LITMIR.BIZ

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the desk.

      Once he was seated, he smiled at her again. “You look good, Cassie.”

      “It’s all that good, clean normal living I’ve been doing,” she replied and felt herself begin to relax. The old, familiar excitement was quickly taking over the anxiety. She recognized that she was not only back with the agency physically, but emotionally as well.

      Greg Cole was a distinguished-looking man about fifty years old. With his steel-gray hair and blue eyes, clad in a three-piece tailored pale gray suit he looked like he’d come from the same mold as a thousand other successful businessmen.

      But Cassie had seen Greg put a bullet between the eyes of a paid assassin yards away. She’d seen him scale a twenty-foot fence like a monkey climbing a tree. Greg was much more than a man behind a desk pushing papers.

      “Something is agreeing with you,” he said. “We’ve heard good things about you since you’ve been away

      from us. Eight commendations, a folder full of civilian praise for you and a stellar record that proves you’re better than most police officers.”

      So they’d kept tabs on her since she’d left the agency. Somehow she wasn’t surprised. “I try to be the best at what I do.”

      “You were one of the best agents we ever had when it came to working the streets.”

      That had been Cassie’s specialty. Her early experiences on the streets of L.A. had given her an insight into the language, the nuances, the underbelly of that world that few people truly understood.

      It was something that couldn’t be taught, but had to be experienced and it was part of what had made her valuable to the agency. She’d been useful in information gathering from the streets, able to tap into gangs, drug dealers and weapon deals by knowing who to listen to and what to say.

      “You know what they say, you can take the girl off the street, but you can’t take the street out of the girl,” she said.

      “I don’t know about that, you manage to clean up pretty well.” Greg’s smile not only held genuine affection, but respect as well.

      During the time she had worked for the agency, Greg had always been the superior she reported to and she’d never doubted the man’s integrity and belief in all the agency stood for. She hadn’t left because she didn’t believe in their work. She’d left before she could completely destroy one of their top men.

      However, she also knew that Greg’s loyalty was to the agency and agents were expendable when it came to protecting SPACE.

      He leaned back in the chair and patted his breast pocket absently. Cassie smiled, realizing the pocket that had always held a pack of cigarettes was empty. “How long since you quit?”

      “Six months, but old habits die hard. Kane filled you in?” She nodded and Greg continued. “It’s an insidious plot devised by a devious man.”

      “Sounds like a nutcase with a nutty plan,” she said.

      “Perhaps, but it’s a mistake to go into this and think Adam Mercer is just your garden variety nut. He’s far too intelligent, far too resourceful to be written off so easily.”

      A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. “Come in,” Greg called and Cassie half turned in her chair to see Kane enter the room.

      Instantly she felt every muscle in her body tense. She hadn’t expected him to be here.

      “Cassie,” he said and nodded in her direction, then took the chair next to hers. She nodded back at him, then returned her attention to Greg.

      Shock had gotten her through last night’s unexpected meeting with him but seeing him again now brought forth feelings she hadn’t expected…or wanted.

      There was that initial blaze of physical attraction that had always burned inside her for him. It was an attraction built not only on the mysterious forces that worked between a man and a woman, but also on memories of their explosive lovemaking and the intimacies they had once shared. But she also felt guilt…for what had happened on their last assignment. And for leaving him and the agency behind.

      “Kane, now that you’re here we can all go over the game plan,” Greg said.

      She shot a quick glance at Kane who, despite being seated, radiated with an underlying taut energy. He didn’t return her gaze. Kane smelled the same as she remembered, a wonderful blend of wildness and spice. But she didn’t remember his eyes being as dark, as brooding as they were now.

      “We have to stop this shipment.” Greg looked at Kane, then to Cassie.

      She shook her head ruefully. “It seems strange. You’re asking me to save the people who under normal circumstances I’d be arresting…drug users and dealers.”

      “That’s true and yes, we find ourselves in an unusual position here. But it isn’t just the guilty we’re trying to protect. Innocent lives will be affected if this drug gets on the market. We’re talking about first-time users, college students who succumb to peer pressure, even kids who mistakenly get hold of it.”

      “We can worry about the dope dealers and users later,” Kane said. “Right now the man we need to get off the streets is Adam Mercer.”

      “Why aren’t the local authorities taking care of this?” Cassie asked. She’d never been certain what criteria were used to determine if the agency would get involved.

      “We took it over due to the special circumstances of the potential for thousands of deaths,” Greg explained. “We’re coordinating with DEA.”

      “Okay, so what’s the plan?” Kane asked.

      As Greg outlined how it would go down, what would be expected of her and the dangers, Cassie wondered what Kane was thinking.

      He’d always been difficult to read, but there had been a time when he’d shared more of himself with her than she suspected he ever had anyone else. And she’d simply turned her back on him and walked away. He had to hate her now…or maybe their relationship had never meant enough to him to warrant that kind of intense emotion.

      She’d halfway hoped that he was simply the contact man and would have nothing else to do with the actual operation. But the fact that he was here told her she’d have to work directly with Kane. They couldn’t fix old wounds now. Not after all this time.

      She focused her full attention back on Greg. “One thing you have to understand, Cassie. You’ll be deep undercover and that means little or no backup.”

      “I understand that,” she replied.

      “You sure you’re up to it?” Kane asked. “I mean, it’s been a long time since you’ve played this kind of game.”

      Her back stiffened as she sensed him questioning her competency. “I’m in better shape physically and mentally now than I’ve ever been. Just because I haven’t played the game in a while doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to play.”

      “Then you’re in?” Greg asked.

      “I’m in.”

      “Kane will be your contact. Is that going to be a problem?”

      For the first time Kane looked at her and in his dark gaze she thought she saw the hint of challenge. “No problem here,” he said.

      “Fine with me,” she replied and looked back at Greg.

      “Good, then we’re set to begin.” Once again Greg went over the plans, detailing the work that would be done before Cassie went undercover.

      It was nearly two hours later when she left Eddie’s Employment Agency and headed for the station house. She needed to arrange for time off her job, which shouldn’t be a problem as she had plenty of vacation time accrued.

      She knew that within the next couple of hours Eddie’s Employment Agency would be shut down.

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