by Nana Malone
She chuffed a breath. “No. I think we’ll get along fine.” Between him and Jaya, they’d have every second of her day accounted for.
“This letter came for you.” He handed her a medium-sized manila envelope.
Micha’s heart seized when she took the envelope and noted the return address. Walker and Associates Adoption Agency. With her thumb, she gently stroked the lettering of the address. Did the answer to everything she’d been looking for lie in this envelope? Would she finally find her family? She ruthlessly squelched the flare of hope. She would not get her hopes up again. Likely this letter said the same thing as all the others. Basically, GFY, go fuck yourself. Mommy Dearest doesn’t want to meet you. Micha was probably insane to keep trying, but that lost little girl that no one wanted still lived deep inside her, no matter how hard she tried to exorcise her. She wanted to find her mother, and she would keep pushing until she did. She cleared her throat and dragged her attention back to Ryan. She’d deal with the contents later.
“Oh, and one more thing,” he added. “There were flowers delivered for you. Right now they are still on Allison’s desk. I wasn’t sure if you’d want them in here immediately, or if you’d want them on display for a day.”
She chuckled. “On display—you must know a lot of women.”
“My girlfriend likes to make sure her birthday flowers are on full display before they start to wilt. I’ll never understand it.” He shrugged.
She could get used to him. “Nah, bring them on in. I could use the pick me up.”
Ryan disappeared to the outer hallway and was back a minute later with a gorgeous purple orchid that he placed on her desk. “Anything else you need from me?”
Yeah, can you come over and organize my shoe closet? “No, not right now, thank you.”
Micha checked for a card and didn’t find one. Frowning, she touched a delicate petal. Her mind immediately went to the one person who would even dare to send her flowers. Caleb. A slow, involuntary smile tugged at her lips. Infuriating, ridiculous man. Flowers would not make up for him dropping her on her ass.
Micha picked up the adoption agency’s envelope again and fingered it. She knew what it would say. The news would be the same as it had been for the past ten years. Every year she petitioned to have her birth records unsealed, and every year she’d been denied. Her birth mother wanted it that way.
It didn’t stop her from wishing it would be different. Her hands trembled as she picked up her letter opener and tore the envelope open. She held her breath as she pulled out the letter, only slowly exhaling as she read. The weight of disappointment threatened to crush her as she scanned the page. She would not be meeting her mother this year.
Telling herself the rejection didn’t sting anymore, she straightened her shoulders, checked the clock, and cursed. If she didn’t haul ass, she’d be late for the staff meeting.
***
When Micha strolled in with a minute to spare, her boss, Miranda said, “Nice of you to show up.”
Micha slunk into her usual seat and met the gaze of each of the senior editors. Several of them immediately looked away. She’d learned years ago that she could brazen herself out of most situations. “Sorry, you knew I had an appointment until 1:30.” Chew on that, Miranda. Her boss was great for the most part, but when she was under pressure, she tended to want to place the blame on other people. Micha was in no mood. She clicked her pen over and over again, her hand still tingling from Caleb’s warm grasp. She really had to get a grip. If she kept this up, she’d be pining for him, staring into his apartment with a boom box raised over her head. Pathetic.
“So, as you know, the WST Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of Westhorpe Inc., has a controlling interest in SDM.”
Micha forced herself to pay attention to her boss and not let her mind wander to the feel of Caleb’s body against hers. She shifted uncomfortably as heat pooled in her center.
“They’ve decided to launch an entertainment network. They plan of giving Bravo and E! an actual run for market share. They will be looking for on-air personalities.”
Every editor in the room leaned forward in their seats, except Micha.
Fantastic. Now everyone would be posturing, trying to get noticed and selected for an online personality job. Most of them had some experience. Many of them consulted and did some pieces for the local news channels, but that was nothing like being the consistent on-air personality.
