her bones. Without even meaning to be, the man was sexy. How was she supposed to cope with that?
“Good morning. Is everything okay with Dav?” she asked, not knowing what else to say. Why was he calling this early? She hadn’t even gotten to the office.
“Dav’s fine, nothing to worry about,” he said, dismissing that issue. “When you step outside, there’ll be a car waiting. I couldn’t come in myself this morning, but Damon, the driver from last night, will be there to get you to the office.”
“Gates, that wasn’t necessary,” she protested. She refused to admit what a thrill it gave her that he would think of it. “I was about to call a cab.”
“Which would be why I called so early. Have a good day, Agent Ana.” He all but crooned her name, and the intense tug of sexuality that his touch engendered flared in her belly. Without another word, he was gone.
Ana peeked out the window. Sure enough, the black town car sat waiting in the space marked for her car.
“Which reminds me to call about my car,” she muttered, as she got her keys and gave Lancie a last pat. “Go do your cat chores,” she ordered, and headed out.
Nothing prepared her for the luxury of riding to work, rather than driving. People touted the BART—the Bay Area Rapid Transit—for giving them time to read, or study, or just relax before work. The BART had nothing on a chauffeured car. The driver stopped for Starbucks, when she said she preferred it to Peet’s. There were Danishes waiting for her, and the day’s paper neatly folded on the seat.
When she got out at her building, after clearing through the security at the bottom of the driveway, she was pinching herself to be sure it was real.
“Thanks, Damon,” she said, getting out before he could come around. That would have been too much, way too much luxury to start an ordinary work day.
“You’re welcome, Agent Burton. Have a nice day,” the man said, and drove away. Ana walked into the building, still a bit dazed over the whole incident.
“Wow. If that’s what you get when you investigate a billionaire,” Pearson said, jumping on the elevator with her, “I’m going to see if I can find a few cases like yours.”
Ana had to laugh. “It’s crazy, isn’t it?”
“Hey,” Pearson said, patting her shoulder. “You had a crappy day yesterday and he knew you’d lost your car, right? Pretty cool, I’d say.”
“Yeah, pretty cool,” Ana agreed. The difference in her relationship with Pearson, evidenced by the friendly words and familiar gesture of a pat on the back, was indicative of the change in her office status. Everyone, barring the pus-ball, Davis, had suddenly changed to treating her as one of the team.
When she met with Pretzky behind closed doors, she mentioned it.
“Sure, they warmed up some, but you changed too, Burton,” Pretzky reasoned. “They just met you halfway.” The older woman paced back behind her desk and sat. “Tell me about this case. Start at the beginning and don’t leave anything out.”
“I ran through the listing of cold cases,” Ana began. “This one had an art connection, and some interesting angles, so I pulled it next.” Step by step, she went through her process, detailing everything from the calls with the former lead agents, to her calls with the victims.
“Any word from the other agent, the one you didn’t talk to?” Pretzky said, as they broke for lunch.
“No, and I need to follow up there. His secretary said he was out of state yesterday, so I’d better try again. I have a different pattern to try, as well,” Ana admitted. “A different set of searches. I’m going to need your help, though.”
Pretzky gave her an odd look. “That’s good to hear. Put it together, bring it in after you’ve had some lunch, and we’ll discuss it.”
“Will do.”
At her desk, a stack of pink message notes lay propped on the keyboard. It amused her that with all the computer gadgetry and instant message capability, most people still preferred handwriting reminders.
Ignoring them for now, she turned on her laptop, and while it was booting, she called the number the secretary had given her for Hines.
“I’m sorry,” a mechanical voice stated. “This number is currently unavailable. The subscriber you are trying to reach may be out of the area or have the phone turned off. Please leave a message…”
She frowned. They were in the same time zone, so Hines would be up and