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  “Then start a college fund for Hannah.”

  Mandy propped herself up. “You want separate checking accounts?”

  “I was thinking joint.”

  “Really?”

  “Why keep things separate?” He pulled their hips together. “I love you. We’ll be married. What’s mine is yours. I don’t want to live separate lives under the same roof.”

  “You sure move fast, Blaine.”

  “All or nothing. It’s all I know how to be. If you want a separate account then fine. But I’m making mine joint. We’ll both have a checkbook.”

  She gave him a lingering kiss. “I don’t need a separate account.”

  “I won again? I’m thinking I’ll like this arrangement.”

  “Don’t count on it. I specialized in negotiations.”

  “Really? So what’s next?”

  “I get the top.”

  “You drive a hard bargain.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Things were moving fast with Hunt and Mandy. For knowing very little about each other, they seemed to be very compatible. Conversations came easy for them, they shared a lot of the same favorite foods, and they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. The days were relatively uneventful, but they never had an awkward silence or uncomfortable moment. Other than both being a little tired from Hannah’s early morning feedings, they were truly happy together.

  Over breakfast on that third morning, Hunt, not being able to take his curiosity any longer, asked her about the Menusco case. He hoped it wasn’t a mistake.

  “I thought we agreed this was a dead subject, Hunt. I really don’t see the point in talking about this.”

  “I’m just curious. I’m still…intrigued. I can handle any details about Gerard, I promise.”

  “I’d rather you not utter that name in this house again.”

  “I’m sorry. I just…I’d like to know. I did put my badge on the line for you.”

  “Are you going to use that our whole life?”

  “No. I swear. I need it to make sense.”

  “Before you marry me you mean?” She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.

  “No, dammit. No.” Hunt closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t, Mandy. I’m marrying you whether you like it or not. If I need to chain you in my attic, I will. I want you. Don’t ever doubt me or think there is anything you can tell me that could possibly make me feel otherwise.”

  “Then why, Hunt?”

  “If you’re not comfortable with it, then forget it. I was just curious.” He gave her a kiss on her forehead then went back and picked up his orange juice and downed it in one gulp. “I really need to get going, anyway. I need to catch up on a few things if I’m going to take half a day off and get married tomorrow afternoon.”

  She walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m really sorry. I don’t want to think about those days again.”

  Hannah cried from upstairs, interrupting them. “Saved by the bell anyway,” Hunt said with a kiss. “Don’t give it a moment’s thought. I won’t bring it up again.”

  They lay in bed that night. Hunt was ready to doze off, but Mandy wasn’t near to anything resembling sleepy. She turned to face Hunt and placed her hand on his chest.

  “I ran a small convenience store on a busy corner.”

  “Hmmm?” he said, sleepily. Hunt struggled to wake himself up.

  “When I went undercover.”

  He wrapped an arm around her. “We don’t need to do this.”

  “I want to. I want you to know everything. I don’t want you to think you’re sleeping with a cold-blooded killer. I never want to give you reason to doubt me or the reasons I did what I did.”

  “I get it, okay? If anything happened to Hannah, you think I wouldn’t do exactly what you did?”

  “But you think it wasn’t his fault. That he was just a victim. That Darci was in the way and it was sad, but he didn’t deserve it.”

  “I said no such thing, and do not presume to tell me what I think about any of this, babe.”

  She gave his chest a kiss. “I love when you call me babe.” She looked up at him. The room was dark except for what light trickled in from the service light between the house and the shed. This total darkness was taking some time to get used to. Mandy had only known city life. She still waited to hear sirens speeding by and car alarms going off nightly. She doubted if she’d ever adjust to the peace and quiet.

  “I don’t want to fight. I want to tell you. I need to tell you. You awake enough for it?”

  “I am now.”

  Mandy was recruited out of college for the FBI. The combination of her IQ tests, her straight-A scores, the diversity of her classes, and load of credits had caught someone’s eye. She was the president of her debate team, majored in psychology, took fencing and karate outside of school as well as frequented a shooting range. She wasn’t allowed a gun on campus, but what the dorm mother didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

  Mandy’s parents had left her well set up financially when they passed. She was in college at the time and didn’t even make it back for their funeral. It was finals week. Mandy hated that she couldn’t go, but there was no one she’d see again to give her any grief. She was never close to any of her parent’s friends. Oddly, they were both only children as well, which meant no aunts or uncles to answer to either.

  The ceremony was small and they had been cremated. She received their ashes in the mail a few days later. She got drunk that night with her roommate and scattered their ashes along the memorial walk in DC. It was something her parents did every year. She thought they’d like that.

  Just before graduation, she was approached by a man fitting of a Men in Black audition. Mandy thought the things he told her about a job were a joke.

  “Who put you up to this? Harvey? That dick. He’s always messing with me.” She called around the courtyard. “You can come out now, douchebag. The gig is up.”

  “Miss Smith, I assure you. This is no joke.”

  She laughed hard. “Right. The FBI scouts college students for recruits? Why don’t you haunt Duke? He’s a mean son of a bitch. He’d be ready to blast some bad guys for you.”