The competitor in Micha stood at attention and started cracking her neck and her fingers, shaking out her legs, preparing for the race of a lifetime. But the practical woman in her knew better. A position like that was too exposed, and she’d invite all kinds of hell back into her life. She’d worked much too hard to keep her life nice and normal. If she went on-air, someone would dredge up the past and find out about New York and why she’d run. The gossips would pick and poke at her personal life. And worse, she’d be opening the door for crazy to stroll back in. No thank you.
Her inner competitor scowled, but sat down. Self-preservation was better than winning any day.
Miranda continued as if she didn’t see her senior editors posturing for attention. “There is a short list for consideration, based on the kinds of stories you’ve done, your exposure to entertainment clients, and your history here. I don’t have to tell you how critical this role will be. Once we prove ourselves with one show, there will be more.”
Micha raised a hand.
“Yes, Micha?”
“Is the position in San Diego or L.A.?”
“Both. Since we are stationed here, and there is a cost benefit to dealing with permits in San Diego, as much that can be done here, will be done here. Like production. Interviews and coverage will obviously be in L.A.”
Her inner competitor pouted, but she accepted the truth. Even if she wanted a job like this, which she didn’t, her past would catch up to her, and she didn’t need that kind of hell.
“The producers would like to speak to Elena, Ryan, and Micha for on-air testing.”
Micha shook her head to clear it and make sure she’d heard correctly. “Say what?”
Miranda rolled her eyes. “Yes, you heard your name.”
Inner competitor did a booty dance. “You can pick someone else. I’m not interested.”
Miranda’s eyes went wide as she stared at her. “You can’t be serious.”
Micha crossed her arms. “You heard me. Put someone else in the running.”
Her boss scowled. “We can discuss after the meeting.”
Fantastic. Everyone looked at her like she was nuts. Maybe she was, but she had her reasons.
***
Beckett Mills slapped Caleb on the shoulder. “I’d say on a scale from one to dreadful that probably went over as well as a steak in a dog fight.”
Caleb rolled his eyes as Beckett let go of Ricca long enough to poke at him. “Relax Beckett, I’m wearing her down.” Caleb knew how to be patient. Knew how to wait. He could wait Micha out.
“It’s only taken you two years.”
Caleb smiled. “It’s a slow burn.”
Beckett grinned. “Is that anything like the heartburn I get when I eat at that diner around the corner? ‘Cause I have to tell you—”
Caleb playfully nudged him out of the way as he picked up his gym bag. “Don’t you have anything better to do? Maybe a job to go back to?”
“Funny thing is, this is my week off. I’m free as a bird unless Alec calls me in.”
Bemused, Caleb drew his head back. “You managed to say that without any venom. Do I detect a hint of progress?” Alec and Beckett had started off on the wrong foot when Alec had come into Jaya’s life, but now that the two of them worked more closely together, they’d even started to become friends. It made Caleb’s life easier not having to be in the middle all the time.
“Yeah, yeah, I might have been wrong about him. Jury’s still out.” Beckett ran a hand through his hair.
“How long is the jury going to deliberate on this one?”<
br />
“Until I’m named godfather of their first kid.” He gave Caleb a good-natured smile.
“I hate to break it to you, but isn’t it customary to pick godparents out of the family pool first? I’m a shoe-in for the job.” Max, Alec’s younger brother, strode over with Jaya’s sister, Tamara.
Caleb rolled his eyes. “Won’t you both feel bad when he makes you ushers at the wedding?”
Beckett scoffed. “Usher! I’m too good looking to be an usher.”
Caleb nodded at Max. “You ready to go?”
Max nodded and gave Tamara a hug. Caleb couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring. Maybe she’d finally dropped the dead weight, otherwise known as douchebag hubby. Jaya and Alec had hooked up when Jaya needed a date to Tamara’s wedding. For a while, smart money said Tamara wouldn’t go forward with the wedding, but she had. Now maybe she was having second thoughts. She smiled cheerily at the two of them and waved her goodbyes.
Caleb clasped palms with Beckett then brought his shoulder in for a bump. Bro hug completed, he led the way out the door of the studio. Just like that, he was back on duty. Every Thursday went the same way. Either he or one of his men would pick Max up from the airport, take him to see Adele and Alec, then to the dance studio, and deposit him back on the plane for Arizona.
