Page 3 of Fool’s Gold

“Grandmother.”Isn’t this supposed to be the FBI?Matt shook his head. “She’s ninety-four. And I’m gay.”

He’d have thought the Feds would have known all this. It wasn’t like he hid it. Norah was even listed as a dependent on his taxes.

“Sorry. Okay. Right. Anyway. Ninety percent of the people are just venting their spleen, but it’s that ten percent that’s getting me. And we’ve got other rumblings that you won’t see until it’s too late. People who are serious usually won’t spend their time sending you nastygrams on the interwebs, you know?” Morales cleared his throat. “And we’ve been getting hints that you’ve got a lot more to worry about than a few hate messages.”

Matt closed his eyes. “Agent, if you mean the protestors, they’re not really a problem. I mean, yeah, it’s not exactly great for morale or public relations to have them here. But I can’t blame them either, and I’d probably be right there with them if I wasn’t trying to clean the place up.”

“You and me both, pal. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the bomb that was found in the coffee shop in your lobby this morning.”

Matt’s eyes flew open. “The what in the where?”

“Ah, yes. A shot of adrenaline works a thousand times better than caffeine. Yeah, we’re keeping it out of the press because we don’t want any copycats. But the barista downstairs found a fairly sophisticated device attached to the trash can downstairs just before the morning rush. Smart girl—she shut everything down and called 9-1-1, we were brought in, and we were able to handle everything discreetly. The bottom line, Matt, is that you’re in danger. You need security.”

Assent danced on the tip of Matt’s tongue. Bills for Five Star danced an elegant counterpoint behind his eyes.

“I see what you’re saying, but it’s really bad optics, you know what I mean? Security isn’t cheap, and the last thing I want to do right now is antagonize law enforcement by implying that local and state police can’t do their jobs.”

“I’m not proposing that we pull them out. I’m proposing that you add someone in addition to them. Don’t think we missed you walking up to a hundred angry protestors and talking with them. Not the most security-conscious thing you could have done.”

Matt huffed out a laugh. “There’s more than one way to improve security, you know. Baby steps. Plus, it’s going to be hot as hell out there. How am I supposed to show actual contrition for the crimes this company absolutely committed if I’m running around surrounded by armed guards? It just looks bad—counterproductive.”

Morales took a deep breath, the kind people take when they want to pop off but aren’t willing to go quite so far. Then he let it out. “All right. So we send in one guard. He’ll look like a boyfriend. He sticks with you twenty-four seven until we get to the bottom of the threats. Then you’ll quietly ‘break up,’ and everyone moves on into the sunset.”

Matt squeezed his eyes shut. “That’s not a thing, Agent.”

“It’s very much a thing, Matt. In fact, Five Star has several operatives who are accustomed to playing a more covert type of security role.” He hesitated. “Wait a second. Are you out? You mentioned that you’re gay, but does everyone know?”

“I’ve never tried to hide it?” Matt shook his head. “Look, Agent, this is ridiculous. I don’t need a security detail. I’m not even going to be in this position long. I’m just going to be doing this until the company’s on the right path again.”

“Then you won’t need to worry about keeping up the front for long. We’ll have someone from Five Star out to your apartment in the next few days.”

Matt stared at the phone as it beeped to signal Agent Morales had hung up. He wasn’t entirely sure how he’d ended up here, and he knew he didn’t like it.

At least he’d have something interesting to tell Norah at dinner tonight.

CHAPTERTWO

Jack shuffledinto Levi’s office. A vaguely blue light from the monitors bathed his handler’s light-brown skin, giving it an almost otherworldly look. Levi wasn’t a bad-looking guy. Jack wouldn’t have minded going a round or two with him, but Levi wasn’t the type to mix business and pleasure. He’d have made noise about the power differential, him owning the company and all that. It was a crying shame, really.

“You said you had a job for me?” Jack forced his mind out of the gutter, since it wasn’t going to do anything there anyway.

Levi dragged his gaze over to Jack as Jack seated himself and nodded. He hadn’t been getting enough sleep. Even a rookie would have figured that one out from the six coffee mugs scattered across his desk. No one could blame him for stretching himself a bit thin these days, unless it was for accepting a contract with the Feds in the first place. That kind of came with the territory when the company was owned and staffed by the type of person who signed up to sacrifice their life for their country.

Not that Jack was any different. Or had been, anyway.

“Have a seat.”

Jack was already sitting down. “Have you considered having a nap, sir?”

“No time.”

He considered his next words carefully. “Sir, fatigue makes a person vulnerable.”

Levi snapped his head up and opened his mouth, eyes narrowed. Then he seemed to see what was around him. “Shit. You’re right. This Besse Pharma mess just keeps getting bigger. You recovered from that bout of flu?”

Jack gnawed on his cheek. That flu had been terrible. Part of his usefulness as an asset was his ability to resist most pathogens—he was healthy as a horse. That damn flu had laid him out for two weeks. He’d been on the floor of the hotel bathroom, naked and sweating, unable to keep anything down or even hold a gun steady.

Finding out the whole thing had been manufactured by lazy, greedy assholes had been a kick to the face.

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