The Seduction of Lucy by Kris Rafferty

Author:Kris Rafferty [Rafferty, Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Noir, Romance, Suspense, Crime, Thrillers
ISBN: 9781460380246
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

When the elevator doors opened, they stepped onto Barrett’s floor. Troy saw Janice, the secretary, look up from whatever missive she was typing and hit her intercom button.

“They’re here, ma’am.” He smiled; she noticed and smiled back. “She’s expecting you,” she said. The stairwell door burst open and the five tardy agents spilled onto the floor, out of breath and looking sheepish.

“Well, hello, boys¸” Lucy said, licking her fingers clean of burger juices. She placed the plate on Janice’s desk. “We wondered where you’d gone to.” The guards flushed with embarrassment.

Troy ignored them and pushed through Barrett’s door. She was sipping coffee out of a delicate china cup and crumbs littered its matching plate. If all he got from this meeting was Lucy retrieving the bug without detection he’d count it a win, but he had questions, none of which he could ask openly. Lucy trailed him inside, her clomping unlaced boots silenced by Barrett’s expensive rugs. He didn’t wait to be asked to sit. Lucy remained standing, waiting for direction.

Barrett ignored Troy and pointed to the chair next to him. “Sit, Lucy.”

His boss finally deigned to look at him. She was furious. He wondered if it was because Lucy had cut the satellite feed or because he was alive. Despite Lucy’s adamancy, he still found it hard to believe Barrett was behind the rash of agent deaths and the attempt on his life. His death would lead to her death. Yes, Barrett had ordered him on today’s op, and the shooter had clearly been aiming at him and from every indication was Agency trained, but that didn’t mean Barrett had put the hit out on him. It just meant their ranks had been infiltrated. The shooter piggybacking on their comm frequency was proof enough of that. It all came down to motive, and Barrett had none.

“Report,” Barrett said. She’d discarded her schoolmarm image and was all shark, brown eyes narrowed. Troy suspected she practiced the look, manipulating her office’s lighting to facilitate it.

“Success,” he said. “Files secured, loss undetected.”

“Undetected?” Barrett’s show of curiosity seemed forced. “I’ll have to take your word for that.” She arranged her teacup, saucer and plate so they were in perfect alignment. “Your satellite feed went down.”

“Agency-wide?” Lucy sat at the edge of her seat.

“No. Just your op.” Barrett stared at Troy, studying his expression. “And we lost two more agents. It’s been busy around here while you were gone.”

Damn, he thought. “How did they die?”

“How else?” Barrett slapped her desk, startling Lucy. “Incompetence! I’m surrounded by a bunch of incompetent recruits, sent out on their ops too soon or simply untrainable. It’s not fair that I’m held accountable for their failures. I’m not paid enough for this.” Troy thought her rant reeked of performance art, but wasn’t sure if it was for his or Lucy’s benefit.

“Lucy,” Barrett said, “tell me what happened from the moment you entered the building to the moment your transport brought you and your crew to the plane.”

Lucy did just that, deleting events rather than lying.

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