As he and Max walked out to his car, Max said, “Jaya’s great. She’s the kind of family he needs. Big bro seems really happy.”
“I think he is.” Caleb didn’t want to have to comment on their family dynamic, so instead, he asked Max vague questions about his wife and daughter. When Adele Westhorpe, Alec’s and Max’s mother, had hired him to protect Max whenever the younger Westhorpe was in town, he’d almost said no. The kid had cost Alec and his mother a good deal of heartache, culminating in his testifying against a drug cartel.
Max turned to him. “What about you? Wife, kids on the horizon?”
Caleb shrugged. “Probably one day.”
“Don’t worry, she’ll come around. The dancing didn’t look so bad.”
“So bad?” Caleb raised an eyebrow.
“Would be eons better if you two could figure out who was going to lead.”
“That’s what I keep telling her.”
Chapter 2
As a rule, Caleb always waited until the client’s flight had taken off before heading back to the office. Max was no different. It didn’t matter that this particular client detail was more of a friendly favor than a job. Two years ago, his best friend, Alec Westhorpe’s, brother found himself in a hell of a jam with a drug cartel. In exchange for his testimony, Max was given immunity. While in jail, the Sandoval brothers had met untimely fates, likely from a rival drug gang. With the Sandovals gone, the Feds hadn’t seen any need for witness protection. But Adele wanted extra precautions taken with her son and his family so she’d had them moved. The Westhorpe family money could buy an extensive relocation package.
Max came up once a week for lessons and for wedding preparations. Adele insisted that Max had to be part of the ceremony. So Caleb was called in on babysitting duty for the short stretches Max was in town as a precaution. Caleb doubted Max would try to give him the slip, but he didn’t want to be caught off guard. As he waited and watched, his phone buzzed in his pocket. “Atkins.”
“Hello, lover.”
Dread seized Caleb’s gut. “Sabine, long time. Like to keep it that way. What do you want?” His hand clenched around his phone.
“Is that any way to talk to your partner?”
“Ex-Partner.” After he’d left the Diplomatic Security Service, he’d severed all ties to his life. For the most part he’d locked away all that death and devastation, reserving the nightmares for the dark of night while he tossed in bed. Hearing the melodic lilt of Sabine’s voice brought all the horror crashing back to him.
“Whatever. You know the rules—once partners, always partners. Hell, we were even married.”
Her voice was light and rhythmic and reminded him of the day he’d first met her. He thought she was sweet then. He hadn’t dared imagine how treacherous she could be. They’d been married for a mission in Venezuela to adopt the daughter of a former cartel leader before his enemies realized she was the key to his empire.
In predominantly Catholic South America, Caleb and Sabine’s bosses had wanted their marriage to be as real as possible. Once they had the girl, they’d almost died, thanks to Sabine’s recklessness and hot temper. They’d obtained a divorce the moment they touched foot stateside. “Sabine, what do you want?”
“Maybe I wanted to hear your voice again.”
“Bullshit.”
Her laugh was feminine and light. “Fair enough. I’m calling to do you a favor.”
“You don’t do favors for anyone unless there’s something in it for you.”
“That might be true.” She paused as if considering what to tell him. “Remember the Sanderson case?”
Caleb’s heart hammered as a thin film of ice settled over his flesh. His brain stuttered, refusing to believe what she was asking. The Sanderson case was the reason he’d left the DSS detail.
“No one’s mentioned their names to me in over six years.” No one in his present life knew of it, except Alec, and the only reason he knew was because Caleb had been so fucked up after that mission that he’d spent some quality time at the bottom of a bottle and let it slip one night.
“What would you say if I told you I had a bead on Cabrillo’s Cartel?”
“I’d tell you that you were full of shit and not to waste my time,” he ground out.
