Page 21 of Shadow of the Moon

Images of him turning, towel in his hand and cock proudly pointing toward her flashed through her mind. How audacious was he, thinking he could flash his dick at her and they would fall back into bed together?

Was he really, though? Things had been fine until her body had reacted to his, and he’d walked out and seen her toying with herself.

What had she been thinking? How humiliating.

And now he was teasing her, flashing her with his body and saying inflammatory things meant to throw her off. It reminded her of when they were married. The man had teased her unmercifully. Devlin had always followed through with the teasing, though. The man could fuck her into unconsciousness.

Just the thought was enough to make her pause. Then the anger surged. They had a fugitive to find, damn it!

Amberly rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom to get ready.

When she left the bathroom, Devlin was already up and dressed and packed. Amberly moved to her own bag, stuffing a few things in. “School probably starts about eight. You still want to go directly to the principal?”

“I think so,” Devlin said, swinging his bag over his shoulder. He moved to the window, peering out. “We’re ready.”

With a last glance at the room, Amberly followed him.

Robert Winchester seemed veryyoung to be a principal, but who was she to judge?

Once the overly cautious receptionist let them through the locked main office door, Amberly let Devlin take the lead.

“My wife and I are scouting out schools,” Devlin told the woman, grinning at her, “and we’d like to talk to the principal about a sensitive matter.”

The receptionist/ office guard dog smiled at them and nodded. “If you’ll take a seat, I’ll see if he’s available.”

Within just a couple of minutes, they were hustled into a large office, and a tall young man with a frizzy shock of red hair was shaking their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Robert Winchester. This is my first year as principal, but I’m sure your issue won’t be anything we can’t deal with.”

They sat in the two chairs facing Mr. Winchester’s desk and shared a look. Devlin nodded for her to take the lead.

“Mr. Winchester, we’re not actually here for our child. We’re following up on a lead and we need your utmost discretion.” Pulling her CIA badge from her pocket, she held it out long enough for Winchester to get a good look at it. The man looked up at her blankly.

“I don’t understand… You don’t have a child?”

“No, sir. We’re here because… well, can you tell us if you recognize this child?”

Amberly held up the picture of the little girl. Mr. Winchester took it from her, and nodded. “Yes, I know this girl.”

Amberly could have sagged with relief. Finally, a break.

“But I’m not going to tell you any more until I speak with her mother.”

Suiting actions to words, he reached for the phone. Reaching over the desk, Amberly stilled his hand. “Mr. Winchester. Not to be too dramatic, but we’re tracking a homicidal maniac. The safety of your entire school population relies on you answering our questions. If you react in any way to our presence in the school, the person we are after will know we’ve been here.”

Winchester sank back in his chair, brows furrowed over his blue eyes and mouth pursed. “Do you think they’re in danger now?”

“I don’t know,” Amberly answered him honestly. “We have no idea who this girl is, just that her picture was on the desk of a convicted murderer. We don’t know if it’s his daughter or the daughter of someone he’s trying to leverage. What can you tell us about her?”

Mr. Winchester dry-washed his hands. “This is highly unorthodox, not to mention illegal.”

“I know, Mr. Winchester,” Amberly said quietly. “And I appreciate your wanting to protect the children. If there’s any other way we could have done this, we would have. But we have a picture of your school, and the picture of this girl from this man’s desk. Now, what’s her name?”

Winchester sank back into his chair. “Annabelle Jones. She started attending earlier this year and I’ve only met the mother, so far. She’s a nice, working woman by the name of Brea. They moved here from back east, somewhere. No reason why, that I can remember.”

“Are there any other family members?”

Winchester frowned. “She’s talked about her grandfather, but no names.”

Amberly looked at Devlin, wondering what else they should ask.

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