“Don’t give me that look.” Holly looked beyond him. “Where’s Joy? She was just here a minute ago.”
That was a goodquestion. She could join them at any time. So why wasn’t she back?
~~*~~
Joy paced the confines of Cameron’s office. She’d popped in at multiple times and each time he wasn’t there. For the first time, she wished she knew where he existed in his off hours. How could he not be working for so many days and times? It didn’t make sense.
She stopped.I’m simply treading carefully. Cameron is beingmanipulated as are we. If we don’t get this right, there will be dire consequences.Malcolm’s words from earlier froze her to the spot.
What if Cameron wasn’t available only to her? Maybe the answers she wanted on Malcolm, she wasn’t supposed to get from Cameron. Then from who? She was denied his life file and denied her boss’ counsel. Who else could she ask about his worthiness? His trainer?
She looked around the office as if it could somehow tell her what she should do next. Everything was in its proper place, Cameron’s desk completely clear. She moved toward the chair she usually sat in then changed her mind and leaned against the desk like Cameron always did.
“Who am I supposed to ask?”
At her words, the shadow of a figure appeared, leaning against the wall to her right. She snappedher head around, but it disappeared. Sugar, who was it? Who leaned against the wall— “Oh.”
She stood. She had to ask Malcolm himself. Cameron’s hint drifted through her mind.Don’t be subtle.Did he mean with Holly or Malcolm? Was her assignment both of them like she’d originally thought?
And why couldn’t someone just tell her what she was supposed to do instead of making it a stinking guessinggame? “Okay, fine. I’ll confront Malcolm and Holly both, but if that’s not what you wanted, you better tell me soon, or I’m not responsible for what happens.”
The room was silent and nothing moved. She’d half hoped that a file drawer would pop open or a scene would play before her, but that would be far too obvious. Sighing, she phased and sped back to Inverness. She could be there a second aftershe’d left.
As she came into the house, she frowned to see Malcolm and Holly watching the family exit the room for dinner. She must have miscalculated her time. Was Holly okay?
“Glad you didn’t move on without me.” She gave them a smile.
Malcolm looked relieved, which told her something wasn’t right.
“We wouldn’t leave without you.” Holly faced her. “My guess is Malcolm will want to takeme some place depressing next, and there’s no way I’ll go there without you.”
Cameron’s wife was pretty sharp. “I don’t think Malcolm would be so crass as to leave without me, but since you bring it up, should we move on?”
Holly gave Malcolm an odd look. “That’s what I’m supposed to do, I guess.”
He nodded. “Aye. Take my hand.” As he took Holly’s hand, he gave her a challenging look.
She noddedregally. What? Did he think she was afraid of him after what he showed her of his life? She may not have experienced what he did, but she had strength he didn’t even know about. Determinedly, she grasped his hand. He wouldn’t be so smug if he knew she planned to drill him about it.
He grinned and gave her hand a squeeze. “Back to Deervale.”
She frowned at him. How could he be so happy when theirnext visit was so sad. Or was he smiling about something else? She leaned in to whisper. “You’ll have to tell me how you explained your killing statement to Holly.”
His grin didn’t leave his face. “I’ll be happy to.”
There was definitely something else going on. He looked like a dragon who’d just fired an entire town. If he suddenly started breathing fire, she’d grab Holly and escape.
He turnedback to steer them in the right direction, and she studied his profile. His face was perfectly sculpted even from the side. His jaw was strong and rugged, darkened as it was by his rough goatee. His nose was straight and his cheek bone angular. Dragon or not, she had to admit, he was very hot.
At her thought, her body heated. That’s the last thing she should be thinking about. She should be planningher interrogation of said dragon. Malcolm had been well trained to elicit the truth from people he questioned. Though his methods were effective, they weren’t her way. There was more than one way to skin a cat, or a dragon.
“That’s Brody and Sarah’s house.” Holly pointed to a stone home on a street off the main road of town. “Brody and Cameron were so much alike, I can’t believe Ethan put upwith the both of them.”
Joy looked around Malcolm to catch Holly’s eye. “I’m betting you helped even the odds a bit.”
Holly laughed. “You’re right. I don’t know how many times Brody and Cam suggested some crazy venture and Ethan and I argued against it. I think we all balanced each other out. Brody and Cam took a few less risks and Ethan and I lived a little wilder than we would have becauseof them.”
“And then Brody’s girlfriend Sarah joined you. Where did she fit in?” Malcolm’s entrance into the conversation had them hovering over the house.
