Page 63 of More Than Nothing
It had been a long twenty-four hours since the gala dinner, and Elenie craved Roman’s dark eyes and serious face with a force that staggered her. She rubbed a palm over her heart as she walked. Sunlight dappled through the trees, spilling onto the track beneath her feet, and the back of her neck grew damp from the heat.
Even as her lips still buzzed from the scrape of his stubble and the pressure of his mouth, she’d read herself the riot act.
Don’t be an idiot.
Don’t get ridiculous ideas.
Don’t think that your life can ever be some kind of crazy-assed fairy tale with a happy ever after.
Yes, he’d kissed her. Yes, they appeared to have a physical connection. A thrilling, stomach-flipping, physical connection. But Roman was in a different league. Even if he wanted her now, she would never be enough to keep him.
Not with Zena hovering in the background.
Elenie didn’t believe he’d treat her badly on purpose. Every inch of him seemed honest and genuine. He might consider himself remote, but she found him easy to read. His integrity shone like a beacon. The things he’d seen, the horrors of his work, added facetedlayers of gravity that only added to his appeal. He was complicated, wounded, and careful. Not perfect. Just nearly perfect.
It was an unavoidable fact of life that men like Roman dated women like Zena. Not girls who collected facts rather than cosmetics and smelled of waffle batter. Even if hehadkissed Elenie like he would never get enough. And sent texts that mangled the breath in her chest.
Thea (Roman):
Hey. You there?
I’m here.
Thea (Roman):
Thinking of how you taste every other second. It’s making it hard to get much done.
Maybe that was the fascination of something different. Takeout after fine dining. Or tinkering under the hood of a rusty Jeep with a sleek Corvette in the garage. She’d reread his message a dozen times before she could bring herself to delete it.
The next text he’d sent had brought her here, walking the quiet back road out of town just as Sunday afternoon was turning to early evening. No one had asked where she was going. No one cared. Her stomach rolling nervously, Elenie sauntered, just as she’d been told to.
Lost in her thoughts, the unmarked electric car nearly scared the crap out of her when it pulled up alongside, silent and ominous. The rear window whirred down; a hand inside flicked open and held up an ID wallet.
“Please get in.” It was a pleasant voice. Female, melodic.
The appearance of the car, although it had made her jump, was expected. The request, too. Elenie swallowed and took a steadying breath. Fingers and toes tingling, she pulled open the door and slid in.
“I’m DEA Special Agent Faith Dorsey.” The agent handed over her ID so Elenie could read it properly. There was a second one with it; she read that too. “Thank you for meeting us.”
The driver eyed her shrewdly in the rearview mirror. “Chief Deputy Shawn Booth,” he said as the big car pulled away again. “I’m with the County Sheriff’s Office.”
“There’s a turnoff a little further along here. We’ll be able to park up and run through a few things.” Dorsey turned to face the front and Elenie took a moment to study her.
She guessed the agent’s age to be somewhere around mid-to-late forties. Tall and muscular, with a fierce pixie cut so current it made Elenie feel like a scruffy child, she looked firm but approachable.
Booth turned the car onto an unmarked track, drove another couple of hundred yards into an area surrounded by Northern red oaks, and killed the engine. He undid his safety belt and twisted to face them.
Dorsey broke the silence again. “The DEA are pleased to have you on board as a confidential informant. I will be your handler. Although we thought a two-officer approach was best for this initial introduction, in-person meetings will be limited after this to avoid breaking your cover. OK?”
Elenie nodded, her eyes shifting from Dorsey to Booth and back again. She wished Roman was there.
“We need to be convinced of your suitability before it’s full steam ahead.” Booth’s brows were heavy.
Dorsey tapped short fuchsia nails against the paper file on her lap, the pink standing out boldly on sepia fingers. “We willcomplete a suitability report today and then you’ll be issued with a code name and CI number to protect your identity. You’ll be given a cell phone with my number and we will speak every third day. If I leave you a message, I expect you to get back to me within twenty-four hours.” Dorsey waited for another nod. “Your role will encompass passive observation and active evidence-gathering, so you need to be sure you feel comfortable with that.”
“And we need to feel comfortable that you can come up with the goods. In a realistic timeline.” Booth again. There was an antagonistic edge to his words. Elenie’s eyes flashed to him, then returned to the special agent. Her fingers clenched on her lap.
“Let’s get started.” Dorsey opened the file.