  “He has a 2.7 GPA and breathes through his mouth.” Mandy’s jaw dropped. “And blasting bad guys isn’t what we do.” He handed her his card. “Be at my office Monday morning at noon. Graduation will be over by then.”

  “What makes you think I don’t have plans?”

  “The movers don’t show up until Tuesday. You’re moving into a studio apartment across town and you have no job applications out.”

  “Why are you snooping on me?”

  “It’s what we do. Don’t you watch movies? Have a nice day, Ms. Smith.”

  Mandy showed up at noon on the dot. She was pissed, but she was still punctual. She was escorted to Mr. Abbey’s office and offered beverages and snacks. All of which she declined. Mandy was a sight in her jeans with holes in the knees and a bright pink, low-cut tank top that was high enough on her stomach the reveal the handcuff belly ring. Her pink heeled sneakers were fitting of something Posh Spice would wear.

  Hunt interrupted her story. “You did not dress like that.”

  “I swear, I did.”

  “You don’t have a belly ring now.”

  “I let it close.”

  “I think they’re sexy. You should pierce it again.”

  “With my baby belly? Are you insane?”

  “Oh bull. You don’t even look like you had a baby.”

  She ignored him. “You going to interrupt through my whole story?”

  “Only over incredibly sexy wardrobe.”

  “May I continue?”

  “Please do.”

  “Interesting choice of body jewelry, Ms. Smith.”

  “I’m going through a kinky sex phase.”

  “Will that come around again?”

  “Stop it, Hunt!”

  “Sorry. Co
ntinue.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “You can play hardball all you want, but I know you’re perfect for our team,” Mr. Abbey said.

  “Why is that? Because I have no family so there’s no one to miss me when I turn up dead?” Mandy said.

  “You have skills you don’t even know you possess.”

  “But you do?”

  “Walk with me.” He led her to the elevator and they rode down several floors. When they reached to the bottom level, they got on another elevator and went down a few more floors.

  “What is this place?”

  “Just what it says on the outside. You don’t think we keep the bad guys in check with office space do you?”

  “Are you leading me to a room where some dude with one initial is going to give me all kinds of cool spy toys and an awesome car that flies and dives under water?” Mandy clapped her hands together, faking excitement.

  He let out a heavy sigh. “No.” The elevator door opened and he led her down a long hall. Solid steel doors gave nothing away as to what went on behind them. He finally walked them through one of them. A man and a woman were sitting at a desk staring through a two way mirror at a very handsome young man sitting in a room alone with his hands cuffed together in front of him. He was smoking. The couple turned around, greeted Craig Abbey, and gave Mandy a once over. She curtseyed when he introduced her.

  “What did he do?” Mandy asked Mr. Abbey.

  “He’s a lowlife drug dealer. Street level. Nobody really.”

  “And you have nothing better to do right now?”

  “He killed one of our men. We know he didn’t know what he was doing. Dumb accident. We want his supplier.”

  “Don’t you have people that beat people like him up to get answers?”

  “I’d like to try another route first.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You.”

  “Me? What the hell am I supposed to do?”

  “Whatever comes to you.” He walked her to the door. “His name is Melvin.”

  “No wonder he turned to a life of drugs. Kids probably beat him up all the time with that name.” He shoved her through the door and locked it behind her.

  Mandy turned around and smacked at the door. “Asshole!” She was pissed. She ran her hands down the back of her head, showing her frustration to Melvin. “Hey,” she said as she went over and sat on the table. She picked up his pack of smokes. “You mind?”

  “Knock yourself out, gorgeous. What’s the deal? They run out of interrogation rooms or what?”

  She lit the cigarette and blew the smoke up. “Something like that I suppose.” Mandy went to her stomach and lay flat on the table so he had a great view of her cleavage. “What do they have you in for?”

  “My gun accidently went off.”

  “And that’s arrest worthy?”

  “It went off in a DEA agent’s face.”

  “I see. DEA. That’s drugs, right?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, that’s drugs. Stupid sonofabitch. Don’t mess with M. You’ll get a cap popped in your ass every time.”

  “M?”

  “That’s me.”

  “You have lots of family and your mama ran out of names?”

  “What do you want, sweet thing?”

  She sat up and kicked her shoes off. Swinging one leg high and over to the other side of the table, she was now sitting in front of him with her legs spread open. She scooted her way closer to him and watched as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. She flicked her cigarette toward the wall after taking another long drag. She scooted even closer then dropped one foot to his crotch. He was hard.

  “Ohh…that sucks to be stuck in here like that with no one to take care of it.”

  “I see you right here.”

  “This is true. The least I could do is relieve some of the pressure.” She reached down and unsnapped his jeans then leisurely worked the zipper. “Better?”

  “It will be when you bend over that table.”

  “I have a better idea.” She scooted onto his lap and leaned in like she was going to kiss him. In a flash she launched him backward and pressed her left forearm over his neck. He tried squirming, but she had him pinned hard. With her right hand she reached down and squeezed his crotch. He screamed.

  “What the fuck, lady?”

