Page 77 of Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter Fifty-Seven

A knock sounded on the van doors, jarring Jesse from dead silence.

“It’s Cole,” came the familiar Texas drawl.

Her heart leaped and she told herself to get some perspective. This wasn’t the homecoming dance, and Cole wasn’t going to make her his queen. She glanced at her watch as she rose. Twenty after eleven. He had been gone for two hours and forty minutes and hadn’t contacted her. She opened the left door and he slipped inside

“So far so good,” he said, seating himself in the aft chair.

His eyes were bright with excitement and anticipation tightened her belly.

Jesse sidestepped the back swivel chair and slipped into the forward seat. “How did it go?”

“Pretty much as expected. He made me start from how I found you in the alley, lost you, then picked you up in Colombia. I told him how we found Perez through Menendez. That caught his attention. He was interested in your Colombian connection.” Cole raised a brow.

A tingle played at the back of her neck. Was he trying to figure if she was still connected with Michael?

“I stuck to the truth up till the part about you killing Perez,” Cole went on. “He didn’t say a word when I told him you didn’t turn on me.”

Jesse nodded. “Just like we wanted.”

“Right. He’s a cool cookie. Didn’t let on he’d seen you or Perez.”

“You don’t think he found it coincidental Perez shows up the same day you do?”

“If he did, he didn’t give away his thoughts. At this point, though, his focus is on Perez. Perez scares him.” Cole shrugged. “I’m no threat.”

“I am,” she said with satisfaction, “because I’ve done the one thing that gives me real power.”

“Teamed up with Perez,” Cole finished.

She nodded. “What do you think he thinks about the fact you saw Perez die, yet he’s shown up here in Langley?” she asked.

“I did some fancy talking about why I let you check Perez’s vitals. I told him you dragged me out of there, then skedaddled.”

“He bought it?”

“It wasn’t hard for him to buy that I didn’t want to get captured by Perez’s men. He kept the debriefing friendly.”

“Sounds like he’s acting as if you and he have teamed up to single handedly bring me in.”

“Looks that way,” Cole said with enough derision to surprise her. He further startled her with a sudden grin. “Ain’t it great?”

She laughed, finally letting his excitement spark hers. “I suppose it is.”

“It couldn’t have gone better,” Cole said.

“Taking you fully into his confidence would have been better.”

“He may be acting like we’re a team, but he’s not stupid. He won’t chance bringing me that close.”

“Unless we force him to,” she said.

Cole paused. “What do you mean?”

“He might chance pulling you closer in hopes he can convince you to take care of Perez like he hoped you would in Colombia. He would bank on your outrage upon learning I faked Perez’s death then teamed up with him.”

Cole thought for a moment. “Maybe.”