Читать книгу Operation Notorious - Justine Davis - Страница 16

Chapter 7

Gavin gave Cutter, with whom he was sharing the back seat, another head scratch. The dog shifted in the seat, giving up his intent looking-out-the-window to lie down beside him and plop his chin on his knee. Automatically Gavin stroked the dog’s head, and was once more struck at how soothing that simple action was.

He seems to have decided you need his attention...

Hayley’s words played back in his head. The dog certainly seemed to sense things. Although that didn’t explain the stunt he’d pulled last night with the phone. He wasn’t sure anything could.

Keep it up, de Marco. Pretty soon you’ll be buying everything else they say about this critter.

With an inward laugh at himself, he gave the dog a final pat as they turned off the paved road onto a gravel drive.

He’d forgotten how truly peaceful the surroundings were here at the northwest headquarters. Set back from the road at the end of the drive that curved through thick trees, the dark green, three-story structure sat in a clearing that seemed a world away from city chaos. It was unmarked; as with most of Foxworth, they didn’t advertise their presence.

He noticed that the double sliding doors of the warehouse-like building set to one side were open.

“Rafe must be here,” Hayley said, clearly having seen the same thing.

Despite the good working relationship they’d developed, Rafer Crawford still unnerved Gavin like no judge or opposing lawyer ever had. He also knew that building was mostly Rafe’s bailiwick; the former marine sniper with the deadly eye had a knack for mechanics. He said the two went hand in hand, that the calculation on a long shot was brother to the logic of machinery.

Cutter seemed to know the man was back as well, although he seemed a bit reluctant to leave his self-selected spot at Gavin’s side. Bemused anew, Gavin told him to go and shook his head when the dog gave him a final nudge before taking off for the open doors at a dead run, head and tail and ears up, letting out an odd series of barks, a staccato combination of short and long.

Rafe came out through the open doors to greet the dog, who danced around him delightedly. Gavin knew the tall, lean man was a favorite of the dog, as evidenced by the specific bark he used only for him. After a minute or two the animal left his beloved Rafe and came trotting back to attach himself at Gavin’s knee. An act they all seemed to notice, including Rafe as he headed toward them.

Gavin was struck by how different the man seemed here. He, as all of Foxworth did, occasionally visited the St. Louis headquarters. Rafe always seemed more guarded there, although dressed like any other person who worked in one of the towering buildings, drawing no notice from people too busy with the bustle of their own lives to see the leashed predator among them. That he was able to go unnoticed at all was testament to his skill, Gavin supposed.

But here he was more relaxed, at ease, as if here he didn’t have to hide behind a mask of bland civilization.

“Who’s in trouble?” Rafe asked with one brow lifted when he reached them.

“Apparently I was,” Gavin answered, not taking offense.

Rafe glanced at Cutter, who was leaning against Gavin’s leg. “I see.” He shifted his gaze back to Gavin and considered that for a moment. “Getting on Charlie’s nerves again?”

“Interesting that that’s your first guess,” Gavin said drily.

Rafe’s mouth quirked at one corner. “You two remind me of a pair of siblings I knew once. So alike they had to pick fights with each other now and then, just to keep life interesting.”

Gavin glanced at Quinn; he was, after all, Charlie’s brother.

“Don’t look at me,” Quinn said instantly. “I gave up trying to fight with Charlie long ago, when I realized that in the end I always lost.”

“Wise man,” Rafe said, without inflection. Then he looked back at Cutter. “Interesting,” he said again.

“So it seems,” Hayley agreed—although Gavin had no idea with what—and she didn’t even bother to try to hide her smile.

“We’ve got a case?” Rafe asked.

“Just arrived last night,” Quinn said, and gave Rafe a condensed version of Cutter’s antics and Katie Moore’s arrival as a Foxworth case. “She’s due here in about an hour, and we’ll make the final determination.”

“Need me?”

“Not yet, but come on in, so you’ll be up to speed.”

The dog stayed close to Gavin as they went inside and up the stairs to the big meeting room. He was drawn to the wall of windows looking out over the meadow behind the building. Beyond the clearing the forest stood, the evergreens a backdrop to the brilliant fall color of the deciduous trees as their foliage flamed out before surrendering to winter. Somewhere up there, he knew, a pair of bald eagles had their nest. As a man who had lived his life in cities, he could see the appeal, even as he felt a little out of place. More than eagles roamed the forests in the northwest.

