Page 27 of Operation Heartbeat

That was a lot of money to pay for a dinner. Over eight hundred US dollars—

She sucked in a gasp. At the bottom was a scrawled signature.

Berkant… Was that Berkant Bayar? That wasn’t the name of the man detained at the airport. The discrepancy could mean another person was involved…or that their guy had an alias and fake passport.

Excitement flowed through her veins like she’d taken a double shot of espresso. All of a sudden, she was wide awake. Only the faint hum of the ceiling fan cut through the silence.

Unfolding her legs, she bounced to the edge of the sofa and cradled the phone. She didn’t know how long she leaned over the device, but her neck grew stiff.

She pulled Bayar’s contacts. All two hundred thirty-three of them. She rifled through his phone history, leaving no stone unturned.

Outside the french doors, the sky was beginning to fragment into that space between night and dawn.

Finally, she broke into the cloud again.

Clicking open every single file revealed more and more leads to search. Then she saw it.

She made a connection.

“Oh. My. God.”

Some of the files were named with a single letter.

A code of their own.

Her hands tremored with a fresh hit of adrenaline. She jumped to her feet and took off for the bedroom. And the king-sized bed where Con slept.

She padded up to his side of the bed. He slept on his side. One long tree trunk of a leg had plowed through their pillow barrier and now took up her side of the bed.

Reaching down, she nudged his thick shoulder. He’d donned a T-shirt for sleeping out of respect of her sensibilities. Or possibly he feared she’d attack him the minute she spotted that manly flesh.

She swallowed her groan and gave him a small shake. “Con! Wake up.”

“Eh?” He cracked an eye at her.

“I found something important.”

“You need to sleep.” He whipped out an arm, snagging her around the thighs. He tugged. She had no choice but to bend to his will. Against his strength, she was helpless as he hauled her into bed with him.

“Con—no. Wait!”

He pinned her against his chest, covering her back from her head that he tucked beneath his chin to her toes that hovered somewhere around his strong calves.

Heat enveloped her. Ohgawd. He was toasty warm.

This wasn’t why she’d come in here atall.

She wiggled to free herself from his hold. They had work to do. They had to find this guy and—

He nudged his hips against hers, cradling her backside.

Spooningher.

And she wasn’t wearing the perfume.

Against her will, a sigh trickled past her lips, and her eyes slipped shut.

Con didn’t seem to be in a working mood.

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