He turned and hurried to his car. He was careful driving home, watching to be certain that he wasn’t being followed.
He was just as cautious when he reached his house.
But he had no nocturnal visitors.
As he lay awake, trying to focus on the case and not on the feel of Lara Ainsworth Mayhew against him, he wondered why no one had come after them.
Was it because whoever was pulling the strings was smart enough to stay away from the FBI to avoid having the entire Bureau, plus local law enforcement, come after him, quite likely ignoring a few laws along the way? Or were they still so far from figuring it all out that the head of the web wasn’t even worried about being found out?
Or maybe the head honcho wasn’t aware yet that they had found Pierre and were getting closer to cracking this case wide-open.
Maybe they should all stay together, turn wherever they chose to set up camp into a real stronghold.
Of course, he could just be making all that up to rationalize his desire to stay as close to her as he could.
Because he wanted to sleep with Lara Mayhew.
No.
He would sleep with Lara Mayhew. And he was pretty sure she knew that, as well.
He was smiling when he fell asleep.
11
Adrianna poked her head into Lara’s office. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” Lara echoed, looking up from her computer.
“Is your friend still hanging around?”
“Meg? Yes. Is there a problem?”
Adrianna smiled. “No. In fact it’s kind of nice to know that there’s an armed agent on the premises. But that’s not why I’m here. A two-spot opening for an eleven o’clock dolphin swim just opened up. You know we frown on employees jumping in without making prior arrangements, but I checked with Grady, and he said I was welcome to ask you and Meg to take the slot.”
“That sounds great. I know I’d love it, and I’m sure Meg would, too. She went downstairs to make coffee. I’m surprised you didn’t see her.”
“I didn’t even pop my head in the kitchen. Anyway, just give me a buzz on the walkie-talkie.”
“I will.”
After Adrianna left, Lara drummed her fingers on her desk, surprised that she’d actually accomplished quite a bit so far that morning. Everyone was still talking about zombies and the grisly discoveries Cocoa had made in the lagoon. And even the mere thought of the lagoon made her think about Brett Cody. Made her think about what a difference time and getting to know someone could make. By any rational standard she didn’t know him that well, and yet she felt as if she did. She’d thought he was nothing but a rigid robot, good to look at, but as personable as a rock.
And now...
And now she’d nearly asked him to crawl into bed with her. She blushed at the thought of what she’d said last night.
And how he had simply walked away.
She gave herself a mental shake as she heard footsteps coming her way. Meg entered the office with two cups of coffee, and Lara passed on Adrianna’s offer.
“Of course I’d love to swim with the dolphins.”
“I knew you would,” Lara said, and reached into her drawer for her walkie-talkie.
She let Adrianna know that they would be down as soon as they changed. Digging through her locker, she found an extra bathing suit for Meg, then suggested she leave her gun and ID there. Meg was hesitant about that, though, so Lara told her that there were computer-combination lockers down by the water, which seemed to satisfy her.
“Have you ever done this before?” Lara asked.
Meg shook her head. “No. I’m so excited, I feel like a little kid!”
Adrianna never took more than six people into the water with the dolphins at a time, and the other four were already there when Lara and Meg got down to the water. They were joining a family for the swim, Mr. and Mrs. Latrobe from Lansing, Michigan, and their two teenage daughters. Cocoa was in the side lagoon with Destiny, an older dolphin who had been at Sea Life for years. The girls were obviously in awe.
“First thing we’ve done this whole vacation where they’ve really been excited,” Mrs. Latrobe told Lara and Meg as they gathered on the platform. “Dolphins just make people happy, I guess.”
Lara agreed.
The encounter began with a speech that Lara never tired of hearing. Adrianna talked about the founding of the facility and its goals, as well as the dolphins themselves. When it was time to get in the water, Lara realized that as wonderful as it was, she had been spoiled by her session with Rick when she’d had Cocoa’s total attention.
Lara was certain that Cocoa turned on the extra charm for her, but she knew the dolphin was also the ultimate performer. She shook hands—in her case, a flipper—danced and towed their entire group. Alongside Destiny, she also spoke and retrieved toys, delighting the watching crowd. The Latrobe family all had pictures taken of the dolphins giving them kisses.