feeling was replaced by an altogether different feeling when he watched her check and handle her gun. He must be sick in the head. There was something just plain wrong with being turned on by watching a woman handle a gun. Then again, confidence was always seductive. And Dani was nothing if not confident.
They entered the parking lot and he led her to his car. He put the duffel in the trunk then opened the passenger door and motioned her in. As she folded her long legs inside he flashed back to last night when those legs had been wrapped around him. His eyes caught hers as she pulled the door shut. Even her frown didn't dampen his attraction.
He slid into the driver's seat. “So, where to, Agent Williamson?”
“Take a left. Head to Highway 1, then turn north. And you can call me Dani,” she added.
“Not Ella?”
She shook her head. “Not many people call me that.”
He could see the minute the words left her mouth, she regretted saying them. She had given him leverage. And it just might be worth it to call her Ella every now and then—in private—to see what kind of reaction he might get. If it was anything like the night before when he'd called her name, it would be worth it.
“So, how long have you been working this case?” Ty asked, pulling his mind away from the gutter, or bed, as the case may be, or kitchen table, or elevator.
Dani stared out the window for a long moment. “About a year, more or less.” Her voice held a weary tone that suggested more. But her voice shifted back to ‘agent’ with the next comment. “Take 88 North toward Broad Cove. Then take the third right.”
“And he's big enough to warrant the interest of an entire team of DEA agents?”
“Getz is a man of interest to a great number of people,” she answered. “But yes, he is of interest to us, for all the reasons I mentioned today. The network is big enough now that it's showing up on the radar in a number of cities. That and the apparent tie to the Eagle's Wing group upped the priority to bring him in. Or down, whichever works.”
“So how long do you think this will take?” he asked, following her directions. It was early still, so as he turned east toward the water, the sun hit them full in the face and they both reached up and flipped down their visors. With brilliant blue skies, cool temperatures, and calm winds, it was Ty's favorite kind of day. But a storm somewhere out at sea caused waves to crash against the rocky coast, throwing spray high into the air. The juxtaposition between the peace and violence of nature, in his mind, defined Maine. Defined a lot of things.
To his right, he caught Dani lifting her shoulder in response to his question. “Hard to say. Our intelligence indicates the transfer is going to occur at his place, here in Portland, sometime in the next few weeks. Of course, we all know how reliable dealers are, so that could mean tomorrow or it could mean two months from now.”
“And you're here for the duration?”
Dani hesitated for a second before answering. “It's likely, yes. But where I go and how long I stay is up to the team director.”
“But it's unlikely the director is going to reassign you.”
Ty felt her gaze fix on his face as he focused on the road. From the corner of his eye, he saw her big brown eyes narrow in calculation. Not a coy, catty calculation, but a professional, agent-to-detective assessment. He'd wager her mind was firing in rapid sequence.
“What makes you say that?” she asked, turning her body back around and transferring her eyes to the side mirror outside her window. Her nonchalance surprised him given the intensity of her focus seconds ago. And then he recalled her control earlier in the day. She had moments when it looked like she thought about letting her guard down—like that one, brief moment in the hotel room—but he would do well to remember she was a trained federal agent. He would be able to read her only when she wanted him to.
“Just a guess.”
He glanced over in time to see her take a quick study of him before turning again to the window. For a while she remained silent, except for telling him the turns he needed to make. After a few moments dragged on, she seemed