Theirs to Cherish(26)

“Yeah, after I added another infraction to your quickly growing list for after these babies are born. You’re racking them up, Cherry.” When his wife sighed noisily, Logan just laughed. “My brother’s wife, Kata, is five months behind her and still in the tired-all-the-time phase, so she conked out for the night. If you can occupy Tara’s brain right now, you’ll be my hero.”

“I’ve definitely got a winner,” Thorpe promised. “Are you sure she’s up to it?”

Logan scoffed. “Her ankles may be swollen, but there’s nothing wrong with her mind. Here you go.”

After a quick scuffle, Tara’s voice sounded over the line. “Hi, Thorpe.”

“Hello, sweet girl. I’m sorry it’s so late, but I need your help.”

“Anything. Name it.”

“Do you still have contacts at the FBI from your analyst days?”

“Absolutely.” She shuffled in bed again. “Can’t find a comfortable position. Sorry. One second . . . There. What do you need?”

“Background on someone new here at Dominion. He’s a potential problem.”

“So are you looking for his arrest record, criminal background . . . that kind of thing?”

“Precisely,” Thorpe confirmed. “Anything you can find out, really. I’ve thought for some weeks that there’s something about him that seems off. His story checks out on the surface, but it feels awfully pat. I suspect he’s not who he claims.” He hesitated. “He’s fixated on Callie.”

Tara grunted. “You’re calling me about her?”

“I know she isn’t your favorite person.”

“Um, not exactly. She wanted my husband.”

“No.” He didn’t want to divulge Callie’s secrets, but he needed to set Tara at ease so she’d provide answers. “Actually, I believe she was trying to get my attention with her brattiness and misbehavior.”

“Sounds like she got it.”

And then some. “She used Logan to reach me because she knew he wouldn’t be quiet about her antics. He was a big target.”

“He still is.” Tara sighed. “All right, who is this guy?”

“He uses the name Sean Kirkpatrick. I’ll send you a picture when we hang up. It’s not fabulous since it’s security footage. I don’t know much about him. Early thirties, says he’s from Scotland. Supposedly, he’s a freelance project manager who travels for a living.” But he sure as hell had a mean left hook for a desk jockey.

“Know where he went to school? When he came to the U.S.?”

“Sorry.”

“Send over the picture. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you. Call me with anything, day or night. My time is short. I don’t trust this ass**le.”

Tara hesitated. “Do you think he’d hurt her?”

His gut said no. For all of Kirkpatrick’s faults, he seemed as fiercely protective of Callie as Thorpe himself. But would Sean separate her from him and steal her away from Dominion? Absolutely.

“Let’s say I’m not taking any possibility off the table yet.”

“All right. Give me a few hours. I’ll see what I can dig up.”

“Thanks.” Thorpe smiled into the phone. Taking action felt good.

Facts would help him decide how to proceed with Kirkpatrick. Personally, Thorpe hoped the Scot had something dirty and blackmail-worthy in his past so he could hang it over Sean’s head to make him disappear from Callie’s life.

Then . . . he’d set about figuring what to do once he had her all to himself again.