Deadly Little Secrets Page 0,52

them out, keep them at bay.

Or maybe it was just this day.

“Don’t mention it.”

“I—” Ana began. Pretzky forestalled her.

“Seriously. Don’t mention it. I got a hard rep to maintain.” She kept her expression bland, but her eyes twinkled.

“Got it. Good night.”

“Uh-huh.” Pretzky was already on the other side of the desk, reaching for a folder.

At her desk, Ana looked at the card. It was the number, nothing more, but somehow it was like a mini-lifeline. A connection.

That alone made her want to weep again, a luxury she wouldn’t—couldn’t—allow. If she started, she might never stop. Straightening her spine, she cleared her throat and dialed McGuire first. He’d been the friendlier of the two agents who had originally worked on the case.

“That sucks,” McGuire said bluntly, when she filled in the details of her day. “Related to the case, you think?” Before she could agree or disagree, he was moving on. “You’re gonna let Hines know too, right?”

“Yes, he’s my next call. Or did you want to call him?” Ana asked, thinking the former partners might want to talk.

“Nah, you go ahead. Me’n Hines weren’t close. Fact is, that case is the last one I worked before I retired. My partner got out couple of months before I did so I got paired with Hines. Still, he should know.” Ana got the impression that McGuire didn’t think much of his former partner even now. Then again, if they’d only worked the one case, and not solved that one, it probably grated on the retired agent.

“I’ll let him know. Thanks again, McGuire.”

“Good to be in the loop,” he said, a dark tone infusing his voice. Ana wondered if that was a reference to Hines and if the other man had been one to keep the details to himself. They hung up, and Ana dialed the Oregon number for Hines.

“He’s out of town,” Hines’s secretary told Ana when she asked for the Senior Special Agent. “He had business in Washington State today, he said.” The woman offered to give Hines a message, or give her Hines’s cell number. Ana took the number, and left a message for Hines to call. She wanted anyone connected with the old case to have a fair warning.

Her due diligence done, all Ana wanted to do was put her head on her desk and cry.

As predicted, Gates was waiting for her in the traffic circle in front of the building. When the guard called to let her know he was there, Ana struggled to pull herself together. Now, she wasn’t sure why she’d agreed to meet him. She was playing with fire, and she’d sworn to give that up when she got burned in Rome.

She heaved a sigh, irritated with her own melodrama. It was just dinner, and God knew, she could use the distraction from the trouble of the day. If she went straight home, which was her impulse, she’d just brood. Or cry. Or scream. None of that was productive, and dinner with Gates might be, so she went.

She kept her pace brisk and level as she came across the lobby, but it took every ounce of willpower she still possessed not to duck and cover on the way to the car. There was a misty rain falling as she came out the doors, and Gates’s driver held an umbrella up to shelter her. With that kind of service, she was glad she’d approved him to come through security rather than meeting him on the street.

It was only five steps, and she was nearly a jelly-kneed weakling by the time she slid in beside Gates in the back of the town car and the driver closed the door behind her.

“Hello, Ana,” he murmured, handing her a wineglass. As she took it, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, taking her completely by surprise.

“It is,” he said, smiling.

“What?”

“Your cheek. It’s as smooth as I remember it to be. Now, have some wine, relax, and tell me about your day.” He paused for effect before adding, “Dear.”

Surprised at his quick switch from sensuous to banter, she blinked. “O-o-okay.” She caught up a split-second later and grinned. “Dear. Brought home the bacon. Fried it up in a pan. Got shot at, wigged out on the boss. You know, the usual.”

“Nearly got fried, then got hacked.” Still playing, he made a mock-derisive sound. “So little happening in your narrow world, Agent. You really should broaden your horizons.”

“To international commerce, like you and Dav? No thank you,” she joked. “It’s just