was ditching them for the morning, but all she could think about was how fascinated she was with the enigmatic woman who’d just left her hotel room.
*
Dale paced the lobby of the hotel. Fifteen of the twenty minutes had passed, and she was growing more and more agitated. It had started the minute Lindsey answered her hotel room door. She probably should have called first, but she’d wanted to make it clear from the get-go they were going to work on her timeline. After seeing Lindsey in short-shorts, looking like she’d just rolled out of bed, she’d been hard-pressed to hide the mysterious effect Lindsey had on her. She’d written the feeling off to the fact she’d been forced into this duty and her quick glance at the browser history on Lindsey’s laptop revealed Lindsey had been reading up on her. She couldn’t wait to get this little tour over with so she could get back to real work. As soon as Miss Lindsey Ryan got her ass down here, she planned to let her know she didn’t have time to wait around.
To pass the last few minutes, she pulled out her phone and dialed Peyton’s number. When she got her voice mail, she hung up and dialed Bianca who answered on the first ring. She didn’t wait for niceties. “Hey, Cruz, what’s going on over there?”
“Dale?” Bianca’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t know. Gellar asked for all our files on Cyrus Gantry, and Peyton’s been trying to get in to see him all morning, but she’s been tight-lipped about what’s going on. You have a clue?”
“I do, but we should talk in person.” Dale mentally sorted through options of where the trusted members of the team could meet without raising suspicion. For the last couple of weeks, they’d been assembling at the Circle Six, but Neil Davis was back there now, and she was suspicious about his true allegiance. Still, she couldn’t come up with a better option. “The usual place, this afternoon. We may need to work off the books for a while. What time can you make it?”
“I have a one o’clock docket, but it’ll be fairly quick. I’ll be there by four and I’ll let the others know.”
Dale spotted Lindsey walking toward her. “Gotta go.” This version of Lindsey looked very different from the one she’d seen moments ago. Her tangled hair was brushed into smooth, shiny waves, and her jeans and blazer, while still sporty, were wrinkle free and not at all pajama-like. This Lindsey looked like the one she’d seen on TV, reporting from various hot spots around the world—the one who was here to do a story on the DEA and the one she’d have to avoid if she wanted to keep whatever they had planned for the task force secret. She chided herself for letting sleepy, rumpled, bare-legged Lindsey get under her skin.
“You didn’t have to get off the phone on my account,” Lindsey said with a smile.
“I didn’t. You ready to get going?” She didn’t wait for an answer before she started walking out of the lobby. Her truck was where she’d left it, right by the valet stand. She pulled the keys out of her pocket, unlocked the doors, and climbed into the driver’s seat. The truck was pretty tall and didn’t have rails, but Lindsey hopped inside easily. Dale mentally added a check in the plus column and drove out of the hotel parking lot.
“You must be in good with the valet if they let you use their premium space. You have to flash your badge for that kind of treatment?”
And just like that, Lindsey’s tally went negative. “I always park close to the door and I always keep my keys. If you ever need a quick response, you’ll be thankful I thought ahead.”
“Duly noted.”
Dale glanced over at Lindsey who was armed with a small messenger bag and what appeared to be a high-powered camera. “You plan to take pictures?”
“If I see something I want to capture. Why?”
“I guess I figured since your crew was filming you wouldn’t need to take still shots as well. Especially not
*
Dale paced the lobby of the hotel. Fifteen of the twenty minutes had passed, and she was growing more and more agitated. It had started the minute Lindsey answered her hotel room door. She probably should have called first, but she’d wanted to make it clear from the get-go they were going to work on her timeline. After seeing Lindsey in short-shorts, looking like she’d just rolled out of bed, she’d been hard-pressed to hide the mysterious effect Lindsey had on her. She’d written the feeling off to the fact she’d been forced into this duty and her quick glance at the browser history on Lindsey’s laptop revealed Lindsey had been reading up on her. She couldn’t wait to get this little tour over with so she could get back to real work. As soon as Miss Lindsey Ryan got her ass down here, she planned to let her know she didn’t have time to wait around.
To pass the last few minutes, she pulled out her phone and dialed Peyton’s number. When she got her voice mail, she hung up and dialed Bianca who answered on the first ring. She didn’t wait for niceties. “Hey, Cruz, what’s going on over there?”
“Dale?” Bianca’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t know. Gellar asked for all our files on Cyrus Gantry, and Peyton’s been trying to get in to see him all morning, but she’s been tight-lipped about what’s going on. You have a clue?”
“I do, but we should talk in person.” Dale mentally sorted through options of where the trusted members of the team could meet without raising suspicion. For the last couple of weeks, they’d been assembling at the Circle Six, but Neil Davis was back there now, and she was suspicious about his true allegiance. Still, she couldn’t come up with a better option. “The usual place, this afternoon. We may need to work off the books for a while. What time can you make it?”
“I have a one o’clock docket, but it’ll be fairly quick. I’ll be there by four and I’ll let the others know.”
Dale spotted Lindsey walking toward her. “Gotta go.” This version of Lindsey looked very different from the one she’d seen moments ago. Her tangled hair was brushed into smooth, shiny waves, and her jeans and blazer, while still sporty, were wrinkle free and not at all pajama-like. This Lindsey looked like the one she’d seen on TV, reporting from various hot spots around the world—the one who was here to do a story on the DEA and the one she’d have to avoid if she wanted to keep whatever they had planned for the task force secret. She chided herself for letting sleepy, rumpled, bare-legged Lindsey get under her skin.
“You didn’t have to get off the phone on my account,” Lindsey said with a smile.
“I didn’t. You ready to get going?” She didn’t wait for an answer before she started walking out of the lobby. Her truck was where she’d left it, right by the valet stand. She pulled the keys out of her pocket, unlocked the doors, and climbed into the driver’s seat. The truck was pretty tall and didn’t have rails, but Lindsey hopped inside easily. Dale mentally added a check in the plus column and drove out of the hotel parking lot.
“You must be in good with the valet if they let you use their premium space. You have to flash your badge for that kind of treatment?”
And just like that, Lindsey’s tally went negative. “I always park close to the door and I always keep my keys. If you ever need a quick response, you’ll be thankful I thought ahead.”
“Duly noted.”
Dale glanced over at Lindsey who was armed with a small messenger bag and what appeared to be a high-powered camera. “You plan to take pictures?”
“If I see something I want to capture. Why?”
“I guess I figured since your crew was filming you wouldn’t need to take still shots as well. Especially not
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