

He’d been there. He’d been that down and out. He hadn’t had anyone to help him. But he was resourceful. He would find a way to make a good life for himself and Adrian.

Chapter 2

“We may have more success if you don’t flash your badge at everyone we pass,” Cash said, after Lucia had shown her identification to the guards working the security desk at Holmes and White, the company Clifton Anderson had defrauded into near ruin.

Lucia whirled to look at him. Though he’d been quiet on the ride from headquarters, she didn’t appreciate his criticism. She was irritated enough that Benjamin had assigned her and Cash as teammates for the day’s assignments.

“I’m not here to con anyone,” she said, keeping her voice low. “I’m here to speak to Clifton Anderson’s victims. I’m identifying myself because I’m on their side.” She had interviewed dozens of victims. She knew what she was doing.

Cash lifted a brow at her.

“Do you find this funny? Because nothing about this is funny. People lost their homes, their pensions, their savings and their college funds over this. Regular people. Teachers. Nurses. Police officers. Everyone who trusted this place lost everything. We have to find this money for them.”

Cash frowned. “I take this seriously. I know what was lost. I have a way I do things. Getting upset changes nothing.”

Lucia took a deep breath. She’d been told she could be a stickler for the rules and policies and procedures. If she and Cash were going to survive this, she needed to give him some latitude. It was one afternoon. She could do anything for one afternoon.

Cash folded his arms over his chest. “Did you see the security guard’s reaction when you told him you were with the FBI? He got nervous. He was worried.”

Lucia was accustomed to people having a reaction to her badge. “I got what I wanted. I was let through without any fanfare.”

“He’s no doubt calling ahead to give warning we’re on our way to the top floor.”

“It’s not a secret that we’re investigating the embezzlement. There’s nothing to give warning about.” The FBI was working under the assumption that the C-level managers at Holmes and White wanted the culprits found and the stolen money recovered.

Cash took her elbow and moved her to the side of the hallway, out of the way of a passing group of employees. “Let’s not leave time for preparations. The most telling reactions are the most impromptu.”

Benjamin’s voice rang in her head. He wanted her and Cash to get along. Benjamin seemed set on the idea that their skill sets complemented each other. Lucia had the sense they’d been partnered for today’s interviews as a test. If they made it through the two interviews Benjamin had assigned them without killing each other, it was a success. Lucia wouldn’t let Cash make her lose her cool or fail in Benjamin’s eyes.

“I will hold back on showing my badge to too many people. Happy?” She pulled her elbow away from him. Touching was off-limits, especially after the kiss last night. She didn’t know how he’d convinced her it was a good idea, but it wouldn’t happen again.

“Thank you. Has anyone else mentioned you look hot when you’re fired up about something?”

She gave him a cutting glower. “My colleagues don’t talk to me that way.”

“I wasn’t asking about your colleagues. I was asking about people in your personal life.”

Sad to admit, even if it was only to herself, she wasn’t sure any man besides Cash had ever called her “hot.”

“That’s not a conversation we’ll have right now.” Or ever.

They stepped onto the elevator and Lucia pressed the button for the top floor, where Holmes and White’s CEO, Leonard Young, had his office. Her arm brushed Cash’s and Lucia increased the distance between them.

Every time the elevator stopped at a floor and people entered and exited, Cash seemed to flirt and smile at every woman, especially the pretty, young, well-dressed ones. It bothered Lucia to watch. Given the long over-the-shoulder looks they shot his way, these women would be all over him if given the chance.

Lucia and Cash got off the elevator. Young’s office was directly ahead. The cube farm around them was empty. Layoffs had been an immediate fallout of Holmes and White’s recent financial problems.

Young’s assistant stopped them in front of his office’s beveled glass doors.

“Mr. Young had to step away from his desk. Do you mind waiting here until he returns?” She gestured to the cluster of leather chairs along the wall.

“No problem,” Cash said and flashed her a smile. “I’m David Stone.” They had agreed Cash would use his real name while working with Lucia to avoid rumors floating on the street about Cash Stone being employed by the FBI. Cash Stone, son of the notorious con man and who’d become a con man himself, was well-known. To her knowledge, Cash hadn’t ripped off anyone on the same scale that Clifton Anderson had, but the con that had landed him in jail had stolen fifty thousand dollars from a senator’s real estate company. The company bought run-down foreclosures, made repairs and flipped the houses for big profits. The senator had been friends with the judge on Cash’s case, so he’d had the book thrown at him. Hard.

“I’m Georgiana,” Young’s assistant said. She blushed and lowered her face, looking up at Cash from under her eyelashes. Overselling it a bit, wasn’t she? Hot pink blouse with a tight, dark gray skirt suit and four-inch heels wrapped a neat, prim package. Lucia despised the pang of jealousy that struck her. Emotions didn’t belong in the field. She didn’t know if she was jealous because she wanted to be on the receiving end of Cash’s attention or because the woman looked like the delicate, polished lady Lucia couldn’t be.

