Page 33 of Operation Heartbeat

She smelled good, like body wash and shampoo, but it wasn’t driving him out of his mind the way that perfume had.

When she let out a gasp, he jerked upright, thinking she had a problem with his closeness. But she was jabbing a finger at the screen.

“One block…is nine blocks!” She clicked on one photo and they both froze.

Nine tiny photos opened on the screen. The top left corner was a street sign. She clicked on it, and opened the properties of the image.

“Con, it’s an address!”

He grabbed his phone and plugged it in to his own GPS. When the location hit his phone, he held it up for her to see.

“Oh my god. Con…” Her eyes were wide, filled with awe and fear at the same time. “Isn’t that the location of the bombing on the West Coast?”

“Jesus Christ, Sophie. This is what the CIA is looking for too. You did it. You have to keep going.”

“I’m on it!”

The small photos weren’t all complete images. In some cases, they were just fragments. A cornerstone of a building. A portion of a traffic light.

“Are those more puzzles? Are there photos within the photos?”

She blew up the traffic light to test that theory, but the image only pixelated into a blur. “Nope. But you’re right that each photo means something else. I’ve never seen anything like this. Whoever made this is agenius.”

“And a threat to society.”

She met his stare. A light pink flush coated her cheeks as if she was embarrassed by her praise of a mind that was so diabolical.

“I just meant…”

“I know what you meant, Sophie. You’re not wrong.”

“This guyenjoysmaking these puzzles. This is huge, Con. He’s way more dangerous than I guessed.”

“Keep up the search. I’m going to step into the bedroom and phone this in. If you find anything else, call out. Okay?”

She nodded and turned back to the image expanded on the screen. When he glanced at her, her teeth were set into her full bottom lip in total concentration.

He barely got the bedroom door closed and took out his phone before she yelled.

“Con! Come back in here! Hurry!”

He rushed into the room. She was on her feet, gripping the edge of the table, fixated on the screen. “This photo is of a van. Wasn’t a van used for the bomb in California?”

“You’re right.”

“And this.” She pulled up another photo. “This cornerstone belongs to a bank near the bombing site. This is how they’recommunicating the moves, Con. Through this photo or others just like it.”

The light of exhilaration in her chocolate eyes danced, enhancing her beauty so much that he almost gave in to his urges and pulled her into his arms.

“You’re brilliant, Sophie.”

“I-I’m just analyzing data.” She glanced away.

Suddenly his body realized a very beautiful woman sat on eye level with his dick, and that appendage began to swell. He stepped away from her before she could notice the huge erection tenting his jeans.

“Keep working on it. Write everything down. I’ve got to get my CO on the horn and share this. We need a whole team to break this thing open.”

She nodded in response but she didn’t immediately return to work. She simply stared up at him, a new light in her eyes.

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