Page 16 of A Colby Christmas Rescue

The fact that he had inside information compelled her to believe him. “Tell me about the hard parts.”

“Dr. Case has a body double.”

Dread dragged at her gut. “Are you serious?”

“I am indeed. The most difficult part will be making sure we take the right guy and that we keep his wife and daughter out of the line of fire.”

What kind of doctor hired a body double?

“You have some way of proving who the real Dr. Case is?” God, she hoped so. Because all she had was a photo of the man.

“I do and it’s foolproof. But that doesn’t mean he will make this easy.”

Jamie shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be easy. It just has to be doable.”

She would do whatever necessary to save her brother’s life—even give up her own.

“It is doable,” Abi said.

“No more issues with or questions about Poe,” she pressed.

Abi shook his head. “I will handle the situation.”

Poe scoffed. “Somehow I figured that was the answer all along, otherwise you might have to get your hands dirty.”

Abi chuckled. “You might be smarter than I anticipated.”

The standoff lasted about five seconds. Poe said, “You mentioned a pat down.” He gestured to Abi. “Why don’t we get that part over with? Jamie and I like to know who we’re working with—what he carries, what he’s hiding. Things like that. You want to go first?”

Jamie rolled her eyes.Let the games begin.

Saturday, December 22

Three Days Before Christmas

Chapter Four

Excalibur Court,

8:30 a.m.

Jamie wiped the steam from the mirror. The shower had cleared her head a bit. She’d barely slept last night. She couldn’t stop thinking about Luke and how he must be feeling.

Her little brother was a good guy. His need to help others was so clear in his every decision. The fact that he wanted to be a doctor said so much about him. She had to make sure he came through this safely. No one should be kidnapped and held against his will, but Luke was one of the last people on the planet who deserved such treatment. Jamie wished she could claim credit for even ten percent of his good works. The man was always donating his time and/or ability to one cause or another.

There had been times when Jamie worried that this made him vulnerable. It wasn’t that she didn’t agree with the work he did, but he had to be more careful to protect himself. He was a Colby. This made him a target far more so than he wanted to admit. She’d warned him time and time again that he had to be careful. He shouldn’t just blindly trust anyone.

She scrubbed the towel over her skin. That wasn’t fair. Just because he had been targeted and taken hostage did not mean he hadn’t been careful.

When she’d dried her body and whipped her hair into a damp ponytail, she put on the jeans and sweatshirt that had been provided. Her host had thought of everything. Clothes. Shoes. Toiletries. The scariest part was that these were toiletries she would have chosen.

She suspected Abi had taken care of those details or at least helped with that part. Or maybe he’d been the one to think of it period. He was quite a diva when it came to personal comfort. No matter. She had carefully checked every single item for tracking devices and anything else that could be used to monitor her movements or subdue her in any way. As she’d done so, her mind had conjured images of her and Abi together...their bodies entwined.

She rolled her eyes and put the thought out of her head. She knew firsthand how he liked things. She and Abi had a thing for a little while late last year. It hadn’t been a big deal. She’d run into him after a long and exhausting assignment. She’d had a feeling he’d picked her out of the pack and zeroed in on her. Maybe she was being paranoid, but it had felt that way. There were plenty of others in the agency he could have targeted.

Of course, his decision to go after her had nothing to do with this current mission.

She gave her reflection one last look. There were several items on her to-do list today and she wasn’t standing for Abi getting in her way. He might be in charge of babysitting, but this was her op.

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