Neither one was a thought to harp on.

For a moment, Lucia regretted the simple black pants and blue blouse she’d chosen that morning. She hadn’t bothered with jewelry or makeup, and her one-inch black heels weren’t anything that screamed sexy vixen.

“Could I have a cup of coffee? I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m feeling foggy,” Cash said.

Georgiana straightened and grinned at him as if he was a genie granting her a wish. “Oh, of course. How would you like it?” She said the last two words while giving Cash a long, lingering look. Cash had Georgiana eating out of his hand after ten seconds. Then again, Cash’s charisma and charm were legendary. Even Lucia had fallen for it, however momentarily, the night before.

Georgiana was behaving as if Lucia wasn’t standing there or her presence didn’t matter. If Young’s assistant represented Holmes and White’s employee base, no wonder they’d been snowed. Lucia chastised herself for the nasty thought. What had happened at Holmes and White could have happened to anyone Clifton Anderson selected as his target.

“Sugar and a little creamer. Thanks,” Cash said.

Georgiana hurried off, not asking Lucia if she’d like something, as well.

“Was that necessary?” Lucia asked.

“Was what necessary?” He took a seat behind the woman’s desk and started looking around.

“Flirting with her. And you can’t do that,” Lucia said, setting her hand over Cash’s to stop him from searching Georgiana’s desk.

The heat that burned between them had Lucia stepping back. She had to keep these strong reactions to him in check.

“Come on, boss. This stuff is in plain view,” Cash said. “What’s the harm if I take a look?”

“Gray area,” Lucia said. Even if Georgiana were involved in the fraud, she wouldn’t have evidence that she’d leave on top of her desk with the FBI sniffing around.

“Relax. I’m not looking to get anything entered into evidence. I want a little more insider knowledge and to get a sense of the people we’re dealing with,” Cash said.

“The people we’re dealing with are the victims,” Lucia said.

“Anderson could have had people on the inside. A well-placed assistant with a lower-paying job who could be bought off,” Cash said.

Since Cash had worked with Clifton Anderson in the past, Lucia took note of the theory to explore later, though she had considered it herself. Many of the employees at Holmes and White had been questioned. Lucia would see if Georgiana was one of them.

Cash removed a small pen from his pocket. She recognized it as one of the FBI’s camera pens.

“Where did you get that?” she asked.

“Renee in IT gave it to me. She heard I was doing some interviews today and thought it might come in handy. Which it does,” Cash said.

No one in IT had ever given her a device to use in the field, at least, not without her prompting.

After snapping some pictures, Cash took a seat in a chair outside Young’s office. “Is this what it’s like to be an FBI agent? Running around the city and interviewing people?”

He made it sound easy. “Sometimes.” The work could be challenging and dangerous. Days like today were among the easier ones.

“Come on, I’m being friendly.”

“You’re making me hate that word,” Lucia said.

“Then give me a chance to get on your good side,” Cash said.

Everything he said sounded light and good-natured. It was almost harder to keep her dislike of him than to give in to his charm. “You don’t need to be on any of my sides,” Lucia said.

“There’s one side of you in particular I’ve seen and really like,” Cash said, looking at her mouth.

Her lips prickled and burned and she remembered how amazing kissing him had been. “You are something else,” Lucia said, trying to diffuse the blistering desire spreading down her body. She would not let down her defenses.

“I think she would agree with you,” Cash said under his breath, rising to his feet and taking the coffee from Georgiana’s outstretched hands.

Cash talked with Georgiana, leaning in and laughing at her lame jokes. Lucia pretended not to notice. Georgiana returned to her desk, wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Cash.

“Call me,” Georgiana said. She ran her hand down his pale green tie, fisting it at the end and pulling him a little closer to her.

Cash looked at the paper and then slipped it into his suit jacket pocket. He looked pleased and interested in the cute redhead.

Annoyance burned through Lucia. Why was it so easy for some men to win over a woman?

Lucia could think of a dozen snappy remarks to make about the exchange, but she kept her mouth shut. Saying anything would make her sound jealous and juvenile.

“Tell me. I can hear you fuming,” Cash said, taking a seat next to her.

“I’m not fuming,” Lucia said. “I’m observing.”

“I’m establishing a rapport,” Cash said, the lightheartedness gone. “If she knows something about Young or the theft, I want to know it, too.”

They waited in silence for twenty minutes before Leonard Young returned to his office. Twenty minutes of thinking about Cash when she should be thinking about the case. Twenty minutes of replaying that kiss. Twenty minutes of every nerve in her body being aware he was next to her and dancing excitedly about it.

When Young returned, he had another man in tow.

“I thought it would be a good idea to have our in-house attorney present for this conversation. He’s worried about lawsuits,” Young said, ushering them into his office. “Nothing’s been finalized with our clients and we have a lot of angry people waiting for a settlement.”

