“I know, right? However, it feels like she doesn’t care that much for me. Are either of you two getting that same vibe?”
“Well,” Devlin tossed him a quick smile, “you did threaten to shoot her dog.”
He spun back to face his partner, “Hey,” his index finger rising in the space between them. “I only threatened to make her dog an orphan.”
“You’re right. My mistake. Making her dog an orphan would’ve entailed you killing the DD, so,” Devlin bobbed her head left and right once and let her words drift off.
After a moment of reflection, he slowly nodded. “Yeah. When you connect the dots like that...I can see where she might foster a few ill feelings towards yours truly.”
Devlin chuckled. “Look, Noah. You’re...”
Faith entered her sister’s office.
“...the new guy around here. Everyone dislikes the new guy...at first. Consider it your rite of passage in becoming one of us.” Devlin ducked into her office and made a beeline for the couch.
“Everyone dislikes the new guy? Nice welcome speech. I feel so much more at home here now. You must be...”
Faith smiled.
“...on the orientation committee for new employees.”
Her chin dropping to her chest, the out-of-town detective snickered.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Picking up two, tall paper bags displaying a store’s logo, “In time, I’m confident you’ll fit in nicely around here,” Devlin walked back over to him. “Now, please don’t take this the wrong way, but,” she crinkled her nose at his clothing, “you smell.”
His upper body swayed away from her an inch. “No. I don’t see how anyone in their right mind could take that the wrong way.”
She smiled.
He held upturned hands at his sides. “What do you mean I smell? I showered just a few hours ago.”
“I believe you, but,” she hefted a bag and waved a finger at his attire while giving him a fast once-over, “your suit has to be going on what...day three by now?”
Faith snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “That’s what I was smelling on the flight. Here, I thought I had picked a seat some sweaty guy had just sat in ahead of me.”
Randall shot daggers at Faith before hoisting his brows at Devlin. “And just whose idea was it to hijack me off to Seattle with only the threads on my back?”
Smiling, she spied different areas of discolored fabric. “I mean...I see dirt and grime, something that looks like blood, and,” she pointed at a multi-colored blotch on his shirt, “I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s a combination of,” Faith lifted a finger with each food item she rattled off, “ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise...from last night’s dinner. There might even be a little relish thrown in there, too.”
Randall confronted his betrayer. “I’ll have you know; I was tired and starving. When I’m tired and starving, I tend to eat fast. And, under those conditions,” he pulled on his shirt and spied the condiment stains, “collateral damage is a very real threat.”
Faith grinned.
“Well, anyway,” Devlin handed over the bags, “these are for you.”
He spread apart two handle loops. “What’s in here?”
“I felt terrible about...hijacking you. So I had my husband pick up some stuff for you to wear.”
Randall gawked at his partner. “You what? The guy doesn’t like me as it is. Now you have him running errands for me? Great.” He eyeballed his new duds. “You sure have a strange way of introducing people to your family, Jessica.”
Devlin snickered.
“For the record,” Faith stepped forward and peeled off the right half of his jacket, “the first time we met...I was extremely happy to make your acquaintance.”
He turned toward Faith, “Thank you,” then eyed her sister. “See? That’s how you make someone feel welcome.”
“I keep telling you.” Devlin slid the left half of his coat off his shoulder. “Curt doesn’t hate you. He just needs to spend some time with you.”
Randall switched the bags from one hand to the other, so the women could remove his coat. “And I keep telling you...alphas don’t play well together.”
Behind his back, the women swapped eye rolls and headshakes at his comment before Devlin tossed his smelly jacket onto the couch and headed for the door. “We’ll give you the room, so you can change.”
Faith lingered.
Randall regarded her.
Her eyes went south before meeting his. “If you’d like,” her voice was low, “I could hang back and help you with your pants.”
The right side of his mouth ticked higher. “Thank you, but I’ve been unbuttoning and unzipping my pants for a while now. I’ve become very adept at it.”
“You never know.” She pivoted away while keeping her eyes trained on him. “I might do a better job.”
Picking up bits and pieces of the hushed conversation behind her, Devlin cranked her head around in time to see the tail end of a visual exchange between Randall and Faith. Stopping, frowning, biting her lower lip, Devlin shot back-and-forth glances at the two while her sibling strolled toward her.
∞=∞=∞=∞=∞=∞=∞
.
Chapter 22
King
12 MAY—8:13 A.M. (LOCAL TIME)
LILLEHAMMER, NORWAY
All of them holding their downhill skis vertical, Devlin, Randall, and Faith stood at the gate to the ski lift. Wearing a black winter jacket, black ski pants, and dark blue ski boots, goggles resting on his head, Randall turned away from the women on his three o’clock to face a thirty-something man on his left. “First run of the day is always exciting, isn’t it?”
Ten hours ago, back in Virginia, after having contacted several former CIA colleagues, Randall had placed his next call and struck intelligence pay dirt with a teammate from his days with the CIA’s SAC/SOG—Special Activities Center/Special Operations Group. A clandestine meet had then been arranged.
An hour later, Devlin, Randall, and Faith were aboard a Gulfstream G550 heading to Oslo, Norway. Following the seven-hour flight and a ninety-minute drive, the trio had arrived at a ski resort in Lillehammer where they proceeded to buy day passes and rent ski equipment.
As tall as Randall and dressed the same, but a couple
