The eyes that had been holding Savannah’s didn’t waver. “I have to go,” he said quietly. “It’s nearly showtime.”
“What about your pizza?”
“I’ll eat it between songs. What about your business?”
“My business?” Her expression changed. “Oh God, I need a minute of your time.”
He smiled. “You’ve already had a couple.”
“But you’ve been asking me questions. If you hadn’t done that, I’d have gotten to my questions sooner.”
“Mine were important. I wouldn’t have answered any of yours without knowing a little about you.”
“Why not? I’m here as an agent of the state.”
“I don’t know that for sure. I haven’t seen any identification.”
Opening the side compartment of her briefcase, she quickly took out her wallet, extracted her office ID, and handed it over.
He studied it for a minute, then said, “This is a lousy picture. How about a license?”
Without a word, she gave it to him.
He studied that for a longer minute. Then he passed both cards back. “I guess you’re legitimate, but I do have to go.” He said the last with a glance at his watch. It was a flat, black watch rimmed in gold, with a black leather strap that circled his wrist. Savannah found herself looking, not so much at the watch as at his wrist. It was sinewy, lean but strong, with a fine sprinkling of tawny hair. It was very different from her own.
Too soon, the wrist moved away, along with the rest of the man. Savannah was horrified.
“Mr. Snow?” She started after him. “Jared?” His stride was longer than hers, and he had a head start. Quickening her step, she called, “I won’t take long. It’s still five before midnight.”
He was halfway through the front hall. “I have to go over the program log. I should have done it already.”
“Two minutes.”
“And rack the carts.”
“One minute.”
He’d reached the doorway. Without either looking back or stopping, he shook his head. “No time,” he murmured.
“But it’s important!”
Her words hung in empty air. Jared had vanished through a door at the end of the hallway. She was left alone again, and in the same spot.
“Fool,” she muttered in dismay as she whirled around and pressed her elbows tightly to her sides. She had come on business, and she’d blown it. She had wasted precious time drooling over Jared Snow, while Megan was being held for ransom. Thinking about her great expectations, she realized the gravity of her failure.
But then, she reasoned in a moment of pique, Jared had to share some of the blame. She had told him that she was there on business. More so than she, he had known how much time he had and when he would be needed. If he were a gentleman, he would have let her speak instead of distracting her with his sexy eyes. If he were a responsible citizen, he would have put her official business before his. She would have thought he’d do better than to waste her time.
“Hey.”
She looked up, but the sound hadn’t come from a speaker, so she glanced over her shoulder. Jared stood in the middle of the hallway. His weight was shifted to one hip, his arms hung loosely by his sides. Though the stance was as casual as ever, a small frown marred his brow. He looked a little annoyed, a little impatient. But when he gestured her forward with a flick of his wrist, she went.
Well before she reached him, he turned and started down the hall. She followed. “If you wait until I get myself straightened out with the show,” he tossed back, “I’ll answer your questions.”
“Okay. That’s fine,” she said, trying to sound as cool as he, although she felt suddenly light-headed.
At the end of the hall he turned to the right, into a room that held two desks, a row of file cabinets and, on one wall, floor to ceiling shelves lined with tapes. The desks were covered with papers, pizza, and Rick. The file cabinets were littered with colored labels, the spines of the tape cases with identifying data written in black.
But Savannah looked past all that to the glassed-in room beyond. She had been in radio stations before, doing her share of programs as a spokesperson for the AG’s office, so she knew she was looking at the sound booth. Melissa was there, sitting at a bank of controls with her headphones in place. She had one hand on the mike button, the other on a vertical slide as her voice came through the speakers.
