Page 28 of A Colby Christmas Rescue

Still, he worried that she trusted Amar far too much. Kenny didn’t trust him one little bit. From that haughty accent of his to the way this whole thing was shaking down, Kenny didn’t like it...at all.

He needed to sleep. He climbed into the bed and forced his eyes closed. He thought of Jamie just across the hall. The way she smiled... The sound of her laugh. She was so beautiful and so smart.

If they got through this...maybe it was time he told her how he felt.

Maybe.

If he didn’t lose his courage.

Sunday, December 23

Two Days Before Christmas

Chapter Seven

Excalibur Court,

7:00 a.m.

To her surprise Jamie had managed to sleep. Maybe sheer exhaustion had helped. Whatever the reasons, she was grateful to wake up somewhat refreshed. It was always easier to stay focused with a few hours of sleep under one’s belt.

When she was a child, her grandmother had always warned that a lack of sleep stole one’s waking life. Stole one’s ability to function...to remember. Jamie had always taken sleep very seriously because of those warnings.

For the past hour she had been lying in her bed, mulling over the things Abi had said last night. He had a plan for not only getting the mission completed successfully but also for ensuring no one was arrested. She actually could not see how he planned to make that happen, but she could hope.

What they were about to do was illegal. Not just a little crime either. This was kidnapping. A felony. This wasn’t the sort of dance on the edge you walked away so easily from. Though she might be able to argue that in her case she had no choice in the matter since her brother’s life was at stake. She was, to a large degree, being forced to participate. Still, the powers that be would wonder why she hadn’t called the proper authorities. Fear for her brother’s safety was a fairly good defense. Their phones were monitored—no unauthorized calls. To go against that edict was to risk Luke’s life. As for Abi, he was assuredly breaking numerous laws with no mitigating factors to provide relief. He no doubt expected to get away scot-free.

The Colby Agency had the best attorneys in the country but that worry wasn’t a priority right now. Jamie wasn’t really worried for her future. As long as she avoided shooting anyone, she could potentially see her way clear—legally speaking—of this business. Whatever happened, her endgame was to rescue her brother. Optimally, she would do this without harming anyone else or getting herself shot.

Keeping Poe out of trouble was her top priority next to rescuing Luke. She would not allow Poe to be hurt by this mess. When she’d come to bed last night, she had lingered outside his door. The need to talk to him, to just be with him had been almost overwhelming. But she had made the right decision.

They were good friends. Very good friends. Since that kiss, it had become harder and harder to pretend she didn’t feel other things for him. But she didn’t want to harm their friendship in any way.

Poe was the reason she’d been so vulnerable to Abi last year. Even before the kiss that she and Poe had shared, she’d been attracted to him. Funny how those things happened when you were least expecting them.

Get your head on straight, Jamie.After a quick shower, she tugged on the wardrobe selection for today. The fact that Abi had known what size jeans she wore wasn’t such a big surprise. That he’d done so well selecting items she would feel comfortable in was an added plus. The sweatshirt sported a Chicago Cubs logo. She shook her head. Nice of him to try to make her feel at home. She pulled on a pair of socks and the sneakers she’d worn from LA. She wondered if the Santa she and Poe had rescued fully understood yet that they had saved his life. Sometimes targets were so flustered about being plucked from whatever their circumstances that they never got that they were damned lucky to still be breathing.

She brushed her hair and pulled it into a ponytail. She and Poe needed to discuss a potential exit strategy—for him anyway. This wasn’t really his fight and he needed to know she would understand if he ducked out.

But he wouldn’t. She knew him too well. She and Poe had been friends for a while now. Good friends. She understood that if he had his way, they would take their relationship to the next level. He had never said as much and was fairly subtle about it, but the signs were unmistakable. Not happening. Jamie didn’t want to risk what they had. It sounded cliché, but it was true. Falling in love wasn’t on her agenda just now anyway.

She was young. They both were. They had plenty of time to fall in love. Her grandmother would be the first to say Jamie should stay focused on her career for now. All the rest could come later.

She removed her cell from its charger and tucked it into her hip pocket. Since this mission was to go down tonight, maybe Abi would be ready to share the details this morning. No matter that she wouldn’t say as much, on some level she understood his hesitance. The sooner he shared the ins and outs of the mission, the sooner she and Poe could consider options for reacting differently than was intended. The sooner a leak could happen. He was just practicing extra careful precautions.

She walked to the door, leaned against it and listened. All quiet. She eased the door open and looked both ways. Hall was clear. The distinct scent of coffee wafted from downstairs and had her leaning in that direction. But before going down, she wanted to see if Poe was still in his room.

Across the hall, she listened at his door. She didn’t hear anything so she rapped softly on the door. “Poe,” she whispered, “you up?”

Usually, he was up before her. It was possible he was already downstairs, but since she hadn’t heard voices, she suspected not. She couldn’t see him and Abi standing around in the kitchen staring at each other without exchanging at least a few words.

Then again, maybe she could see them glaring at each other, circling the room like two wrestlers about to tangle.

She knocked again and when no answer came, she opted to give the knob a turn and see if the door was locked. It was not. It opened with little effort. The room was empty. Bed unmade. No surprise there. Poe wasn’t exactly the neatest dude on the planet. He would insist he had other assets, and he would be right. She had never met anyone who could read a scene the way he could. He almost had a sixth sense when it came to seeing the details. The FBI had wanted him so badly, but like her, Poe had wanted to do something different...something maybe more relevant.

Certainly, this operation had not been on either of their agendas.

Since the bathroom door stood partially open, she checked in there and found no sign of Poe. A towel hung over the shower door, suggesting he had showered before leaving the room or before bed last night. She wandered back into the hall. Maybe he had gone downstairs, and he and Abi actually were down there staring at each other, waiting to see who broke first.

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