Read Online Final Sins by Michael Prescott - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael Prescott
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couple with a real commitment to each other, a commitment that went beyond the bedroom.
She still didn’t know where it would lead. She was almost afraid to think about it and risk blowing it. But there would come a point when decisions would have to be made. Before long, Josh was likely to be promoted to an SAC position at another field office. Then there might be a continent between them all the time. Unless one of them decided it was time to quit the Bureau. And which one of them would that be? That was a question for which neither of them had an answer.
Josh was speaking again. “You’re still on schedule to come back tomorrow, right?”
“Taking a seven p.m. flight. The afternoon session tomorrow had better not run long.”
“If it does, just duck out and say you’re going to the ladies’ room. Then don’t come back.”
“Very professional.”
“It’s stealthy. The Bureau appreciates stealth.”
“You’re just trying to get me fired so our relationship can be out in the open.”
“No, I like the secrecy. The lure of the forbidden.”
“You don’t think that part of it is getting old?”
“Well ... maybe just a little.”
“What are we going to do about this, Mr. Green?”
“Our options are limited. Of course, the Bureau’s mandatory retirement age is fifty-seven. That’s only nineteen years away for me.”
And seventeen years for me, Tess thought. Josh was too diplomatic to mention the fact that she was two years his senior. Not that she was touchy about her age—even if the big four-oh, in July, was rapidly closing in.
She knew she looked good, even for a gal pushing forty. She was of vigorous Scottish Highlands stock, from a long line of McCallums who had trod the windy heaths and braved the winter cold. Her smooth complexion showed little evidence of time’s passage, and a thick fall of strawberry blond hair still framed her face attractively. Only on TV shows did all female FBI agents wear their hair short. Real life was more forgiving.
“Nineteen years,” she said with mock seriousness. “I don’t think we can maintain our relationship in secret for quite that long. Besides, what if we want kids?”
“You can tell people you’re putting on weight.”
“And how do I explain the sudden appearance of a child on the scene?”
“Stork brought him. That’s what my parents told me about my baby brother.”
“They didn’t.”
“They did. Very reserved people, my parents. I didn’t get the lecture on sex from my father until my senior year.”
“You were a senior in high school?”
“Worse. College.”
She laughed. “Every day I learn something new about you.”
“I’m endlessly fascinating. Um, someone’s knocking on my door. Guess I’d better go. I’ll see you at the airport. Ciao .”
He was gone, the line dead. She wished they could have talked longer.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one who wanted the conversation to continue. Already her phone was ringing again. She touched the keypad.
“Forget something?” she asked.
“Are you screwing with me?”
The voice she heard didn’t belong to Josh. It was a woman’s voice, stiff and angry, not immediately recognizable.
Tess frowned. “Who is this?”
“Is it your idea of a joke? Because it’s not funny.”
She shut her eyes, placing a name with the voice. A voice she hadn’t heard in nine months. “Oh, God. Is this Abby?”
“You know damn well who it is. I’ve just been doing some research on Peter Faust. You may have heard of him.”
“Of course I’ve heard of him. I interviewed—”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
Conversations with Abby were often confusing, but this one, so far, was positively Kafkaesque.
“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tess said.
“Then let me make it simple for you. I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, whether you’re messing with my head or you think that by helping me, you can get back on my good
She still didn’t know where it would lead. She was almost afraid to think about it and risk blowing it. But there would come a point when decisions would have to be made. Before long, Josh was likely to be promoted to an SAC position at another field office. Then there might be a continent between them all the time. Unless one of them decided it was time to quit the Bureau. And which one of them would that be? That was a question for which neither of them had an answer.
Josh was speaking again. “You’re still on schedule to come back tomorrow, right?”
“Taking a seven p.m. flight. The afternoon session tomorrow had better not run long.”
“If it does, just duck out and say you’re going to the ladies’ room. Then don’t come back.”
“Very professional.”
“It’s stealthy. The Bureau appreciates stealth.”
“You’re just trying to get me fired so our relationship can be out in the open.”
“No, I like the secrecy. The lure of the forbidden.”
“You don’t think that part of it is getting old?”
“Well ... maybe just a little.”
“What are we going to do about this, Mr. Green?”
“Our options are limited. Of course, the Bureau’s mandatory retirement age is fifty-seven. That’s only nineteen years away for me.”
And seventeen years for me, Tess thought. Josh was too diplomatic to mention the fact that she was two years his senior. Not that she was touchy about her age—even if the big four-oh, in July, was rapidly closing in.
She knew she looked good, even for a gal pushing forty. She was of vigorous Scottish Highlands stock, from a long line of McCallums who had trod the windy heaths and braved the winter cold. Her smooth complexion showed little evidence of time’s passage, and a thick fall of strawberry blond hair still framed her face attractively. Only on TV shows did all female FBI agents wear their hair short. Real life was more forgiving.
“Nineteen years,” she said with mock seriousness. “I don’t think we can maintain our relationship in secret for quite that long. Besides, what if we want kids?”
“You can tell people you’re putting on weight.”
“And how do I explain the sudden appearance of a child on the scene?”
“Stork brought him. That’s what my parents told me about my baby brother.”
“They didn’t.”
“They did. Very reserved people, my parents. I didn’t get the lecture on sex from my father until my senior year.”
“You were a senior in high school?”
“Worse. College.”
She laughed. “Every day I learn something new about you.”
“I’m endlessly fascinating. Um, someone’s knocking on my door. Guess I’d better go. I’ll see you at the airport. Ciao .”
He was gone, the line dead. She wished they could have talked longer.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one who wanted the conversation to continue. Already her phone was ringing again. She touched the keypad.
“Forget something?” she asked.
“Are you screwing with me?”
The voice she heard didn’t belong to Josh. It was a woman’s voice, stiff and angry, not immediately recognizable.
Tess frowned. “Who is this?”
“Is it your idea of a joke? Because it’s not funny.”
She shut her eyes, placing a name with the voice. A voice she hadn’t heard in nine months. “Oh, God. Is this Abby?”
“You know damn well who it is. I’ve just been doing some research on Peter Faust. You may have heard of him.”
“Of course I’ve heard of him. I interviewed—”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
Conversations with Abby were often confusing, but this one, so far, was positively Kafkaesque.
“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tess said.
“Then let me make it simple for you. I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, whether you’re messing with my head or you think that by helping me, you can get back on my good
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