Blink of an Eye (Kendra Michaels #8) - Roy Johansen Page 0,46

had broken away from the other agents and was striding toward her. “No ducking out for you,” he murmured as he took her arm and pushed her gently out of the room. “You hardly spoke all day in that meeting, and that’s not like you. So I might have to mend fences with you before I even get to Kendra. Let’s go pick her up at your place and I’ll take you both out to lunch and we’ll talk.”

“I could hardly get a word in edgewise if I’d wanted to,” she said dryly. “Between you and Kelland, you managed to dominate the conversation. Not that I felt left out. You saw that everyone who wanted a voice had one. But I wasn’t there to chime in. I just wanted to make certain that I had a grasp on what was going to happen tomorrow.” She added wryly, “And that you had control of the ransom drop. I don’t want anything to go wrong and get Dee killed.”

“Neither do I. Then I take it that you trust me to do my best for her?” He grimaced. “I know my showing up like this looks like an ego trip, but it was the only way I could do what I needed in the fastest possible time frame. After I was free to leave Tibet, I had to scramble to find out all I needed to know. I tapped as many sources as I could to bring me into the picture so that I’d be of value.”

“I could see that by the way you were interrogating everyone in that room today. I don’t believe anyone else realized that you weren’t totally knowledgeable about every facet of the case, and by the end of the session they thought you could walk on water.”

“Except Kelland.”

“Of course, you caught that. He might have a few issues on a personal level with you. Two alpha males who instinctively gravitate toward the desired female.” She added dryly, “I even told Kendra it would amuse me to see you go up against such an attractive, intelligent guy who could give you maximum competition.”

“Oh, did you? What did she say?”

“She said for me to mind my own business.”

“Excellent idea.”

She shrugged. “That sounded edgy. But I knew you’d be able to handle him. And he won’t let it interfere with getting Dee back.” She said coldly, “If it does, then I’ll expect you to step out of the way and let me take care of him. I like him, but not enough to take a chance on losing Dee.”

“I believe you can rely on me not to let that happen.”

“That’s what I’m counting on. I told Kendra that I wouldn’t object to having you around to spread a little of your razzle-dazzle if it meant you’d help Dee.”

“That’s all I want to do, Jessie.”

“I could see that today, and I wasn’t sitting there judging you.” She smiled. “If anything, I was admiring your technique. So I’m not one of the obstacles you’re going to have to jump over to get to Kendra. That’s her business. The only problem you’re going to have with me is if you get clumsy and rush in and hurt her more than she’s already been hurt by trying to help me find Dee. That would royally piss me off, Lynch.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“The fact that you had to hurry so much that you might have gotten all the facts, but you didn’t have time to examine them and realize what they meant.”

“It wasn’t that bad. Go on.”

“Adrian.”

He made the connection instantly. “The man who was killed when you went after him.”

“Very good. Did any of those efficient FBI agents mention that we’d made a deal with him to try to get Dee back? That Kendra had promised to protect him? Did they tell you that she was still trying to resuscitate him even though I told her that the back of his head was blown away?”

“Oh, shit.”

“I didn’t think so. It wasn’t something that would be important to the case. But it was important to Kendra.” She stared him in the eyes. “And you know how it would affect her.”

“Hell, yes.”

“Because Kendra’s not like either of us. She didn’t go through two tours in Afghanistan as I did. And everyone knows your kill record is a complete cipher. Kendra can be tough. She’s even had to kill the bad guys every now and then. But it was always the very bad guys, and