asked him. She sounded terrified.
His eyes darted at me, "Everything she said was true. James was a bad man and has put the country in danger. My name is William Cooper. I'm in the section of the government where Evie and your late husband used to work. We need her to come back to work and help us."
Mom looked at me and shook her head, "Will she be in danger?"
I bit my lip and looked down. I didn’t want her to see the face I was making, she could read my face too easily.
Coop smiled and shook his head, "No. I'm very good at my job, ma'am. I will keep your daughter completely safe." He offered her his hand, "You have my word."
I rolled my eyes. He was nine years old for God's sake; what word did he have to give? Mom ate it up though. She smiled and eventually got up off the bed.
I looked at Coop and nodded but spoke to my mother, "Can you go tell the kids they get to go on a fun trip and I'll make arrangements here with him."
She looked at us both and then walked from the room. She wasn't happy and I didn’t blame her. I would kill Jules myself, if she ever said something like that to me.
She closed the door and instantly Coop lashed at me. He grabbed my arms, "What are you doing?" He shook me. I jerked free and shoved him back, "You aren’t keeping them here as fucking bait. So you can play ball with me or I walk. I will go to jail for whatever the hell James did, just to see them safe."
He paced across the carpet for a minute and then picked up his phone. He dialed and held it to his ear.
He shot me a dirty look as he spoke “I need an evac and I need it now.”
He hated whatever they said to him next; the look he gave me was absolute fury, "You tell anyone I’ve called you and that weekend I may or may not have footage, goes live." He ran his hands over his short, dark-blond hair and then looked back at me, pointing as they talked in his ear. He mouthed the words, "You are a pain in my ass."
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.
He continued, "No, she wants the family evac'd. She wants them out now… tonight. No. She wants them in a safe house… out of country. I’m thinking Canada, or even Alaska. Find a fishing lodge, or something the kids can have fun at, and they can blend. Something where we can post people and make them look like part of the resort. I want this to be handled by Martin's team." He paced, still holding his hand on the top of his head.
My frantic eyes searched him for signs of body language. In the tiny space between his t-shirt and jeans I could see his stomach. I wasn’t certain if the tattoo on his side, which dipped into his pants, suited him or not. It was sexy and fun looking, whereas he seemed like an asshole most of the time. His face was a storm of repressed fury. He reminded me of my dad a bit.
He snapped a finger in front of my face when he caught me looking him over, and continued to speak into the phone quietly, "I want the jet ready and directions to be disclosed in the air like with the MacLean case. The pilots will be at the resort with them the entire time. No leaks this time. Make sure it’s some place we own, sheriffs and whatnot as employees. Don’t even mess with me, Mickey. I got your wife on speed dial. Yeah, fuck you too. See ya, man."
I frowned and mouthed, "This time."
He shook his head at me and snarled. I glared back.
"Done." He tapped the off and pointed at me, "Don't fuck with me. I run this show; I tell you how it goes. No more stunts."
I swallowed and looked away, seeing the anger on his face I decided then that he didn’t suit the tattoo. Cute and flirty Coop was not consistent enough to suit the sexy tat.
He leaned into my face and shouted, "I mean it, Evie!" His nostrils flared when he was angry.
I flinched at his rage. He softened when he saw my face, "What time did the card say?"
I felt a strong desire to kick him in the face. I hadn't been yelled at like that, since I was in basic training. I looked down at the floor and took a
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