Your Littlest Sin

Okay, Sherry had never been the most reliable when she was my boss so I didn’t know why it surprised me that I hadn’t heard back from her after a half hour. It really should have been no surprise at all that her cell phone kept going straight to voicemail. If she didn’t have a damn good explanation then she could kiss my ass if she thought I was going to hold up my end of the bargain with her – whatever that was. [Read more...]

“No, I want it now.”

Sherry had once thought Jackson’s complaints about the Dallas office had been his attempt to move her attention off of his own shortcomings. Never had she honestly believed this office could be as utterly incompetent as he’d made them seem. After wasting an hour that morning trying to get her ducks in a row, she realized Jackson hadn’t been kidding. [Read more...]

Chill let loose a string of perhaps the most creative profanity I’d ever heard. I would have to remember some of that for special occasions when Banks or Hargrove were really getting to me. “What happened?”

He turned his gleaming red eyes on me. “Mara’s on the phone. We have a problem.” [Read more...]

“You’d better know what you’re doing, Skylar,” Chill warned with his back to her.

“I do.” At least, she thought she did. Caldwell had said he would be there in twenty minutes and it had been almost that long. Skylar said a silent prayer the information Chill purchased would be enough to save them all. She owed him twenty grand for it, but it would be worth every penny if it was enough to bring home the little girl and get the FBI off their backs. [Read more...]

Wednesday, June 30

I opened my eyes and looked out into the dark bedroom, still trying to figure out what was causing the noise. Glancing at the nightstand to see the time I realized my cell phone was buzzing next to the clock. Four a.m. I didn’t even remember getting into bed a few hours earlier. Jenna had sobbed for over an hour before she’d finally let me help her off the floor and into bed.

She needed to sleep. Hell, so did I. Later. [Read more...]

Maybe Jenna was already asleep. It was half past midnight so it was possible, not probable, but possible so I could still have hope. Maybe she was still at Elaine’s. Maybe she had decided not to come tonight. Though still better than having to deliver the news to her, it wasn’t a great thought. I always had to be the bearer of bad news. Just once I’d like to be able to walk in the door and say something that would earn a smile from her. [Read more...]

I was hard pressed to think of the last time I’d been this apprehensive about a bust. During my years with the Bureau I’d been party to countless raids and busts so this was nothing new to me. This was just the second time that the life of someone I loved was on the line. The first had been when Jenna had been at the mercy of a deranged psychopath who was fixated on her. While that was one of the darkest nights of my life, this was worse on so many levels.

Lana was just a little girl whose entire life was stretched out in front of her. This sort of thing shouldn’t happen – not to little girls. So many people would be destroyed if something happened to her; I would be destroyed. If I failed… [Read more...]

Apparently, everyone in the Bureau outranked me because I got stuck in the backseat of the SUV. Since I still didn’t have any idea what was going on or where we were going I let myself dwell on Jenna’s earlier behavior. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but it was better than dwelling on the fact my stomach was growling and I had no idea how long I’d be stuck in the back like a kid.

Sherry glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Comfy back there?” [Read more...]