conglomerates and heads of state? Should I be flattered?”
“Yes, because I’d never give them the service I’d give to you.” He repeated, “Use me.”
He’s smart, he has contacts, and he’s innovative as hell. If he were here, I’d have you go ask him for help, Olivia had said that first day.
And Kendra had known then that she was absolutely right.
And now Lynch was here and offering his help. What the hell could she do? She had no right to consider how difficult his presence might make it for her on a personal basis. Not if it meant she was ignoring an asset that might help bring Elaine’s murderer to justice.
She looked away from him. “It’s not going to be easy for me.”
“Yes, it will. I’ll make it easy.”
She took that step back. “My rules, Lynch. All the way.”
“Of course, that goes without saying. Unless I feel I can contribute something.”
“All the way.”
He inclined his head. “Whatever you think best. Would you like to fill me in on what’s been going on? Metcalf was very sketchy, and you and Jessie probably didn’t confide everything to him anyway.”
“No, we didn’t. It’s a good thing, since he evidently can’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Ouch. Poor guy. He thought he was doing the right thing for you.”
She shot him a razor glance. “As you did?”
“No comment. Do you want to fill me in or not?”
“Not right now. Tomorrow will be soon enough. I’m supposed to go down to Olivia’s for dinner.” She added hesitatingly, “I suppose you could join us. You did know Jessie is staying with Olivia?”
He shook his head. “You’ve had enough of me for the time being. I’d really prefer to take a shower up here while you’re having dinner and then you come back and we talk.” He raised a brow. “But that’s not going to happen, is it?”
The last thing she wanted was to imagine Lynch naked and in her shower all during dinner. Though she was tempted to see his reaction when she brought Harley up for the night. She repeated, “Tomorrow morning will be soon enough. Go home, Lynch.”
“Fine. I should really go check over the security measures there anyway. It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to do it. I only want to do one more thing and I’ll let you banish me.” He took both her hands and looked down at the cuts. “Nasty. But they appear to be healing. You’re still keeping them bandaged?”
“Of course, when I’m not in the shower.” She tried to pull her hands away but he held them firmly. “They’re doing fine. After tomorrow I won’t have to bandage them at all. I’ll rewrap them before I go down to Olivia’s.”
“Would you like me to do it? I’m something of an expert these days.”
She knew that was true because she had seen the bullet and knife scars on his body. “No, thank you.” She had no desire to have Lynch touching her for that length of time. She was having enough trouble with just the small intimacy of his hands holding her own for these few minutes. She tried again to pull them away but he was still examining them. He traced a jagged cut on her palm with his forefinger. “I can see why Metcalf was so upset.” His lips tightened. “I’m a little pissed off myself.” He released her hands and turned away. “We might have to do something about it.” He headed for the door. “What time tomorrow?”
“Eight.” And his mention of security measures at his home had reminded her of something else. “But can I even count on you to be here? Jessie said that you were temporarily shutting down the investigation into Brock Limited but that you were still involved yourself with the Taliban. You told me yourself you were at Tangi Valley, which is notorious Taliban country, just yesterday. Yet here you are today knocking on my door as if nothing had happened.”
“I didn’t knock, I used the key,” he reminded her as he grinned at her over his shoulder. “And, yes, the Brock investigation is definitely on hold for the foreseeable future. There are CIA complications that have to be dealt with first. But it’s just a postponement, Kendra. We’ll get them, I promise.” He paused. “And you’ll have me on your doorstep as long as you want me. I belong to you until you’re ready to toss me away. That’s why I had to go to Tangi Valley yesterday—to clear the