Lucia’s bull-crap meter went off. A month ago, when the story went public, Holmes and White had publicly asked the FBI to assist and had reassured their team they’d be cooperative and open. A lawyer in attendance seemed like a defensive measure.

Holmes and White were likely conducting their own internal investigation. If they’d stumbled on a mistake, they’d want to keep that under wraps. It was Lucia’s job to bring everything on the level.

Young took a seat behind his large desk. His lawyer sat next to him, quiet and with a notepad poised on his lap.

Sensing this interview would be a waste of time, Lucia introduced herself and Cash and then launched into her questions. She had not conducted the initial interviews with Young, but she had read them. To this point Young had been helpful but cautious. That hadn’t changed.

Cash said nothing and his face was impossible to read. He appeared both indifferent and slightly amused.

“How is your investigation progressing?” Young asked.

Not as well as Lucia would have liked. Their team had tracked two percent of the stolen money to accounts within the United States. Those accounts had been frozen pending the FBI’s investigation. The rest of the money had disappeared. “We’re following every lead we have available.”

“I’ll tell you whatever I can,” Young said.

His lawyer shook his head and Young glanced at him. “I will tell you anything I can within reason.”

Cash didn’t write anything. He didn’t fiddle. He didn’t look around the office or sneak another look at Georgiana. His eyes stayed riveted on Leonard Young and his lawyer.

As Lucia expected, Young’s answer was “I don’t know” to almost every question. When he did answer, he gave disappointingly little information. For someone who wanted the money found, he was stingy with details. His behavior earned him a slot in Lucia’s “look into this much deeper” folder.

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Young,” Lucia said after forty-five minutes of questions had yielded nothing new. “We’ll be in touch.”

Lucia would need to find another way to approach Young or some other angle to use. Maybe she could get in touch with someone else in the company, perhaps someone lower on the food chain. Starting at the top wouldn’t have been her preferred technique, but Benjamin had suggested Young and had warned her to keep things friendly. This case had many victims, and the public and media were watching closely.

Once they were outside the Holmes and White building, Cash spoke for the first time since before the interview.

“You know he’s lying, right?” Cash asked.

“What makes you think that?” Lucia asked. She suspected Young was withholding information, but Cash was along to lend his insights.

“He has a tell. It took a few questions for me to notice. He looks at his left ring finger and then he lies. Interestingly, his ring finger is bare. Is he married?” Cash asked.

“According to the file we have on him, yes,” Lucia said.

“He’s cheating on her,” Cash said.

“How do you know that?” Lucia asked.

“Gut feeling. He had this way of answering the questions. He thinks he’s in control and he thinks he can do whatever he wants.”

Interesting observation. Arrogance and control went with the territory. “We’ll follow up.”

“Do you want me to call Georgiana? I could take her to dinner and see if I can learn anything from her.”

Imagining Cash on a dinner date with the beautiful, younger woman annoyed her and Lucia couldn’t answer that question objectively. “Talk to Benjamin about it.”

“Is that how this partnership will work? You’ll pass me off when you don’t want to discuss something?” Cash asked.

Lucia continued toward the car. “It’s not a partnership. Benjamin sent us out together to handle these interviews. In future tasks, hopefully you’ll be assigned to work with someone else.”

“I like working with you,” he said.

“Why?” Lucia asked, drawing to a stop and looking at him. Few others did. Either she was accused of going by the book or being too impulsive.

“Why do I like working with you?” he asked.

At her nod, he rubbed his chin. “You’re smart. You’re strong. You’re spunky.”

“Spunky?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “You’re making this fun.”

She sensed something unsaid. “I guess that’s something. I think you’re angling for something from me and I need to be up-front with you. I feel badly about your son and I appreciate that you were honest about your situation, but I won’t interfere in a domestic matter.”

He blinked at her and held up his hands. “Understood.”

“Let’s finish these interviews. Don’t you have a happy hour to attend?”

* * *

Preston Hammer’s Georgetown townhouse was located in a small community where ten million was the going price for houses. Hammer’s was four townhomes gutted and converted into one large, stately unit. Lucia knocked on the door, surprised when Hammer answered the door himself.

Lucia showed him her badge. “We spoke on the phone, Mr. Hammer.” She introduced herself and Cash.

Hammer stepped back from the door and gestured for them to come inside. The interior wasn’t what Lucia was expecting. The foyer was stacked with brown moving boxes, each labeled in precise printing.

“Relocating?” Lucia asked.

Hammer gestured at the grand Juliette staircase, oak handrails, the shiny hardwood floors and the insets along the wall containing artwork illuminated with custom lighting. “Do you think I can afford to live here? After what Holmes and White did to me, I’m lucky I have food to eat.” He mumbled something else under his breath Lucia didn’t catch. “Come into the kitchen. We can talk there.”

Cash wandered over to one of the pieces on the wall. “Is this a Monet?”

