hand in front of Grange and tapped his own chest.
“Make sure Conn is listed as team lead. He’s here with us now.”
“I want Burgess and Morse over here, if they’re available,” Conn said.
Grange relayed Conn’s request, listened for a moment more, and grimaced. His uncanny silver eyes locked on Carolyn’s with laser-like intensity.
“Fuck, are you sure?” he asked into the phone. Isaac’s response made him swear again.
He passed the phone to Conn and moved to pull Carolyn into his embrace. She hadn’t realized how chilled she was until his warm arms surrounded her. His heart beating against her cheek soothed and distracted her, so that she almost didn’t register his comment.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” he said. “Isaac and Charlotte are in your office right now. Your pet canary is dead.”
Carolyn just looked up at him. “Pavarotti was fine yesterday,” she said, uncomprehending. “He was singing with all his heart. How could he become so seriously ill so quickly? He’s a young bird, only a year old, the poor thing.”
Grange tightened his arms and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “Isaac says his neck was broken. Someone has been in your office, and he left Pavarotti as a sick message.”
Feeling ill herself, Carolyn shivered and pressed closer to Grange.
Her home, her office, and her pet had all been attacked in a short time.
“This isn’t a business related issue. It can’t be. I’ve made someone angry, deeply angry,” she said. “It’s personal.”
Grange nodded. “Yeah, it’s personal,” he agreed.
“I’m the target this time,” she said softly.
Grange rubbed her back in slow circles but said nothing.
Chapter 10
Isaac finished the team arrangements with Conn and flipped his phone closed. He stood amid the destruction in Carolyn’s usually pristine office and swore viciously.
“Yes, I think you said that already,” Charlotte said wryly, glancing his way as she moved about the office dusting for prints. Charlotte Morse was one of their longest-serving employees, notoriously close-mouthed and calm in every crisis. In Isaac’s opinion, that made her the perfect agent.
“This was personal,” he said through his teeth.
“I agree. No way did a professional toss this room. There’s no pattern to it.”
“And the bird—its neck was snapped. Murdering a pet is personal. Some bastard is after Carolyn.”
His voice held a killing fury. Just thinking of Carolyn having to witness the twisted little body of her beloved pet enraged him. The sight of it, its neck broken, its tiny head lolling as he carefully bagged it for evidence, would stay with him for some time.
Criminals who fixated on one person, who tortured and killed that person’s pet, were often found to be fantasizing about doing the same to the person. Wanting their victim to understand the threat that what was done to the pet would soon be done to the owner.
Isaac desperately wanted to get his hands on the person who had done this. The Army Rangers had taught him a hundred ways to take out an enemy in order to protect civilians, in America and around the world.
In many ways, he was a product of his extensive training, his tightly honed body and carefully educated mind making him an intelligent weapon. There was no one more deserving of his protection than Carolyn, the woman who had just spent her first night in his arms, the woman who, if the Fates were kind, would spend every night in his and his partner’s arms.
Isaac was not a sentimental man. Although he was retired from the army, he still thought of himself first as a soldier, a Ranger. It was hard to indulge a soft heart in the places the army had sent him, but he definitely held a deep love in his heart for Carolyn. The wealth of tenderness she could make him feel for her tightened his chest and left him off balance. It shocked him some days.
It was hard for him to say it, or even to admit it, but he valued her safety and
“Make sure Conn is listed as team lead. He’s here with us now.”
“I want Burgess and Morse over here, if they’re available,” Conn said.
Grange relayed Conn’s request, listened for a moment more, and grimaced. His uncanny silver eyes locked on Carolyn’s with laser-like intensity.
“Fuck, are you sure?” he asked into the phone. Isaac’s response made him swear again.
He passed the phone to Conn and moved to pull Carolyn into his embrace. She hadn’t realized how chilled she was until his warm arms surrounded her. His heart beating against her cheek soothed and distracted her, so that she almost didn’t register his comment.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” he said. “Isaac and Charlotte are in your office right now. Your pet canary is dead.”
Carolyn just looked up at him. “Pavarotti was fine yesterday,” she said, uncomprehending. “He was singing with all his heart. How could he become so seriously ill so quickly? He’s a young bird, only a year old, the poor thing.”
Grange tightened his arms and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “Isaac says his neck was broken. Someone has been in your office, and he left Pavarotti as a sick message.”
Feeling ill herself, Carolyn shivered and pressed closer to Grange.
Her home, her office, and her pet had all been attacked in a short time.
“This isn’t a business related issue. It can’t be. I’ve made someone angry, deeply angry,” she said. “It’s personal.”
Grange nodded. “Yeah, it’s personal,” he agreed.
“I’m the target this time,” she said softly.
Grange rubbed her back in slow circles but said nothing.
Chapter 10
Isaac finished the team arrangements with Conn and flipped his phone closed. He stood amid the destruction in Carolyn’s usually pristine office and swore viciously.
“Yes, I think you said that already,” Charlotte said wryly, glancing his way as she moved about the office dusting for prints. Charlotte Morse was one of their longest-serving employees, notoriously close-mouthed and calm in every crisis. In Isaac’s opinion, that made her the perfect agent.
“This was personal,” he said through his teeth.
“I agree. No way did a professional toss this room. There’s no pattern to it.”
“And the bird—its neck was snapped. Murdering a pet is personal. Some bastard is after Carolyn.”
His voice held a killing fury. Just thinking of Carolyn having to witness the twisted little body of her beloved pet enraged him. The sight of it, its neck broken, its tiny head lolling as he carefully bagged it for evidence, would stay with him for some time.
Criminals who fixated on one person, who tortured and killed that person’s pet, were often found to be fantasizing about doing the same to the person. Wanting their victim to understand the threat that what was done to the pet would soon be done to the owner.
Isaac desperately wanted to get his hands on the person who had done this. The Army Rangers had taught him a hundred ways to take out an enemy in order to protect civilians, in America and around the world.
In many ways, he was a product of his extensive training, his tightly honed body and carefully educated mind making him an intelligent weapon. There was no one more deserving of his protection than Carolyn, the woman who had just spent her first night in his arms, the woman who, if the Fates were kind, would spend every night in his and his partner’s arms.
Isaac was not a sentimental man. Although he was retired from the army, he still thought of himself first as a soldier, a Ranger. It was hard to indulge a soft heart in the places the army had sent him, but he definitely held a deep love in his heart for Carolyn. The wealth of tenderness she could make him feel for her tightened his chest and left him off balance. It shocked him some days.
It was hard for him to say it, or even to admit it, but he valued her safety and
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