Page 39 of Liar

“Jasmine, it’s been an hour. You know it’s important to sit and wait. We blend in and let life go on around us. Abby is the best equipped to speak with the suspects, and that’s the only other option right now. Abby is busy grieving, and when she’s done, she will get to work on information extraction. This is not wasted time yet,” Wells said, barely covering his annoyance with her. He was lucky she and Jones were on a separate part of the island, or she might have lit him on fire with just her eyes.

“You know I’m not a patient person,” she replied bitterly.

“We know,” all of us said at the same time. I tried not to snicker but was unsuccessful.

“We’re on an island, for God’s sake. There are so many possible escape routes. We can’t possibly watch them all. It’s also not safe for us to all split up and be alone at night,” Christine said. Eventually night time would roll around and we’d have to make a call. Unfortunately, that was when the traffickers would most likely move their victims.

The women had a point.

“Okay, I admit it. It’s a stretch. I had hoped to find warehouses or houses with their own airplane hangar or some shit,” Yates said. I couldn’t blame him for that, it worked for us in Vegas, and he was likely hoping we’d get lucky. Even a four-leaf clover ran out luck, and we couldn’t expect ours to continue forever.

“I think we all hoped for something like that,” Guy mumbled.

“So what now?” Mendez asked.

“Now I think we need to put some cameras where we are at, to at least keep an eye on the waterways that exit to the ocean. If we see anything unusual, then at least we will have an idea about which general area the activity is coming from,” Yates said. The island itself was full of water channels and bays and marinas. We’d have to be strategic about where we placed those cameras to give us the best view, because we didn’t have that many.

The cameras were a good idea. Guy could set them to record when they sensed motion.

I took a few minutes to place the cameras facing the exits of the waterways. But once they were done, we had no other option but to return back to the resort and continue to blend in.

?

Six hours later, a relaxed version of Abby re-entered the resort lobby, and I almost didn’t recognize her. She wasn’t the high-strung version that had taken residence since we discovered that she was an FBI agent. I wouldn’t dare say that she looked happy, but she looked different.

“How was the swim?” I asked as she approached me in front of the elevators.

“Beautiful,” she said with a small smile.

“Feel any better?” I asked.

“A little.” I could sense the lie, but I couldn’t blame her for this one. It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about her feelings, and I wasn’t going to push her. I had plenty of friends who passed onto another life that I wouldn’t want to discuss.

It was always the same routine. When a brother of ours met his maker, our whole group would attend, and we’d sit together in silence. We’d give our best to the widow, do one round of shots for our fallen friend, and then we’d pretend as if it didn’t happen. We wouldn’t discuss it, we wouldn’t vocalize our feelings—but we didn’t need to. We all felt the same. Who was I to force her to talk about her feelings when my brothers and I couldn’t do the same? I had a feeling that she would have fit right in with our team, if she had joined the Army and they allowed women on our teams.

“I’m glad.” I gave her a soft smirk as I asked, “Do you think saying, ‘I told you so,’ to the others will make you feel better?”

Her eyes sparked with a little something that helped soothe the frustration I felt at our lack of results. At least the sunburn wasn’t for nothing. I hadn’t known Abby for long, but there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to see her smile or lick her lips with hooded eyes. “We didn’t see anything unusual and they realized just how hard it will be to keep an eye out for these guys. The traffickers have endless possibilities for escape routes. There are only so many of us to watch the whole island.”

“Finally, some good news. I’ve been waiting to say those words all day.” Her smile became genuine. On the outside, she appeared to be coping with the loss of her friend. Her skin was tanned, and her hair was wavy from the salty water. Her back wasn’t nearly as rigid, kept straight by the crushing weight of attention and expectations. Her eyes were white—not red. She was able to look me in the eyes, which was a step in the right direction.

She looked like a tourist enjoying her time on the island—a tourist I wanted to enjoy my time with upstairs, behind closed doors. It didn’t matter that I saw her at what she probably thought of as her worst. All I saw was a woman with a fierce protective streak, more than capable of protecting herself. It drew me in like a fly to honey, and I didn’t care if she trapped me. I’d willingly allow myself to drown in her—she was just that good. I’d feast on her as if she was my last meal.

“First, let’s go to your room so you can change,” I offered.

She looked down at her still slightly sandy skin. “Good idea.”

We took the elevator up in total silence. There was a comfortable silence that felt slightly charged with lust. It wasn’t blinding and all consuming, but it was still there, like a fine mist coating my senses. When we got to her room, she slipped out of her bikini right after she made it through the front door, trusting me to block the view to anyone in the hallway. Her swimsuit laid on the floor in a heap, and I kept my eyes on the wet fabric. She stood naked in front of me, and I did my best to keep from taking advantage of her vulnerable state. It took everything in me not to pounce on her and lick the salt off her skin. Every time my eyes landed on her naked form, I had to fight back a raging boner.

Then she doused water on the mood. “I started questioning some police officers, and they might be a little pissed.” She was casual about it, as if she were telling me about her swim.

“You what?” I asked, my eyes nearly bugging out of my head.

“Well, I ran into one on my way back.” She shrugged her shoulders, as if to prove it really had been a coincidence. I wasn’t sure if she was completely telling the truth. “I questioned him about Jeremiah. I wanted to know if he is okay and where he is now. I want to track him down and speak with him. I have a feeling he’s related to this all somehow.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief, and any bit of frustration I had faded away.

“You are going to drive me crazy. We told you to take one day off.” I tried to be stern, but I was positive I wasn’t stern enough.

“It’s my superpower, driving others crazy,” she said with another shrug of her shoulders. My eyes traveled down from her shoulders to her perfect tits. I wanted to reach out and palm them, massage them until her body was soft putty in my hands. Then I wanted to tease her, drive her wild in punishment for the way she got under my skin.

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