“Interested? It’s headed to auction in a few days,” he said. Hammer started down the hall and Lucia and Cash followed.

“That artwork is probably worth more than this place,” Cash whispered to Lucia.

One of Cash’s areas of expertise was art forgeries. If Hammer was liquidating his assets, he hadn’t saved much of his eight-figure salary for a rainy day.

The kitchen was large, extending almost the length of the houses. Butler’s pantry, gleaming granite countertops and maple cabinets indicated luxury living.

“Your former employer tells us you were let go because Clifton Anderson reported to you,” Lucia said. Leonard Young had also implied that Hammer should have caught the accounting fraud before it reached massive proportions. She dangled the information to garner his reaction.

“Anderson did report to me. He also reported to ten other managers between his level and me. No one caught him. I was the scapegoat. Highest paid non-executive. Holmes and White wants me to take the fall.”

Lucia didn’t want Hammer to become so mired in anger that he couldn’t answer her questions. “Clifton Anderson is good at what he does. Holmes and White isn’t the first firm he’s duped during the course of his career,” Lucia said.

Hammer walked to the wet bar and opened the top cabinet. “Doesn’t change anything. They needed someone near the top to take the heat. The press has been all over me. Do you know how many death threats I receive every day? Angry people want their money back.” He threw a glass against the wall and it shattered. “News flash! I don’t have the money. I don’t have a dime to my name. Where do these people think I invested my money? The same place they did. Anderson robbed me right along with everyone else.”

That explained where Hammer’s money had gone. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Lucia said. Hammer had been through an ordeal, but his reactions were overly volatile. Was he under the care of a psychiatrist? On medication?

“What about you two?” Hammer pointed at Cash. “Are you working this or did your boyfriend tag along in case I went crazy?” Hammer took another glass and set it on the counter.

Denials about Cash’s relationship with her sprang to mind. Remembering her training, Lucia checked her words before she spoke. Defensiveness would make her look like a liar. “I already explained that this is my colleague.”

“He didn’t show me a badge,” Hammer said, pouring a large amount of scotch into the glass.

“I’m not an FBI agent. I’m a consultant,” Cash said.

Hammer took a long swig from his drink. If it wasn’t his first of the day it would explain his strange, erratic behavior. Most people didn’t think it was wise to question the FBI while they were investigating a crime in which they were involved. “Right. You can call him a consultant if you want.” Hammer took another swallow of his drink. “You two are sleeping together.”

If he hoped making accusations would throw her off the reason she’d come, he was wrong. “I’m here to learn more about Anderson and what it was like to work with him. If you’re planning to make incorrect guesses about people, then we can finish this interview at headquarters.” No one liked making the trip to the FBI’s interrogation room.

Hammer set his glass down hard. “I’ll tell you what I know, but there’s nothing new that I haven’t already told you people a dozen times.”

Lucia walked Hammer through what he knew about Anderson and how the scheme had unfolded. He didn’t reveal anything she hadn’t read in the case file. While she spoke, Cash wandered to the sliding glass door and looked out into the yard. She didn’t blame him for being drawn to sunlight and the outdoors.

“Tell me more about being in the upper echelon at Holmes and White,” Cash said, turning away from the door as the conversation lagged.

Hammer poured himself another drink. He wasn’t pouring more than a finger or two at a time, but he was drinking steadily. “Imagine being the king of your own domain with a personal assistant to take care of your every need. You hire people and you fire them at will. You’re available around the clock, but when you have down time, it’s spectacular. Five star hotels and the best restaurants in town. Wine and women and parties. I lived the life and I loved it.”

Lucia let Cash continue to engage with Hammer. She sensed this could be a topic Hammer was more comfortable discussing with Cash.

“What happened to your personal assistant?” Cash asked.

Hammer stiffened. He let out a long breath before answering. “She was fired the same day I was.”

Hammer slid his drink back and forth between his hands. “Keep her out of this. She didn’t do anything wrong. She signed the nondisclosures and the confidentiality agreements. She left town and is living with her parents while she puts her life back together.” He sounded like a heartbroken teenager.

Lucia would follow up on Hammer’s personal assistant. She remembered reading about her in previous interviews and her instincts tingled that the FBI hadn’t heard her whole story. What was her name? Kresley? Katie?

“It must be hard to have lost so much so quickly,” Cash said.

Hammer looked at the table and then lifted his head slowly. His eyes were rimmed with unshed tears. Compassion tugged at Lucia’s chest. Was Hammer a hapless victim of Clifton Anderson or had he been involved in the fraud? Neither the media nor the FBI could directly connect him to any legal wrongdoing. Unless he was hiding the money well, Hammer hadn’t been paid for any assistance he’d given Clifton Anderson.

“You have no idea. People lost their retirement accounts and their savings, but I’ve lost everything. Everything.”

Was his former personal assistant included in “everything”?

“We’re doing our best to find Anderson,” Lucia said.

