Beautiful Redemption (6 page)

“L
OOK WHO IT IS,”
Anthony said, setting a pair of napkins in front of two empty stools.

“Thanks for the warning the other night,” I said. “You could have told me I was leaving with my boss.”

Val puffed out a laugh. “You let her walk out of here with him? Not even a hint? That’s just cruel.”

Anthony pulled his mouth to the side. “He wasn’t your boss…yet. Besides, I knew nothing was going to happen.”

I narrowed my eyes. “But you knew he was going to be, and you lost that bet.”

Anthony was stunned. “Maddox? Oh no, honey, you must have hallucinated.”

“Don’t look so shocked,” I said. “It’s rude.”

“It’s not that…it’s just…” Anthony looked to Val. “I’ve just seen him shoot so many women down. It was enough of a surprise that he asked you to leave with him.”

Val shook her head and chuckled. “I told you. He’s sworn off women.”

“Well, Saint Thomas has broken his vow,” I said.

Anthony pointed his finger, swirling tiny invisible circles in the air. “You must have voodoo in your hoohoo.”

Val cackled.

“Maybe I do!” I said, feigning insult.

Anthony seemed remorseful in a don’t-shoot-me sort of way. “You’re right. I should have given you a heads-up. First round is on me. Friends?”

“That’s a start,” I said, sitting.

“Oh,” Anthony said, looking to Val, “she’s feisty.”

“Just wait until Maddox finds out you knew she was an agent.”

Anthony held his hand to his chest, looking genuinely concerned. “Christ on the cross, you’re not going to tell him, are you?”

“I just might,” I said, chewing on my thumbnail. “You’d better have my back from now on.”

“Swear,” Anthony said, holding up three fingers.

“Quit that shit. You were never a Boy Scout,” Val said.

“Hey,” a male voice said before bending down to kiss Val’s cheek and sitting in the empty stool next to her.

“Hey, Marks. You know Lindy.”

Marks leaned forward, took one look at me, and then leaned back. “Yep.”

Val made a face. “What’s that about?” He was focused on the large television screen above us, and when he didn’t answer, she backhanded his arm. “Joel! What’s with the douchebaggery?”

“What the…why are you hitting me?” he said, rubbing his arm. “I just choose to keep my distance from trouble.”

I rolled my eyes and looked to Anthony.

“The usual?” Anthony asked.

I nodded.

“You already have a usual?” Val said. “How often do you come here?”

I sighed. “This is just my third time.”

“In as many days,” Anthony added. He set a Manhattan on the napkin in front of me. “Are you going to speak to me this time?”

“You’re lucky I’m speaking to you now,” I said.

Anthony nodded, conceding, and then looked to Val. “If she’d ordered only one drink, I still would have remembered. Whose bar do you think this is?”

Val cocked an eyebrow. “This is not your bar, Anthony.”

“It’s my bar,” he said, sitting a short tumbler in front of her. “Do you see anyone else running this shit?” He motioned all around him. “Okay.”

Val chuckled, and Anthony took Marks’s order. I was used to more pleasantries, more courtesy. I liked the sharp wit and jagged edges of their banter—no hurt feelings, no seriousness. After a day at the office, it was refreshing.

The door chimed, and a quick glance turned into a long stare while Maddox made his way to the stool next to Marks. Maddox’s eyes caught mine for a fraction of a second, and then he greeted his friend. Before Maddox could settle into his seat and loosen his tie, Anthony had already set a beer bottle on the counter in front of him.

“Relax,” Val whispered. “He won’t stay long. Maybe one drink.”

“I’m glad I never tried undercover work. I’m beginning to think my thoughts and feelings are surrounded by glass walls and subtitled just in case I’m not obvious enough.”

Val helped me to carry on a semi-normal conversation, but then Maddox ordered another drink.

Val’s face compressed. “That’s not like him.”

I tried to remember if he’d had more than one drink the first time we met.

