Page 23 of Special Agent Jennie

Chapter Eighteen

Lance couldn’t believe his luck in having this girl in his arms. He hated to let her go but she jerked away, and he had no choice. Hearing the cuss words spewing from her mouth had him almost grinning.

“Dammit. Ow. Shit that hurt.” Her voice whispered; the tone cranky.

Knowing he couldn’t give away the game or Kane would kill him, he pretended to live close by and just getting home after a late shift. “Hey, lady, I’m walking along, happy my shift is over, and see a body at the window and the next thing I know, you’re making like a diver with no water below. You’re lucky I’m fast and caught you before you planted that pretty face into the ground.”

“Shush. Not so loud. My dad has keen ears. He’s mean when he has a snout full.”

Speaking lower, he chuckled. “Hey, I’m here now. I’ll protect you.” Lance had no idea what she was talking about. Was one of the bastards inside her father? Watching over the house had been his duty but sitting in the car parked to the side didn’t give him a perfect view of the place. So, he’d get out of the car and walk from corner to corner. That way he could see everything.

Good thing he’d gotten into the habit, or he’d have missed her coming out. What bothered him was how long she’d been inside. He’d obviously failed to notice her entering the place.

“Thank you. Truly. I’m fine. I don’t want him to find me. Can we leave?” Lisa hurriedly jerked to her feet and began walking away from the house. Automatically, her hand went to her jacket pocket, and she stopped dead. “My phone. I must have dropped it when I jumped out.” Reflexes kicking in, she turned to go back.

Lance held her arm and stopped her. “I thought you were afraid of your old man. Wait till he’s sober tomorrow and get it then.”

“You don’t understand, I need it now. It… it has all my phone numbers, my banking stuff. I have to get it.” She pulled against his hold, but he didn’t let go.

“Well, I can’t allow you to get hurt now, can I? Look, why don’t I just go and knock on the door and ask your dad to get it for us.” Lance knew how ridiculous his words were, positive she’d refuse his suggestion, and was proven right when she blanched and shook her head wildly.

“No. Don’t do that. Kane mustn’t know I was there.”

Kane… what the hell?“Excuse me? I thought you said your dad was there and would hurt you if he found you.”

“Yes. That’s his name, Kane Lambert.”

Her dad? Wha-at?

Thinking fast, Lance tried to cover his shock at hearing his boss’s name. “Won’t he know your phone? That it’s yours? He can’t refuse to give it to you.”

Lisa slumped against the fence close by and waved her hands negatively. “No. You’re right. I can’t go back there, and neither can you. I’ll get it later, after Kane passes out and his buddies leave. I’ll just wait.”

“Buddies? I thought you said he was dangerous, and you were scared of him. I took it for granted he must be alone.”

“He’s not. There’s a bunch of weirdos hanging with him. And I can’t let him know I escaped. I’m scared of what he’ll do. And you should be too.”

Wanting to be sure she had her facts straight, he reiterated, “Kane Lambert? He’s your father. I don’t recognize the name, but then I just moved in down there.” He waved in the direction they came from, careful not to point at any specific house. “Is he mean with other people around?” Lance was enjoying himself, watching Lisa scurry from subject to subject, piling her BS higher.

“Ahh… well, he makes fun of me in front of them and he – he slaps me around and – and they laugh. I hate him.”

Faking sympathy for her ridiculous story, he stiffened when her last words rang true. Shock struck, and he felt his ire rise at those ridiculous words. Kane was a well-liked hero to everyone who knew him. Listening to this girl denigrate the man he idolized turned him off. Suddenly this game became less fun.

He knew he couldn’t give away the truth or Kane would kill him. No one could know about the undercover plot, or it might get out Kane was with a federal task force. The gang would surely go after him because he knew everything they needed to hide.

Yet it hurt him to see this beautiful girl feeling such an unfair yet obvious aversion. He also knew that Kane didn’t have a daughter, so this girl’s declaration of being his child was just more made-up stuff. Looking at her closely, the bruise beginning to form on her cheek where she must have scraped it diving from the window, he felt pulled in two directions.

Suddenly, she stared at him with searching eyes. “Who did you say you were?”

“I didn’t. Okay – my name is Lance Bosko. I – ahh, just moved in down the street, so I’m kind of new to this area.”

“Where are you from, Lance?”

Sticking to the truth as much as possible, he admitted, “I arrived last year from New York. Put in a transfer to the office here in Washington because I love everything about history and politics and figured I’d benefit from living in the city awash with so much of both.”

“Who’s your employer?”

Not sure how he felt about her grilling him, he tried not to BS too much. In fact, he had a real aversion to lying, and it had gotten him into trouble from time to time. In his job, often telling untruths were necessary. “I have a lowly position with the NCTC.” That much was true. “What about you?”

---