“I’ll be long gone before you find him,” Hammer said.

Lucia didn’t like the sound of that. Was he planning a suicide? To run? “We’ll need you around throughout the course of our investigation.”

“Yeah, yeah, right.”

“Do you have a forwarding address?” Lucia asked.

Hammer ran his hands through his hair. “To add to my nightmare, I’ll be moving in with my brother and sister-in-law. She’s a shrew who hates me.” Bitterness touched every word.

She sensed his cry for help. Lucia would ask Benjamin to provide Hammer with any counseling resources they may have. “We’ll be in touch if we find anything or have more questions,” Lucia said.

“Great, you do that,” Hammer said. “If I never see another FBI agent again, it will be too soon.” Then he mumbled something about how useless the FBI were. Lucia ignored the comment. Hammer was a man on the edge and she wasn’t looking to push him over it.

Hammer walked them to the door. Lucia handed Hammer her business card, which he threw to the floor. Again ignoring the rudeness, Lucia and Cash took the marble stairs to the sidewalk.

Hammer slammed his front door.

“He picked up on something between us,” Cash said as they walked. “Do you want to talk about that?”

“He’s half drunk and out of his mind with bitterness,” Lucia said. “What is there to talk about?”

“If you want to ignore it, then fine.”

“Yes, I want to ignore it.”

“We need to go back and check on him,” Cash said, turning back toward to the townhouse.

Lucia held up her hand and stepped in front of him. “Check on him? He will not let us back into his place.”

“He could be a danger to himself or others.”

Not in the immediate. “Cash, what are you playing at?”

A mischievous look danced across Cash’s face. “Let’s see if round two helps us.”

Cash circled around to the back of the group of townhouses, cutting down the alleyway between the sections. The alley behind the townhouses was narrow, passable by no more than a single car. The yards behind each home were beautifully landscaped.

Cash hopped the white chain-link fence into Hammer’s backyard.

“You’re trespassing,” Lucia said.

Cash extended his hand to help her over. “Come on. I have a feeling.”

They couldn’t waltz into someone’s backyard. Anything they heard or saw would be obtained illegally and inadmissible in court. Add to it how furious Benjamin would be, and it had the makings of a bad plan.

“Have courage, Lucia.”

Courage? She had courage in spades. Was he calling her a wimp? Knowing she was being baited into complying and unable to help herself, Lucia took his hand and climbed the fence. At least this way, she could keep an eye on Cash and if he learned something, she would be in the know. Cash took the steps to the deck, pulled opened the sliding glass door and stepped inside.

He had unlocked the door while he had been pretending to admire the view. She should have found his gall appalling, but Lucia was impressed by his planning.

They stepped inside and Lucia’s heart beat faster. If they were caught entering Hammer’s home without a warrant, they could be arrested. If they were arrested, she’d lose her job and Cash would go back to prison.

“Cash,” she whispered. She needed to warn him. To make sure he understood what he was risking by doing this.

He pressed a finger over his lips. Hammer’s voice floated into the kitchen. It sounded as if he was on the phone. To make out what he was saying, Cash crept across the floor. Then he was still.

“I know, but I have the FBI crawling all over me and that makes me nervous.”

A pause.

“I lost everything. My home. My career. Kinsley, what more do you want from me? I don’t have anything left to give.”

Kinsley. As soon as Lucia heard the name she remembered Kinsley had been his personal assistant at Holmes and White. Another pause.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I told them nothing. What more do you need me to do? I’ve done everything you’ve asked.”

Cash closed his eyes, perhaps concentrating on what Hammer was saying.

“She asked about me? When can I see her?” Hammer asked.

A growl. Cash’s eyes snapped open and Lucia whirled to see a black dog standing between them and the sliding glass door. The dog locked his legs and bared his teeth. He barked.

“Hold on a minute,” Hammer said into the phone. “Slasher! Quiet!”

Slasher. What a wonderful name for a dog. Based on the dog’s demeanor, it fit. They were intruders in his home.

Cash stood and advanced on the dog. He looked as though he was planning to charge at the dog, but when he was close he laid his hands on the dog’s flank and whispered something into his ear. At the same time, Cash motioned for Lucia to leave. The dog visibly relaxed.

Lucia did as Cash directed, looking over her shoulder at the pair. Cash seemed to have the situation under control, but it could escalate quickly if the dog decided Cash was an enemy. Slasher barked again.

“Slasher! Shut up!” Hammer yelled from another room. “Let me see what that lunatic dog’s problem is now.”

Cash didn’t panic. He remained facing the dog and slipped away, following Lucia outside. He slid the glass door closed behind him and leaped over the deck, falling to the ground. Lucia followed him.

“Are you okay?” she mouthed.

He nodded.

They crouched under the deck. If Hammer looked outside, he wouldn’t see them. If he let his dog into the gated yard, they could have a problem.

“You even charm dogs?” Lucia asked.