“Hell,” I whispered, “I should probably head home anyway.”

I gestured to Anthony for my check, and Marks leaned forward.

“You leaving?” he asked.

I simply nodded.

He seemed miffed by my silence. “You don’t talk now?”

“Just trying to help you stay out of trouble.” I signed the small strip of paper for Anthony, leaving behind a tip that covered all three nights, and then I slipped the strap of my purse over my arm.

The night air begged me to take a stroll in a different direction than my condo, but I rounded the corner and crossed the street, climbing the stoop of my building. Once inside, my heels clicked against the tile floor until I stopped in front of the elevator bay.

The entrance door opened and closed, and then Maddox slowed to a stop when he saw me.

“Going up?” he asked.

I stared at him with a blank expression, and he looked around as if he were lost, or maybe he couldn’t believe he’d said something so stupid. We were on the ground floor.

The doors slid open with a cheerful chime, and I stepped inside. Maddox followed. I pressed the buttons for the fifth and sixth floors, unable to forget that Maddox lived directly above me.

“Thank you,” he said.

I thought I caught his attempt to soften his gruff I’m-the-boss voice.

While the elevator climbed five floors, the tension swirled around my supervisor and me, increasing just like the illuminated numbers above the door.

Finally, as my floor came into view, I stepped out and let out the breath I’d been holding. I turned to nod to Maddox, and just before the doors slid closed, he stepped out.

As soon as his feet hit the fifth-floor carpet, he seemed to regret it.

“Isn’t your place—”

“The next floor up. Yes,” he said. He looked over at my door and swallowed.

Upon seeing the scuffed blue paint on my door, I wondered if the memories came as fast and as hard for him as they did for me.

“Liis…” He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. He sighed. “I owe you an apology for the first night we met. If I had known…if I had done my job and thoroughly reviewed your file, neither of us would be in this position.”

“I’m a big girl, Maddox. I can shoulder the responsibility just as well as you can.”

“I didn’t give you the promotion because of that night.”

“I certainly hope not.”

“You know as well as I do that your report was exceptional, and you have a bigger set of balls than most of the men in our unit. No one has stood up to me the way you have. I need an agent like that as supervisor.”

“You questioned me in front of everyone just to see if I would stand up to you?” I asked, both incensed and dubious.

He thought about that, and then he put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Yeah.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“I know.”

My gaze involuntarily fell to his lips. I was lost for a moment in the memories and how amazing it’d felt when he held me. “Now that we’ve established that, I think we got off on the wrong foot. We don’t have to be enemies. We work together, and I think it’s in the best interest of the squad to be cordial.”

“I think, given our history, trying to be friends would be a particularly bad idea.”

“Not friends,” I said quickly. “A…mutual respect—as colleagues.”

“Colleagues,” he deadpanned.

“Professionals,” I said. “Don’t you agree?”

“Agent Lindy, I just wanted to clarify that what happened between us was a mistake, and although it was quite possibly one of the best nights I’ve had since being back in San Diego…we…we can’t make that mistake again.”

“I’m aware,” I said simply. I was trying very hard to ignore his remark about what a great night it was because it had been great, more than great, and I would never have it again.

“Thank you,” he said, relieved. “I wasn’t looking forward to this conversation.”

I looked everywhere but at Maddox and then pulled my keys from my purse. “Have a good night, sir.”

“Just…Maddox is fine when we’re not at the office. Or…Thom—Maddox is fine.”

“Good night,” I said, pushing the key into the knob and twisting it.

As I closed the door, I saw Maddox turn for the stairs with an angry expression.

My couch was being held hostage, surrounded by cardboard. The white walls with no drapes felt uncomfortably cold, even with the mild temperature outside. I went straight to the bedroom and fell onto my back, staring up at the ceiling.

The next day would be long, organizing my office and figuring out where we were on the Vegas case. I would have to develop my own system for tracking everyone’s progress, nailing down where they were in their current assignments and what they would be working on next. This was my first assignment as supervisor, and I was working under an ASAC who expected perfection.

