“Double. I know. She will.”
“Thanks.”
Gil ended the call and braced for the expressions he would see when he looked up. He wasn’t surprised. Emily was wary. Ivy concerned. Both were curious.
He filled them in on what Zane said, but when he got to the part about the guy having a picture of Ivy, he couldn’t stop himself from stepping toward her and reaching for her hand. He was prepared to give it a squeeze and drop it, but she threaded her fingers through his and held on.
Fine by him.
WHY COULDN’T SHESTOPherself from holding on to Gil? What did she think? That if she let go, she might blow away, or fall apart? She wasn’t fragile. She was tough. Smart. She knew her own mind, and she knew she didn’t know what she was going to do with the feelings Gil Dixon was stirring in her.
She’d dated, although not recently and not often. But none of her previous relationships had prepared her for the overwhelming need she was experiencing to be close to Gil. She barely knew him anymore, and she had no idea what he was thinking. He was probably trying to be nice.
Especially right now. He hadn’t meant to hold her hand. She knew he hadn’t, because she caught the flash of surprise when she didn’t let go. But he was too kind to treat her with anything but gentleness, especially after the day she’d had yesterday.
But in the car, he’d made the first move. Hadn’t he? What if it hadn’t been a move and she’d jumped on it and now—
“What happens now?” Emily’s question brought Ivy’s worrying to an end.
“We wait.” Gil squeezed her hand.
“He had a picture of me?” Ivy tried to swallow, but her mouth had gone dry.
“I don’t like it either.” Ivy didn’t need to get to know Gil better to recognize his remark was the very definition of an understatement. “But now we have someone to talk to.”
She heard what he didn’t say. “Without him, we don’t have any real leads, do we?”
“No.” Gil didn’t hesitate with his reply. “There are two things in play. Someone desperately wants to get into your computer system. And then there’s the counterfeit money that was deposited into Hedera’s accounts.”
“We had a community fair a few weeks ago. We gave tours ofthe building and our labs and had a few carnival rides outside. The response was fantastic. Lots of cash came in at the different booths. It was a fundraiser for our local wounded warrior group. We deposited the cash and wrote the wounded warriors a check.”
“That explains the cash deposit.”
“That money could have come from anywhere. The people who used it at the fundraiser might not have known they had counterfeit bills.”
“Maybe.” He tugged on her hand and put his other hand on Emily’s arm. “Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour before everyone gets here.”
Ivy didn’t mind the change of subject or the distraction that came from wandering around Gil’s office. Although, the truth was, there wasn’t much to see.
He walked them back to the entry and talked about their office manager, Leslie Martin, and the recently promoted resident agent in charge, Jacob Turner. Then he led them down the hall and pointed out the conference room on the way to the main office area where he, Luke, Zane, and Tessa all had cubicles. A quick glance revealed cubicles for eight agents, but only four desks were in regular use.
Gil didn’t mention them, but she knew who the empty cubicles had belonged to. Special Agent Thad Baker had died in February in a horrific car bomb that also took the life of one of Ivy’s interns. Then Jared Smith had died in April on the same day Luke and Zane were attacked, a few days before Gil was shot in the head.
Gil led them back to the conference room and held a chair for Ivy, then for Emily. “Do you want something to drink?” He opened a dorm-sized refrigerator in the corner of the room and peered inside. “We have water, sparkling water, and Cherry Coke.”
“I’ll take a water.”
“Same,” Emily echoed.
Gil handed the water to Ivy and she asked, “What’s with the Cherry Coke?”
Emily laughed. “It’s for Faith.”
Luke walked in the room, Zane right behind him. “Did you offer up Faith’s Cherry Coke?” Zane winked at Ivy. “Faith’s a nice girl, but that Cherry Coke situation is intense. No matter what you do, never take the last cold Cherry Coke.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Zane looked so different from Luke and Gil. Where Luke’s skin was more olive toned and Gil’s still carried a summer tan, Zane was fair complected and had dark-blond hair with a lot of red tones in it, and fierce blue eyes. The look that came with his advice was warm and assessing. “Did Gil fill you in?”
She looked at Gil, then back at Zane. “Yes.”