“Dogs are pack animals. I love them and they sense that. They want to be friends and please me,” he said.

He made it sound easy. Her respect for him increased.

They waited a few minutes before leaving the yard the same way they’d come.

“How did you know Hammer would call someone?” Lucia asked.

“He was sweating when we were talking to him. We rattled him and he’d need to vent about it. He’s not a leader. He’s a follower. He needs someone to tell him what to do. That’s why he was easy for Anderson to use, knowingly or unknowingly, in the con and for Young to use as a scapegoat,” Cash said.

“We can’t use anything we overheard as evidence,” she said.

“Doesn’t matter. We have something more to go on,” Cash said. “Hammer knows something but he’s being instructed to shut his mouth. Someone is dangling the woman he loves, Kinsley, in front of him like a prize if he does.”

It shouldn’t be hard to find out more about Kinsley from employment records at Holmes and White. Getting a warrant for those records could prove challenging, given that Lucia couldn’t explain how and why they wanted Kinsley’s records. “Do you think that he would lie about what he knows for a woman? He’s taking all the heat.”

“Haven’t you ever been in love?” Cash asked.

She’d once thought she was and had been terribly wrong. “No.”

Cash frowned. “Then as a man who has, I’ll tell you. When a woman wins a man’s heart, deserved or not, he will do anything to be with her and to make her happy.”

How would it feel to be on the receiving end of Cash’s devotion? Exploring those thoughts felt too intimate and were, at best, inappropriate. She brushed them away. She’d been a fool for love before and it had ended badly. “We have to build a strong case. Not prop it up with flimsy evidence and theories.”

Cash leaned closer. “I’m not asking you to do it my way. But don’t ask me to do it yours. I never did learn how to color inside the lines.”

* * *

Cash walked a step behind Lucia, giving her space to think. Even though it hadn’t been Cash’s call to work with Lucia, she’d been annoyed to be assigned the Young and Hammer interviews with him and hadn’t hidden it.

Cash’s plan to win her over at the first opportunity wasn’t going well. She was prickly, standoffish and immune to his charm. When he thought he’d made headway, she backed off and shut down.

His one remaining ray of hope was in her words. Lucia had said clearly she wouldn’t help him, not that she couldn’t. If he could convince Lucia he had good intentions and planned to serve his time, but that being close to Adrian was crucial, perhaps she would change her mind and pull the strings he knew she held.

“Hey, man.”

It was a voice from the past that Cash recognized immediately. He considered pretending it was a case of mistaken identity, but he had to face his new reality. Hiding and lying were habits he’d left in prison. In this life, if he wanted to live with Adrian as a family, he had to be completely honest. One sniff of a lie, and Lucia would never trust him. Trust was the key to winning her over.

“Hey,” Cash said, turning around, extending his arm and clasping his former associate’s hand.

“I heard you got sprung,” Boots said. Boots was a petty criminal with more brawn than brains. But he had good connections and knew how to keep his mouth shut.

“I’m a free man,” Cash said. It was the story the FBI had told him to use if he encountered anyone from his criminal past. If the FBI had any chance of using him to locate Clifton Anderson, he couldn’t broadcast he was working for the Feds to every member of the criminal underworld. He’d be shunned and mark himself for a hit.

“Who’s your lady?” Boots asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

“This is my friend Lucy.”

“Are you working?” Boots asked, looking between the two of them.

Lucia’s eyes widened slightly, perhaps wondering if they’d had a breach in their cover. Cash knew Boots was referring to them working a con.

“Not at the moment,” Cash said, darting his eyes over his shoulder at Lucia and subtly shaking his head at Boots. Let Boots think Lucia was a woman he was dating. He didn’t want Boots propositioning him with a job offer, especially in front of Lucia.

“Where you staying?” Boots asked, taking a cigarette from one pocket and putting it between his lips while drawing a lighter from another pocket.

“The Hideaway.”

Boots winced and lit the end of his cigarette. “How the mighty have fallen. I’ll be in touch. I have some work that might interest you and help you get some nicer digs.”

“Appreciate it, man.” They nodded and went their separate ways. Boots continued down the street at a slow lope as he smoked his cigarette and flicked the ashes on the ground.

“That was close,” Lucia said, once they were in the car, a company sedan with its boring, fabric interior and no luxuries.

“Would it have mattered if he’d pegged you for a Fed?” Cash asked.

“Of course it would. I don’t want your cover blown. We’ve just started,” Lucia said.

He took it a step further. “If my cover is blown, then I’m no use to you and I’d go back to prison.”

Lucia turned and looked at him, keeping her hands gripped on the steering wheel. He was pressing her emotionally without much effort. “I don’t want you back in prison.”

That was an improvement from the initial hostility he’d encountered. “Then take the anger down a notch,” Cash said. “You’re making me nervous.”

Lucia blew out her breath. “You have nothing to be nervous about. You’re working with me on this case. When it’s over, we’ll part ways as former colleagues.”

