Page 107 of Break My Fall

From Donovan:

When that wedding is over, we need you out here. Sorry.

Cal, Mo, Mo, Mo, Cal, and then Mo: All variations on the theme of “we need to talk to you” and “call us.”

From Faith:

You may need this number.

Attached to it was a contact number that could only be one thing. The phone number for the undercover agent.

Behind him, Meredith grunted, then hissed, “Gray. Help me.”

He turned around. Where Meredith had looked like royalty a minute earlier, now she looked a bit like a Picasso. All the pieces were there, but they were in the wrong place. She had boots and pants on. The dress was partly over her head. Her arms stuck out the top. Her head was in there somewhere. If things hadn’t been so serious, he would have laughed.

“Um...” He had no idea where to start.

She turned her back to him. “Unzip me. I tried to pull it over my head without unzipping it. But now I’m stuck.”

Lord, this is not helping.He had to shift fabric around to find the top of the zipper. When he finally got it between his fingers, he tugged it down, only to have it catch before he’d gone two inches. “Hang on.”

“Just rip it,” Meredith said from somewhere inside the dress.

“I appreciate your confidence in my strength, but tearing fabric is harder than you might think.”

“Pull at the zipper. The seam will come loose.”

What did he have to lose at this point? He grabbed the fabric above the zipper and yanked out and down. On one side, the seam gave way and the zipper broke away from the dress, leaving it open another four inches.

He reached down to the mass of shiny skirt and yanked it up and over Meredith’s head. She squeaked.

He shut his eyes. “I’m not looking.” He turned to the hallway, arms full of her dress, and scanned the area around them.

He dropped the dress and called Cal.

“Where—”

“No time.”

Cal stopped talking.

“You need to drive into Neeson. Meredith’s car is missing. Mine may be compromised. I’ll call back.” He didn’t say more. He disconnected that call and pulled open the contact info from Faith.

He hit call and waited.

“What?”

The voice was familiar, but Gray didn’t want to say anything compromising. “Might need an assist.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Any ideas?”

No answer. Gray looked at the screen. “He hung up on me.”

“Give me that.” Meredith took his phone. “Change.”

Meredith wasn’t wearing enough clothes to last long outside, but she’d last a lot longer than she would have in her dress. While he’d had her start with her pants and boots, he did the opposite. He pulled off the jacket and dress shirt, left the undershirt he never went anywhere without, and pulled a performance long-sleeved shirt on over top of it. He followed it with the hoodie he’d had on. He didn’t bother changing his pants, but he kicked off his dress shoes and shoved his feet into his boots.

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