Kat Attalla Special Edition by Kat Attalla Page A

Sometimes we were seated at dinner together.”
    “You never asked her last name?” her brother asked in annoyance.
    “No, Steven. She wasn’t my type,” Victoria retorted. “Do you ask for a resume from every man you meet?”
    “Well, what did she look like?” he pushed impatiently.
    “A slender female, about thirty years old with brown shoulder length hair,” she repeated verbatim.
    Like a million other women in America .
    Both Erik and his partner chuckled. DeMarco scowled. He cocked his eyebrow. “Something funny?”
    “No, sir,” Daniels said.
    “Good. Then get me the audiotapes from the van. And have the central office send the surveillance tapes from the airport here. Perhaps Tori can identify the woman.”
    Both men started to leave.
    “You stay, Sanders.” DeMarco issued a direct order that Erik could not ignore. He took a seat at the table.
    Just how much had Victoria told her brother, he wondered? Last night’s actions could get him suspended. Considering her relationship to the bureau chief, possibly even fired. He glanced at Victoria . If looks could kill. He expected nothing less.
    “As long as Becker thinks my sister is double-crossing him, she’s not safe. I’ll talk to your boss. You’re reassigned to the job of protection.”
    “No!” she said adamantly. Her fingers clenched into tight fists. “I want him and all his little listening devices out of my house, now.”
    Erik noted the venom resonating in her voice. “Don’t you think you should assign a female agent?”
    DeMarco took one look at his sister’s glowering face and shook his head. “I don’t think there’s much chance of a personal relationship developing here.”
    Victoria ’s cheeks took on a healthy red color. She waved her hands in the air. “Did you hear me Steven? No agents. No bugs. Not again. Just forget it.”
    He made another attempt to comfort her, which she immediately rebuffed. “Like it or not, Tori, those listening devices are the only reason nothing serious happened to you today.”
    “Then you can set them up in the house across the street like last time.”
    “Be reasonable. There isn’t time to make long-term arrangements for a short-term assignment. Let me handle this for now.”
    She leaned back in the chair and expelled a sigh. “It’s not like you’re offering me a choice.” Outwardly she seemed resigned, but her eyes still sparked with fury.
    “It won’t be for long,” DeMarco assured her. “A few days at the most.”
    Erik lowered his head. One day would be twenty-four hours too long. Despite the fact that she now presented a reserved facade, he didn’t doubt for a moment that she intended to pay him back for his betrayal. DeMarco might have won the battle over protective custody, but only because her real war was with Erik. He’d better get himself a house key or he could expect to find himself locked out on a regular basis.
     
    * * * *
     
    Steven glanced at Victoria as she fidgeted with the remote control. She avoided looking at him or the two agents. While the forensics team did their job in the living room, the four of them reviewed the tapes in the cramped guest room. Sketchy images from the Burlington airport flashed across the television screen. Victoria watched dispassionately.
    For a woman who’d suffered a harrowing ordeal, she looked remarkably in control. Pissed off, certainly, but in control. He barely recognized her. Not just her stylish haircut or the blue jeans he didn’t think she owned. Her attitude had changed. She came off stronger. More defiant.
    Given her history with protective custody, he expected resistance. He could not leave his little sister without back-up. Even back-up with the codename, Romeo. At least Victoria had more sense than to fall for his bad-boy image that many other women found attractive.
    Sanders came highly recommended. Tension simmered between them, but thankfully not of a sexual nature. Steven didn’t envy Sanders this new