Still, he knew there were those who’d consider the city more dangerous than this place, no matter what kind of wild creatures were out there.

Doesn’t take trees to make a jungle.

He smiled inwardly as one of Rafe’s observations echoed in his mind. He couldn’t argue that. In fact, he could attest that some of the most lethal jungles in the world were those consisting of concrete and steel and people more ruthless than animals driven only by instinct. Win at Any Cost was the motto of too many in those places, as if they’d completely lost the ability to see any view but their own. It wasn’t a sense of right or wrong, just win or lose, and the latter was to be avoided no matter what, no matter if the person in the right was forever damaged.

Which was another of the reasons he’d walked away.

He turned from the expansive view and moved to the back corner of the room where Quinn and Hayley were hunched over the bank of computers.

“Ty’s research,” Quinn explained as the file downloaded. “He had an appointment so he recorded a video for us.”

“Where is Liam, by the way?” he asked, referring to the operative who usually handled their computer work. He and Ty had a friendly competition over who could dig deepest fastest, and it made for some amazing—and sometimes frightening—results.

“Texas,” Quinn said. “Checking on the kids from our last case.”

Gavin nodded. He’d done a bit of work on that case, helping smooth the way for the two young brothers who had been struck yet again by tragedy to leave the state for a temporary stay with a well-qualified foster family who also happened to be Liam’s parents.

“How are they?” he asked. “Those kids have had a rough time.”

“Liam says they’re doing great. That’s about all I could get,” Hayley added with a pleased smile, “because he’s a bit distracted. He took his girl with him to meet the family.”

Gavin blinked. “That was fast.”

“When it’s right, it’s right,” Quinn said, looking at his wife.

As he watched Hayley’s smile, Gavin felt a twinge that he hated himself for. He thought he’d long ago accepted that such a connection was not in the cards for him, but being around these two seemed to shake that acceptance.

Cutter’s head came up and he gave a rather emphatic bark.

“Katie must be here,” Hayley said.

Gavin knew the gravel drive announced a car’s arrival to the dog’s sensitive ears long before they would hear it. As he listened, Cutter bumped up against him as if trying to nudge him toward the door, and the stairs.

“What?” he asked the animal, who merely looked at him steadily and continued to nudge. He glanced at Quinn and Hayley, who were smothering smiles; apparently they found their dog’s odd behavior amusing.

“Go on down and get the door, would you?” Hayley said, a bit too breezily.

“We’ll be down as soon as we glance through what Ty turned up,” Quinn said. “I’d like to have an idea before we talk to her.”

And so Gavin ended up following the dog’s urgings and headed for the stairs.

“Coffee’s on, and there’s some fresh-baked cookies on the counter next to the fridge,” Hayley called out, sounding too chipper for the circumstances.

With the feeling he was definitely missing something, he headed down the stairs to play greeter. He’d had enough sleep—barely—to alleviate the jet lag a bit, so he’d be fine. He’d handle this like any Foxworth case, if they indeed decided to take it on. His odd reaction to Katie Moore last night had only been because he’d been tired and jet-lagged.

When they got downstairs Cutter ran to the door and sat expectantly.

“Why don’t you just open it?” he muttered at the dog. “That automatic door opener is for you.”

Cutter tilted his head back so far he was practically looking at Gavin upside down. He wondered if that was the dog equivalent of rolling his eyes. With a sigh he reached out and pulled the door open. As he’d expected, it was Katie.

What he hadn’t expected was the difference from the rain-dampened woman he’d met last night. He took it all in rapidly, noticing details as he had all his life.

This woman was pulled together, leaving little sign of her distress from last night. She wore a bit of makeup—not much, and he’d dealt with enough overdone paint to know—that accentuated her delicate features and made those incredible eyes look even bluer. Her hair fell in loose waves to her shoulders, and the streaks of golden blond seemed warm on this chilly morning.

She was dressed for the temperature in a sweater the same blue as her eyes, with a loose sort of collar that fell softly around her neck and shoulders, worn over a pair of trim black leggings and midcalf boots. No high heels for her, but a solid, block heel and leather that would withstand a northwest winter. But those legs...

His breath jammed up in his throat, his pulse skipped and then picked up speed.

“Hello,” she said, and he realized that low, husky note in her voice hadn’t just been from her emotional state last night. It sent a tickling sensation up his spine.

So much for being tired and jet-lagged.