  “Who’s your supplier?”

  “Fuck you!”

  She squeezed him harder. “Like this?”

  He screamed again. “Stop it!”

  She pressed at his throat. “Do I suffocate you, castrate you with my bare hands, or do you want to talk?”

  In another squeeze of his prized “tool” he had given up a name and address of his supplier.

  She stood up as he lay there curled up as best as he could and gasping for air. “Thanks, Melvin. I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

  “Bitch,” he screamed through his coughs.

  Craig walked through the door. “Nice work. Although I kind of thought you’d use that psychology degree of yours to convince a confession out of him.”

  “Fuck you, Abbey. You had no right locking me in this room. You didn’t need me for some dime bag junkie’s confession.” She hurried up through putting her shoes back on. “I’d bet my inheritance that you know who that is and are capable of tracing it all the way back to Colombia.”

  “You’re right. But I like the way you work.”

  She punched him in the gut hard enough to send him back a few steps. “Get me out of here. Now.”

  “She’s pretty when she’s pissed…for a cop.” Melvin was being helped upright by another agent when Mandy walked back over to him. She planted a solid kick to his chest, sending him flying back again. “I’m not a cop. Fuck you.”

  Hunt was sitting up by this point. Mandy had his full attention now. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Dead serious. I didn’t want anything to do with Abbey or his flipping organization.”

  Hannah cried. “I’ll get her,” Hunt said. “She can’t be hungry.” He stopped at the door. “I’m not tired anymore. You want to put some tea or cider on?”

  “How about hot chocolate?”

  He laughed. “You make what you want. I’ll take tea. Something without caffeine though.”

  “Okay.” She stood and put her long robe and house slippers on. They turned the heat down slightly at night. It made for great snuggling in bed, but getting out was chilly. She considered asking Hunt to reprogram it until Hannah was done with the middle of the night feedings.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Hannah was back in bed. Mandy and Hunt sat on the couch sideways so they could face each other. They shared a crocheted afghan over their laps as Mandy continued her story.

  “So. You care to guess what I did the next morning?” Mandy asked Hunt.

  “Showed up at Abbey’s office?”

  “Yup.”

  Mandy was once again escorted to Mr. Abbey’s office. The secretary reacted as if she was expecting her, and it pissed Mandy off. When he spotted her, the Men in Black reject leaned far back in his chair and twiddled a pen in his hand. “Fancy meeting you here,” he said. He eyed Mandy, who was now wearing a stylish blouse, black pants, and pumps. Her hair was pulled back in a sloppy bun. “You done with the rogue tough girl look?”

  “Cut the shit. What do you want from me?”

  “I want good agents and you have the potential to be one of the best. Your grades are off the charts and apparently you are stronger than you look.”

  “I didn’t think FBI agents got their hands dirty.”

  “You have to be prepared for everything.”

  She flopped into one of his overstuffed office chairs. “What do I do now?”

  “I personally will oversee your training. You’ll need to learn the rules and follow them like everyone else. I expect your hand-to-hand and gun training will go fast enough, but a lot of that college psychology crap just doesn’t float in real life applications.”


  “So what are we talking?”

  “Six months or so.”

  “Six months?”

  “Or so. If we rush it. I have something in mind for you, and I’d really like to throw you into it ASAFP.”

  “Was the job he wanted you for with the Menuscos?” Hunt asked.

  “Yes. They’d been watching them for a while and wanted someone to try to get inside. He thought someone new wouldn’t be such a giveaway. He thought I had enough attitude to pull off some one-on-one contact and not give myself away. I did the training and they dumped me in a shithole of an apartment in Brooklyn.”

  “And the convenience store?”

  “I had to interview for it. They didn’t want to chance the owner knowing at all if they could help it. A low-cut shirt pretty much sealed the deal that I’d get the job.”

  “You play dirty pool.”

  “I always play to win. By the time training was over, I was ready to run.”

  A man sat at the counter of the convenience store every day for an hour during Mandy’s shift. The shop was set up more like an old ’50s soda fountain and ice cream shop with a few groceries for sale as well. Her counter sold cigarettes and small bottles of liquor, but there were spinning barstools past the register for customers to sit and have an old fashioned root beer float or coffee. The only food available was bagged snacks and miscellaneous sweets. She drew the line at cooking. She would have told Abbey to take a flying…you know what…if she had to flip burgers.

  The man at the counter was a little older than she was, and very handsome. She was sure he was Italian or maybe Greek. His dark hair and eyes made her go weak every time she waited on him. Day after day he sat there sipping his coffee. He said his pleasant hellos and minded his own business. His nose was usually in the newspaper.

  Mandy kept trying to figure out what he was doing. He wasn’t paranoid in the way he checked the doors and watched his surroundings. No one approached him as he sat there. She couldn’t help but wonder at first if he was a part of what she was doing here. Abbey didn’t give her any information to start. He said, “We want you fresh. I don’t want you knowing what you’re looking for. They’ll be onto you like a fly on shit. Get comfortable with the neighborhood, go to church, make some friends, join a book club. Then we’ll talk about your mark.”