The Freelancer – Chapter 57

“Hello, Jackson.  Fancy meeting you here.”

The sound of his voice made my blood run cold.  His tone was cordial enough, but something insidious lurked in his eyes.  I pulled my thoughts together as rapidly as I could.  He couldn’t know I was onto him.

Not until I was ready to slap the cuffs on him.

“Hey.  You’re Chad, right.”

“Good memory.  We only met the one time. Briefly.”

Was that suspicion in his voice? “I meet a lot of people in my line of work and it helps if I remember names.”

“And what is it you do?”

He was too interested.  “I’m a management consultant.”

“Oh, really?”

I could have sworn he was mocking me with his tone.  “So, what brings you here?”

“Jenna mentioned this place when we had lunch last week.  I thought I would check it out.”

Or you thought you’d run into her here, you sonofabitch.  Aloud, I said, “It’s not bad, if you like the club scene.  It’s one of the more tolerable ones.”

“Here you are, Jackson.  I’ve been looking everywhere for… Chad?  What are you doing here?”

“You spoke highly of the club, so I thought I’d check it out for myself.  Good to see you again, Jenna.”

With that, Chad entered the club and left us standing outside.  His voice seemed strained when he spoke to Jenna.  Maybe I was throwing my own spin onto it because I knew what he was capable of, but maybe not.  I had a hunch more was going on than I knew.  If nothing else, I knew I was right about the way his eyes popped out of his head at the sight of Jenna.

Jenna shook her head.  “That was weird.  What happened to Collin?”

“He got tired of waiting on Maureen and went home.  Should we go back in, or are you ready to go?”

Jenna faked a yawn.  “I’m beat.  Let’s get out of here.”

The drive home was a fast one, but it was much too long for my taste.  Not because I couldn’t wait to be alone with Jenna again – which was a given – but something Collin said gnawed at my mind.  How did Blackstone get to the club if he hadn’t left his apartment all day?  Clearly, I couldn’t call Collin to find out with Jenna beside me.

If I didn’t need the alone time to make a call, I’d be pouncing on Jenna when she followed me into my condo.  Fucking job was in the way.  Again. I had a sexy woman ready to attack me and I wanted to call my partner.

“What’s wrong, Jackson?  You’ve been quiet since we left the club.”

“I don’t like that guy,” I answered on instinct, regretting the lack of thought I’d put into it.

“How come?”

“No reason in particular.  I get a strange vibe from him.  That’s all.”

That was true, at least.  Well, the first part.

“I think that’s my fault.”

“How’s that?”

“He came onto me when we had lunch, but I shot him down. He must figure you’re the reason why.”  Jenna cocked her head and raised an eyebrow at me.  “Do you want to be talking about Chad right now?”

“No.”

“Good.  I haven’t seen your bedroom yet.  Let’s fix that.”

“Collin was upset when he left and I think he might have had a few too many.  Let me call to make sure he made it home.”  I grinned at her.  “Then I’ll be happy to give you the tour of my bedroom all night long.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Once I knew she was out of earshot, I dialed Collin’s number.

“McShae.”

“I’m not alone, so I can’t talk.  Blackstone was at the club.  How was he there without us knowing first?”

“I’m on it.  Have fun, tiger.”  He hung up.

“Jackson,” Jenna called from the bedroom, “I didn’t know you have mirrors on your headboard.  Kinky.”  After a beat, “I like it.”

A smile crept across my face.  I forgot about those.  Maybe the FBI knew what they were doing after all.

Continue reading…

…Go Back

© 2009, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.