“Hmm, for a lot of people. Listen, I just wanted to make sure everything is okay with you.”
“You know everything is okay.” Normally, she would just contact him, save his ass or give him information he needed, then she would disappear. This was something new. “Sam, what’s up?”
“What do you mean?”
“Sam.”
She sighed. “There’s nothing up. Just, I’m glad you and Ed are okay.”
“Thanks to you.”
“I helped, but even if I didn’t say anything, you would have been able to get out of there. I mean, you did have Ed, although that Rachel chick was a pain in the ass.”
He grunted in agreement. “Is there anything else?”
“No.” More silence and he waited. “So you don’t have any pets now?”
He frowned, then he remembered her first question on the phone earlier. “No. I travel too much, although Dad is thinking about getting a dog.”
“Like one of the ones you had as a child?”
“How do you know what kind of dogs I had as a child?”
“You mentioned them.”
Did he? He knew he mentioned having dogs, but he didn’t think he mentioned what kind of dog.
“I don’t want a hunting dog though. Once I live in a house again, I’ll get one. Not a cat for obvious reasons.”
He leaned back in his chair trying his best to follow the conversation. “What obvious reasons?”
“They always have a preferred human, and they would rather everyone else died.”
He thought about Maude’s affections for Luc and smiled.
“Anyway, I have to go now. Have fun on your vacation,” she said, and the phone clicked off.
He turned off his phone and tossed it onto his desk. She had been the bane of his existence for the past several years. Actually, it had started a few years ago when he was still with MI-6. She’d butted into one of his investigations, mocking him the entire time, and saving his ass. Since then, she had always popped up when he needed help or did most of the time. Now, it seemed that she was obsessed with keeping him alive.
And yes, he knew what an ass it made him that he bitched about a woman saving him. But he couldn’t help it. Every time he talked to her these days, he was left slightly aroused. Worse, he hadn’t had any interest in other women. He had started to compare every date he had to a woman he probably wouldn’t recognize if he passed her on the street.
Maybe a week in Kauai working on his house would get his head back in the game and off a woman he didn’t really know.
Two
The woman everyone knew as Sam, and who never answered to her real full name, walked down the street enjoying the heat of the midday sun. It was her third day on Kauai, and she was starting to understand why Ian liked it here so much. It was quieter than Oahu. Granted, for her, she liked Oahu because it was easier to disappear into the crowds. But if she wanted to settle down, she would probably do it on Kauai. Here, her brain seemed to go quiet.
It wasn’t that easy to do. Not for her. There was always a buzz of activity humming through her thoughts. Her grandmother had said it was a curse and a blessing, and she had been right. When Lila lived in England, staring out that picture window had been the best way to calm her thoughts and write code. Now, she liked to watch the waves.
The quaint town of Hanapepe had so much to offer. Plantation style buildings dotted the landscape making her feel as if she were transported to another time and place. Feral chickens would sometimes come clucking at her and she liked that. When she found out Ian was living on this island part time, she had been intrigued. The man screamed high class, but the little house he bought and worked to restore was far from his privileged upbringing. And it was so damned sexy that he did most of the work himself.
With a sigh, she slipped into a local hamburger joint and felt the whisper of something against her neck. Just that, but it told her she had someone’s attention. Sam doubted anyone really recognized her. She wore a blonde wig, mirrored sunglasses to hide her distinctive heterochromia eyes, and she was seriously underweight.
There was only so much food you could find while on the run. Even though this was the third straight day she had eaten at this particular restaurant. It would have to be her last because establishing patterns made it easier for people to track you.
She stepped up to the counter.
“Can I help you?” the helpful woman asked her with a smile.
