Jameson (In the Company of Snipers Book 22) by Irish Winters

Author:Irish Winters [Winters, Irish]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Windy Days Press
Published: 2020-10-12T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

By the time Jameson hit the front steps of the safe house in Arlington, Virginia, he was dog-tired, without glasses or cane. It was nearly time to go to work—if he’d been allowed to. Which he wasn’t. Maddie had stuck by his side, so he’d kept one hand on her shoulder as she’d led him inside to the kitchen, where she left him sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar. Then, she hurried down the hall and returned with his jacket on her fingertips. “I’ll get this dry-cleaned for you, but I changed into a clean shirt and—”

He reached out and fumbled for the jacket. “No, you won’t,” he answered as he folded it over his arm. “I might never wash this thing. Why erase a perfectly good memory?”

“Ah… err… Omelet?” she asked amidst a clatter of pans and lids, an obvious attempt to change the subject.

He’d embarrassed her. He could tell. “You don’t have to cook for me.”

“If she doesn’t, I will,” a hearty voice said behind him, as an arm reached over his shoulder and grabbed his hand. “Harley Mortimer, at your service. Sorry I didn’t make it to the scene tonight, Junior Agent Tenney. Had an emergency delivery. Couldn’t get away.”

That explained Maddie’s sudden need to distance herself. She was back in Protocol Officer mode, but he was still in holding, kissing, I-want-to-know-you-a-whole-lot-better mode.

“Good to meet you,” Jameson replied, shaking that callused hand and wondering why a covert operator would be making an emergency delivery. “Pizza or baby?”

Harley cuffed Jameson’s back. “Ha, good one. No, I was the on-call vet for the emergency animal clinic in Arlington tonight. Spent an hour on my hands and knees, waiting for the last in a twelve pup litter. He was stuck. Had to take him by forceps.”

“You’re a veterinarian?”

“Was. This was my last night. Something had to give.”

“It’s about time,” Eric said as he cleared the front entrance, then bolted a noisy series of locks. Jameson counted three. “Holding down two full-time jobs is stupid.”

“Yeah, it was,” Harley admitted, as he fell into the seat at Jameson’s left. Stringent scents of disinfectant and soap drifted between them.

“Honestly, I loved what I was doing, but I missed my wife and my twin boys more. Judy’s been patient, but I didn’t want her raising the monsters alone. And no way was I quitting The TEAM. You need help, darlin’?”

“With omelets?” Maddie asked. “No, thank you. I’m sure I can handle breaking a few eggs. Eric, would you like breakfast?”

“Sure, thanks,” he replied, his gear dropping to the floor. “Got something for you, Jameson. Hold out your hand.”

A long collapsible cane bumped into his waiting palm. “You got me a new cane?”

“Harley picked it up when he bought groceries. Just figured you’d like knowing it was here.”

“Thanks,” Jameson told his benefactors.

“Adam tells me you’re pretty good without it.”

“When I have to be,” he admitted. “But in unfamiliar places, it comes in handy. So you and Harley got stuck babysitting.”

Eric offered a throaty chuckle.

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