has a fascination with blondes. The only difference is Alex was only seen with one blonde whereas Isaac has been seen with many the past eight months. “Umm, yes, she does appear to be a brunette.”
Her reply irritates Alex more. “In the past two months, have you ever seen him with a brunette?”
I’m confused by Alex’s line of interrogation, and I’m not the only one. Isabelle is as stumped as me. “What does my hair color have to do with my placement?”
Alex replicates nothing of the man I once knew when he snarls, “Isaac Holt fucks blondes. You’re a brunette.” He’s had a hard few months, but he’s taking it out on the wrong person.
Fortunately, Isabelle seems more than capable of holding her own. “Excuse me,” she growls on a hiss. “I wasn’t brought here to sleep with Isaac Holt, I was brought here to help with your investigation.”
My chance to slap her back and say ‘attagirl’ is lost when Alex rebuts, “You were brought here as eye candy.”
Finally recognizing Alex’s game plan, I say the first thing that pops into my head. “We could bleach her hair.”
I’m not a fan of degrading women, Mr. Gregg ensured that would never be a strong point of mine, but if switching Isabelle’s locks from chocolate brown to blonde keeps her in Ravenshoe long enough I can work out why I was pleased to see her before I was worried, I’m open to offering up some suggestions.
“Not happening,” Isabelle says with a snarl.
Tell me one man over the age of sixteen whose eyes don’t lower when a woman crosses her arms. You can’t think of one, can you? So don’t blame me when my eyes instinctively lower from Isabelle folding her arms under her chest.
I’m a guy.
It’s been a while.
Cut me some slack.
Recognition that Alex skipped the etiquette side of supervisor training is exposed when he mutters at Isabelle, “Once you’re in a dress and a pair of stilettos, Isaac won’t care you’re a brunette.”
“Once you have a personality transplant and a plastic groin inserted, nobody will care you’re a Ken doll,” Isabelle fires back, proving she’s as quick-witted as she is beautiful.
My ears rouse when Alex whispers to Isabelle, “I know who your uncle was. I know his reputation, but you need to learn your place. You were only brought here as a distraction for Isaac. He never lets anyone in, and you’re supposed to be our way in.”
Isabelle’s reply is fast, but I only catch half of it since I’m out the door faster than a rocket.
“If you’re this quick between the sheets, no wonder why I haven’t seen you with a woman in years.” Grayson chuckles down the line, believing I’m returning his call to update him on the bank records he’s chasing for his continued search to find Katie Bryne, a girl he met once many moons ago. She was abducted from a town not too far from here.
Grayson’s chuckles diminish when I ask, “How does Alex know Tobias?”
“Everyone knew Tobias. He was an integral part of the FBI.”
He has a point, so I extend the perimeter of my scope. “How does Alex know about Tobias’s daughter, Isabelle, and that she calls him her uncle?”
“He doesn’t know Tobias referred to Isabelle as his daughter, but the uncle reference is standard. Her birth certificate had Tobias’s brother, Abraham, cited as her father. Remember, we improved its authenticity the day you pushed her application through the correct channels? She wouldn’t have gotten in the door with the identification she was handing over.”
“Fuck, I forgot about that.” Tobias was skilled at keeping people hidden, but his documentation wasn’t the best at the end of his career, so you can imagine how poor it was twenty years ago. “Seeing Isabelle again threw me off. My head isn’t screwed on right.”
“Isabelle Brahn is in Ravenshoe?” Grayson sounds as shocked as I felt when she walked into HQ.
“Yes!” He can’t see me, but I nod, nonetheless. “It looks like Alex brought her in as a Honey Pot for Isaac.”
“Whoa. Are you fuckin’ serious?” His voice is a cross between a laugh and groan. “I heard she was a knockout from a rookie who joined my team last month, but Leesa’s stunt had all sups stepping back from using fresh recruits as Honey Pots. If they don’t end up dead, their entire team could be debunked like ours was, so none are willing to risk it.” He stops talking for a bit, the sound of him