“We’ll be working in the same building for the three years I’ve been given in this program. Tell me how to pretend there is nothing between us. I’ve already slipped once. I kissed you.”

Could he use their physical attraction to convince her to use her influence to transfer him closer to his son? She couldn’t deny the powerful chemistry between them forever and she may prefer he work farther away from her to avoid any temptation.

Lucia stared at him, panic registering on her face as if she hadn’t considered how long they would be trapped together with that kiss haunting them. “I won’t ask for a transfer. I’ve been with white collar for a few months and I plan on staying much longer.”

He’d wait for her to realize that transferring him at the end of this case was the better option. He sensed something she wasn’t saying about her short time with white collar. “I don’t want you to walk away from your job. Maybe they’ll move me to another office,” Cash said, planting the idea.

Lucia stared ahead at the road. “If you’re as good as Benjamin seems to believe, you’ll crack the case, bring in Clifton Anderson and we’ll recover some of the money. We’ll wrap the case up in a few months. Benjamin will get his promotion and you can spend the rest of your time filing paperwork at headquarters.”

Cash hated paperwork and office work, which were about the same to his way of thinking. Being stuck at headquarters away from Adrian doing both was near the worst-case scenario. “Sounds abysmal.” But not as bad as jail. Not nearly as good as being closer to Adrian. A commutable distance. Maybe he could get special privileges to drive to see his son, nights and weekends. As long as he showed up to work on time and did what he needed to do, what boss would begrudge him time with his son?

But any allowances required trust and worthiness. He needed to find Clifton Anderson and the money he’d stolen first.

“Aren’t you looking for anything out of the deal?” Cash asked.

“The money returned to the people who need it,” Lucia said, stating it like it was obviously her goal.

“No promotion?”

Lucia tensed. “I’ve already been given a promotion.”

She sounded defensive.

“Do you want me to drop you at the Hideaway?” Lucia asked.

He’d rather go anywhere but there. “No, thanks. Even when I take a shower there I feel dirtier. I’ll head back to the office.” Which was where he had taken a number of showers. Their onsite gym facilities were clean and free of pests—unlike the bathroom at the motel.

Lucia pulled into traffic. “That’s where I’m headed. I have paperwork to do.”

“How’d you get stuck with that job?”

“I wasn’t stuck with it. Benjamin wanted me to handle that part of the job.”

The administrative part? Benjamin had mentioned to him that Lucia was in charge of filing reports and documents for the team. Why would Benjamin waste a good field agent’s time with that? “You can pass the torch to me, I guess, when this is over.”

The idea seemed to cheer her up a little. “The time will be over before you know it. Then you can be with your son.”

Which was exactly what he didn’t want. For the time to pass and Adrian to grow while Cash never had the opportunity to have a relationship with him. It was a small measure of comfort that Lucia hadn’t forgotten about Adrian. “The four years in prison went by at a crawl.”

Prison had robbed him of time with his son, but it had also been difficult, challenging and stressful to constantly watch his back, be on guard and anticipate someone trying to harm or kill him. Six men had died on his cell block while he had been incarcerated. Cash considered himself lucky that he’d survived relatively untouched. At least physically. Thinking about his cell and the rules and restrictions and food made him sick to his stomach. Jail was emotionally and psychologically draining. It was no wonder some repeat offenders were hardened beyond reach.

The car felt cramped, and a rush of frustration and anxiety bubbled up in him. He needed space and air. “I’ve changed my mind. Drop me off here.”

Lucia looked at him, her brows knit together. “Here? In the middle of the street?” She stopped for a red light and he climbed out of the car. “See you, Luc.” He shut the door behind him. He needed to walk and breathe fresh air.

So little stood between him and that cage. Disgust and anxiety clawed at him. Prison. He could go back if he made a mistake. The FBI would only keep him out as long as they could use him to bring in Clifton Anderson. What if Cash couldn’t lead them to him? What if something went wrong and Clifton Anderson was picked up by another agency? Would the FBI return him to jail? He could lose his chance of a reunion with his son.

Lucia called after him and he ignored her. Embarrassed about his behavior and unwilling to explain it, he stuck his hands in his pockets and kept his head down. He didn’t want to risk being recognized again by anyone from his former life. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. He wanted to disappear, but with the GPS tracker monitoring him, he couldn’t do that. He was trapped in the confines of the city under the careful watch of the FBI. It was hard to feel truly free. He was still imprisoned, just in a different way.

The pounding of footsteps and Lucia calling his name had him glancing over his shoulder. The persistent woman didn’t know when to give up. She caught up to him, out of breath. Strands of her brown hair had broken free of the ponytail she had it tied in. He had the urge to pull the elastic from it and let it loose around her face. He kept his hands pressed to his sides.

“I need space,” he said, feeling a combination of weak and whiny. He hated weak and whiny.

