Making It Right (Most Likely To #3)

He looked at the ID and her badge twice, and her three times before lifting the phone at the desk and punching in a few numbers. “Sheriff Ward is here,” was all he said.

Fed Man handed her back her documents and then lifted a camera attached to a computer. He didn’t ask her to smile, he simply snapped a picture and turned back to his computer. “Take this,” he said, sliding her a visitor badge. “Wear it at all times until this one is available.”

Jo pinched the badge on the silk shirt and hoped it didn’t make a permanent mark. She didn’t want to return Zoe’s shirt with dents in it.

She waited a breath, expecting the man to give her further instructions.

He didn’t.

Thankfully, Agent Burton saved her any confusion as to where to go by walking down a corridor that led to a bank of elevators.

Ease washed over Jo when Shauna approached in attire very close to Jo’s. The woman seemed to understand the business side of life and mix it with just enough femininity to not look like she was pretending to be a man. In the grand scheme of things, women in law enforcement were accepted. There were still small pockets of doubters out there. Men who believed women couldn’t do the job. Jo had been dealing with that since she joined the academy. Burton told her that wasn’t quite the case with the bureau. Women reached into all positions and were needed in places that men simply couldn’t go. And vice versa. The respect was on all ends here. Something Jo looked forward to experiencing, even for just a week.

“Agent Burton,” Jo said with a smile.

“Sheriff . . . good to see you again.” They greeted with a hug.

Shauna addressed the man behind the desk. “Thanks, Francis.”

He snarled.

“I take it you were kind to our guest.”

Francis offered a noncommittal nod. “He hates everyone,” Burton whispered as she walked away.

Jo kept to her side and took in everything around her.

Burton spoke as she stepped into the elevator. “I have a meeting first thing this morning but will join you later on this afternoon for the hand-to-hand stuff. “My partner, Agent Clausen, will show you around until I can meet up with you.”

“I hope I’m not a burden to her.”

“Him,” Shauna corrected. “You won’t be. He’s big and scary but a teddy bear once you get to know him.” They stepped off the elevator with her still talking. “Most of the men around here are happy to have women around. There’re a few old-timers who think we shouldn’t be here, but most of them aren’t at these training exercises any longer.”

Jo chuckled. “Probably because they can’t keep up.”

“Exactly!”

They rounded the corner to find several agents talking and drinking coffee in what looked like a lounge.

“Here’s Agent Tall, Dark, and Scary now.”

Jo’s skin started to tingle.

“Gill?” Shauna called out. “Sheriff Ward is here.”

Shauna’s voice reached the back of the man. As he turned, Jo felt the world tilt.

Holy shit!

“Agent Gill Clausen, Sheriff JoAnne Ward.”

“Jo,” she managed to choke out.

Rocco, who exchanged a T-shirt for a suit and tie, managed to look her up and down in the space of a breath. His half smile emerged. “Sheriff Ward.” He extended a hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Jo forced her cold palm forward. “A pleasure.”

His hand squeezed hers . . . twice. “Have we met?”

The question was meant to unsettle her.

It did.

“I don’t believe so.”

His left eyebrow lifted. “I’m sure we have.”

She squeezed his hand, dug what nails she had into his palm before letting go.

“No one would forget meeting you, Gill.” Saved by Shauna.

Shauna introduced her to the other agents in the room. None of the names registered.

Get it together, Jo.

“I’ve gotta go,” Shauna said after checking the time on her watch. “Be nice, Clausen. Remember, you’re scary to those of us who know you.”

Jo met Agent Gill Clausen’s eyes. “She looks like she can handle me.”

Shauna narrowed her eyes. “I’ll be back by noon.”

Jo waved her off and pulled in a deep breath.

Well, this was going to be a load of shits and giggles. Here Jo prided herself on being able to read people. Never once in the time she spent playing tonsil hockey over the weekend did she peg Rocco—Viking Man—Gill, as a Fed.

The water cooler room filled with other agents and kept Jo and Gill from saying anything they were thinking. What was he thinking? He kept eyeing her like an enigma. Which was probably how she appeared, looking at him.

“Burton was assigned to your town for that missing girl a couple years ago, right?”

Jo directed her attention to the man talking. She’d already forgotten his name. “That’s right.”

“How’s the kid?”

“Hope is great, thanks for asking.”

The five men in the room watched her.

“It’s always nice when it works out,” another agent said.

“Yes, it is.”

Gill put his coffee down and caught her attention again. “Well, Sheriff, we only have you for a week. Let me get you where you need to go.”

Jo forced her eyes to look directly at him. She would not cower . . . not be embarrassed. She hitched her backpack higher on her shoulder. “Lead the way, Agent Clausen.”

They walked in silence down the same hall she’d just used with Shauna.

He ate up the path with quick strides, making Jo take another step to his in order to keep up.

They stepped into the elevator together, the reprieve from a private conversation came in the way of a woman joining them before the doors shut.

Her fist clenched her backpack and Gill chuckled softly.

She refused to look.

The elevator emptied them back into the lobby, where he directed her toward a long, busy corridor.

She doubled her step and matched him shoulder to shoulder. “Where are we going?”

“Training complex.”

He pushed through an exit door, the sun blinding her.

Gill fished sunglasses out of an inside pocket of his jacket, set them over his eyes, and didn’t miss a beat.

He stepped to a dark blue sedan, one that screamed FBI, and opened the passenger door.

Looked like their silence was over.

Gill managed to put his frame behind the wheel and turn over the engine before he uttered a word. “You left without saying good-bye.”

No use pretending. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

He backed out of the parking spot. The training center sat on a military base of over five hundred acres. Driving to each location made more sense than walking. “Burton tells me you’re here to better your tactical skills, investigative skills . . . survival skills.”

Jo found her sunglasses in her backpack, felt relief when she knew Gill couldn’t see her eyes. “That’s right.”

His head turned toward her briefly. “Lesson number one. Don’t pick up strangers in bars.”

Oh, the nerve. Anger in the form of heat shot up her spine. “Like you did?”

“I’m a man.”

She couldn’t help it. Jo laughed.

“You think I’m kidding.”