“Look. I know you have reason to hate me. You think I sold you out. You think I’m a loose cannon, untrustworthy, and you blame me in part for that family’s death. But I’m telling you, Cabrillo had an inside man on our team. He knew the route. He knew we’d be there, and he knew our security protocols.”
Blood rushed between Caleb’s ears. Everyone on the team had been vetted. Twice. “This is an old argument, Sabine. You were the one who broke protocol. You were the one who left that little girl.”
“What was I supposed to do? The whole team was taking fire. I saved your life. She was safer in the car than out of it.”
Caleb ground his teeth. “Let’s not forget I didn’t need saving. But you left your post, coming after me when I didn’t need you. You left that girl in the car on her own. Then you went and got yourself shot, and someone bombed that car. Annie Sanderson died in that car all alone.”
When they’d been debriefed, she’d thrown Caleb under the bus, blaming him for the mission gone wrong. Sabine had stayed in the service for another two years after he’d left. Then she’d gone private sector, to the kind of people who stayed in the shadows but helped form governments. Not quite illegal enterprises, but certainly not legal.
“And I think about her every day, Caleb. I do.” She sniffed. “Listen for two minutes. Cabrillo and Juarez have been in talks to move against The Monteblanco brothers and take over the coke trade. It’s no secret that Cabrillo has wanted to move against the Monteblancos for several years, but he doesn’t have the manpower. With Juarez, he’ll run the biggest cartel in Mexico.”
Bits of knowledge of the cartels seeped into Caleb’s conscious mind. Information he’d tried to forget. “Juarez and the Monteblancos have been allies for generations. Juarez would never move against them.”
“Unless they already moved against him and took something he cared about. Rumor is Edmond Monteblanco’s son had a thing for younger girls.”
“Fuck. How old is Juarez’s daughter?”
“Twelve, and Monteblanco’s kid is seventeen.”
“This can’t be going anywhere good.” Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose.
“The Monteblanco kid wanted the girl. Wanted to marry her. Juarez said no, that his daughter was too young. Next thing he knows his daughter goes missing. It was made to look like the Monteblanco’s took her.”
Caleb’s head throbbed. “You’re saying they di
dn’t?”
“No. They didn’t. Cabrillo had her.”
Do not get involved. Do not get involved. The last thing he needed was to get dragged into that shit pile. “Shit. Look, Sabine, That’s a hell of a mess you have there. But I don’t want any part of it.”
“Listen to me. On a recon mission, I snagged the girl. I need to keep her out of sight for a couple of weeks while Cabrillo and Jaurez make their deal. We want the Monteblancos taken out. Once the deal is made, I’ll take her back to her father, who will then annihilate Cabrillo.”
“Let me guess. Juarez is more amenable to your boss’s agenda?”
“Something like that.”
“Why are you calling me? You’re as capable of protecting her as I am.”
There was a beat of silence. “There was a problem with my coyote getting us out. I had to eliminate him. I might have been seen with her.”
“Fuck, Sabine. Not my problem.”
“Caleb, I know. I wouldn’t be asking if this kid didn’t need legitimate protection. My tail is too hot right now. I only need her covered for a little while. I know I have no right to ask.”
He didn’t need this shit. Sabine back in the picture was a recipe for disaster, and she’d likely get the girl killed. She was a kid. A kid who hadn’t done anything to deserve any of this. And that was why Sabine had called him. She knew how he felt about children. Especially after the Sanderson case.
He growled. “You have a week to clean up your shit, Sabine, then I put the girl in the system. I still have some friends in the government. She can be given asylum and a new name then you can’t touch her. You hear me?”
She breathed a long sigh. “You won’t regret it.”
He already did. But if it meant finally getting some answers for the Sanderson family he’d do it. He’d never forgotten that little girl. He’d never been able to put it behind him.
Chapter 3
“So do you want to tell me why you don’t want the on-air spot?”
Micha looked up from her monitor to find her boss in her doorway. “Miranda, it’s not that I don’t want it.” Liar. “On-air entertainment shows have never been where I wanted my career to go. I write features.”