I huffed.

In the corner, the ceiling had a small water stain, and I wondered if Maddox had once let his tub run over or if there was just a leak somewhere in the walls. A faint knock filtered through the drywall that separated our condos. He was up there, probably getting in the shower, which meant he was getting undressed.

Damn it.

I had known him as something other than my boss, and now, it was hard not to remember the intoxicating man I’d met at the bar, the man who belonged to the pair of lips I’d lamented before he’d even left my bed.

Anger and hate were the only ways I was going to get through my time in San Diego. I would have to learn to hate Thomas Maddox, and I had a feeling he wasn’t going to make that hard for me.

The shelves were empty but dust free. A space bigger than I could ever hope to fill, the office of the supervisor was everything I had strived for, and at the same time, the next step felt like just another broken rung on my climb up the Bureau’s ladder.

What might look to the average person like a mess of photos, maps, and Xerox copies was my way of keeping straight what agent was assigned to which task, which leads were promising, and which person of interest was more interesting than others. One name in particular caught my eye and came up over and over again—a washed-up poker legend by the name of Abernathy. His daughter, Abby, was also in a few black-and-white surveillance photos although I hadn’t gotten to the reports on her involvement yet.

Val came in and watched in awe as I tacked the final pin into the last frayed edge of red yarn. “Whoa, Liis. How long have you been at this?”

“All morning,” I said, admiring my masterpiece while climbing down off my chair. I put my hands on my hips and puffed. “Fantastic, isn’t it?”

Val took a deep breath, seeming overwhelmed.

Someone knocked on the door. I turned to see Agent Sawyer leaning against the doorway.

“Morning, Lindy. I had a few things I’d like to discuss with you, if you’re not busy.”

Sawyer didn’t look like the creep Val had made him out to be. His hair was freshly trimmed, long enough to run his fingers through but still professional. Maybe he used a bit too much hair spray, but the James Dean coif flattered him. His squared jaw and straight white teeth set off his bright blue eyes. He was kind of beautiful, but something behind his eyes was ugly.

Val made a face. “I’ll let the janitor know you have trash in your office,” she said, shouldering past him.

“I’m Agent Sawyer,” he said, taking the few steps to shake my hand. “I meant to introduce myself yesterday, but I got caught at the courthouse. Late day.”

I walked behind my desk and attempted to organize the stacks of papers and files. “I know. How can I help you, Sawyer?”

Sawyer sat in one of the twin tufted leather club chairs set in front of my large oak desk.

“Have a seat,” I said, making a show of gesturing toward the seat he’d sat in.

“I’d planned on it,” he said.

Slow and without looking away from the pair of ocean-blue eyes across from me, I lowered myself into my oversized office chair, the tall back making me feel like I was sitting in a throne—my throne, and this joker was trying to piss in my court. I stared him down like he was a mangy dog.

Sawyer placed a file on my desk and opened it, pointing to a paragraph highlighted in bright orange. “I’ve previously brought this up before to Maddox, but now that we have a pair of fresh eyes—”

Maddox stomped into my office.

Sawyer stood up like he’d been shot at. “Morning, sir.”

Maddox simply nodded toward the door, and Sawyer scurried off without a word. Maddox slammed the door shut, and the glass wall shuddered, so I didn’t have to.

I leaned back into my throne and crossed my arms, both anticipating and hoping for a dick comment to come out of his perfect mouth.

“How do you like your office?” he asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Your office,” he said, pacing and throwing his hand out at the empty shelves. “Is it to your satisfaction?”

“Yes?”

Maddox’s eyes targeted me. “Is that a question?”

“No. The office is satisfactory, sir.”

“Good. If you need anything, let me know. And”—he pointed to the glass wall—“if that slimy piece of shit bothers you, you come directly to me, understand?”