Covert Pursuit by Terri Reed

unsettling thought, she changed the subject by asking, “Did you talk to your SAC?”
    Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he nodded. “I have permission to fill you in. But, just so you know, your superior isn’t too happy.”
    She grimaced. “I’ll bet. Taking a vacation hadn’t exactly been my idea. My boss had practically demanded I use my accumulated vacation time before I lost it.”
    “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he teased.
    She made a face. She couldn’t help that she was a workaholic. And the timing of her forced vacation had come just after her detective partner had announced his engagement to heiress Kristina Worthington.
    Angie had had a secret crush on Gabe since the day they’d been partnered. But acting on her feelings would have been disastrous because he’d never been anything other than professional with her. Thankfully, Gabe never knew she’d had feelings for him. At least, she hoped he didn’t know. How embarrassing.
    “What are you thinking about?” Jason peered at her intently.
    Heat touched her cheeks, but she kept her gaze steady. Never show weakness, her father was always telling her brothers.
    A sentiment that Angie had adopted as well, whether Dad had intended her to do so or not. “Nothing worth mentioning.”
    His gaze narrowed. “Something that makes you sad.”
    “I’m not sad.” She hated how easily he read her.
    He arched an eyebrow, challenging her statement.
    “Shouldn’t you be filling me in on your assignment?”
    A knowing smile played at the corners of his well-shaped mouth. Obviously he was well aware she’d used the question to divert the subject. “Yes.”
    He sat back, settling in to tell his tale. “About a year ago we had intel that an illegal arms dealer was working out of New Mexico, shipping contraband through Mexico to the Middle East. The Mexican government had found the connection in their country and asked the U.S. to take care of the problem on our end. We tracked the dealer, a man named Felix Picard, to a villa outside Anapra.
    “Only problem was, Picard had somehow been tipped off. He was gone.” Jason’s lips twisted with bitterness and a haunted expression entered his eyes. “A good man lost his life that night.”
    Angie sensed Jason’s pain as he’d sensed hers just moments ago. She reached across the table to lay her hand over his clenched fist. “Someone you were close to.”
    He nodded. “My partner, Garrett. We’d gone to high school together. Joined the military together and then ICE.”
    Her heart ached with sympathy. “I’m so sorry.”
    He met her gaze. “He shouldn’t have died. And when I find Picard, I’ll make the man pay.”
    Angie frowned, not liking the note of vicious hatred behind his words. “You’ll bring the man to justice, you mean.”
    One side of Jason’s mouth lifted in a near snarl. “Yeah. Justice.”
    Up until that moment she hadn’t understood why she was there, but now she did. God had sent her to Loribel because Jason really did need her. Needed her to make sure he didn’t do something foolish, like the premeditated murder of Picard.
    “You think this guy is here on the island? What is the connection to the Corrinda family?”
    He blinked, his expression clearing, returning to the man she’d come to know over the past few days. “Yes to the first question and don’t know yet to the second.”
    “Do you have a photo of Picard? Maybe I’ve seen him.”
    Jason heaved a beleaguered sigh. “That’s the problem.” He ran his hands through his hair in obvious frustration. “See, Picard doesn’t exist. At least not in any database on this planet. There’s no birth record, no social security number, no driver’s license. The man’s a phantom.”
    “Then how do you know he’s even real?”
    “He’s real, all right. We’ve captured men in his employ who have led the authorities to various places where he has stashed weapons. But no one can give a consistent description. Some say he’s