Concern touched her face. “Tell me what that was about because normal people don’t jump out of a car,” she said.

“I didn’t jump out of the car. I stepped out,” Cash said.

“Going from being locked in a cell to walking around on the street is a big change. But it’s a good change.”

He realized she knew where his thoughts had gone. He added intuitive and considerate to his list of her good attributes. He’d liked Lucia from day one, even if she was strung a little tight, but the more time he spent with her the more he saw her best qualities were buried beneath her icy facade. “I’m not free and not much has changed. I’m monitored around the clock. I live in a dump. I eat crappy food.” Benjamin had made it clear he wanted to know if Cash was in touch with anyone from his past. Cash half expected him to demand Cash keep a log of everyone he spoke to.

“Living in a motel isn’t ideal and I know your budget is tight.” She pressed her lips together. She was uncomfortable talking about money.

Was it because she had financial problems, too? The place where she lived was at least three thousand square feet and she had a number of decorative items he’d price high on the open market. She was either living above her means, on the take or the FBI was paying better than he’d thought.

“I’m grateful to Benjamin for what he did for me.” Even if the other man had a lot to gain by capturing Clifton Anderson, like a huge promotion and a raise, he’d put himself out to help Cash.

“You don’t sound ungrateful, but you sound like you’re coming unhinged. I’m supposed to keep an eye on you while we’re together,” Lucia said.

That’s what he needed to dissolve the anxiety, someone else watching him. “I have the tracker. You don’t have to worry about me skipping town.”

“I’m not worried about you skipping town. At the moment, I’m just worried about you.”

Compassion and an olive branch. Cash hadn’t realized how isolated he’d felt until she spoke the words. He had the urge to reach back, to connect with someone in a real way. Not to manipulate her or get on her good side for any other reason than needing a friend. “I can’t go back there.”

Empathy touched the corners of her eyes. “I know,” she whispered. “We’ll get this guy, and as long as you keep your head down and work hard, prison stays off the table. Now, please come back to the car. We’ll head to the office and sit on the rooftop and review our case notes, okay? And then you have the team’s happy hour.”

“Aren’t you going?” he asked.

“I have paperwork to finish up,” she said.

He let her lead him to the car. Lucia was looking left and right.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, sensing her unease.

“I have the strangest feeling we’re being watched.”

Not one to ignore instincts, Cash looked around. He didn’t notice anyone watching. They were surrounded by tall buildings. Anyone could be watching from those windows. Someone on the street? Another driver? He’d made a scene. He could have drawn the curiosity of a passerby or a people watcher with nothing better to do.

Or someone from his past had already caught up to him.

* * *

As people brushed past on the busy sidewalk, Lucia reached for her gun, unsnapping her holster. The atmosphere had tensed and shifted. If someone approached her or Cash, she would defend them.

Before her transfer to Benjamin’s white-collar crime team, Lucia had worked in the violent-crime division on a complex murder-for-hire case. Her contributions to breaking up a ring of Egyptian nationals selling their services as assassins had led to fifteen arrests and fourteen convictions. Unfortunately, several of the well-known assassins who were part of the ring remained out of reach.

Her old team leader had let her know that the assassins still at large could seek revenge and target the team who had broken up their lucrative business. A few months had passed without any whisper of a threat. Lucia had been lulled into a sense of security that shattered the moment her instincts pricked that something was wrong.

Her instincts had served her well at the Bureau. She couldn’t have explained why or how she knew trouble was near. Just as she had known by their treatment of her as the only female member of the violent-crime division that they were looking for a reason to kick her off the team.

In the end, it hadn’t been something she’d done or hadn’t done. It had been her success that gave her boss a reason to request a promotion for her. A promotion to a better-paying, higher-ranking open position in another unit.

She and Cash returned to her vehicle. They got in and she turned the key. The eerie sensation of being watched wouldn’t subside.

The car didn’t start. She paused a moment and heard the sound of the battery whining. “Get out of the car! Run!” she yelled.

Lucia opened the driver’s-side door and rolled, covering her face and head. Car horns blared at her and she narrowly avoided being struck by oncoming traffic. Cash had heeded her warning and was standing on the street looking at her strangely. Maybe the car was old and needed a new ignition. Maybe the engine needed a tune-up. Maybe that first faulty turn was driver error.

Then Cash was next to her, lifting her to her feet. “Lucia, what is—”

The car exploded, the boom echoing against the tall buildings around her, a blast of heat hitting them and knocking them to the ground. Heat burned up Lucia’s side. Cash covered her, shielding her. Something hit her leg hard enough to send pain radiating up her body.

Lucia had been in the line of fire before, but she hadn’t experienced the impersonal coldness of an assassination attempt. Her follow-up thought was just as terrifying. It hadn’t blown the first or second time she had started the car that day. Either someone had put the bomb in the car while she had been on the sidewalk talking to Cash or someone had been watching her and waiting to detonate the bomb. Either way, a killer was close.

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