“I might do that, but it’s funny, and it got you smiling, so it works,” he said and realized he might have turned the sweetness on a little too much.
“What do you want?” Anne sighed.
“I need you for a minute,” he answered.
“Okay, what’s up?”
“Not here,” he leaned in and whispered, pointing toward the elevator. “Can you come with me?”
She nodded and stood. He led the way, not speaking until they hit the lobby. Mitch didn’t stop until he reached the water fountain where he took a seat. Anne did the same, sitting on the seat right next to his.
“I need extreme confidentiality. Can you give that to me?” he asked as she sat down beside him.
“Of course,” she replied.
“No, I mean no one knows.” He couldn’t stress this point enough.
“All right, you have my word. I told you Saturday I was in to help get this resolved.”
“I contemplated calling my office in Louisiana, but it’s bigger than that. We need people closer,” Mitch confided.
“And you feel like the director wouldn’t go along with this plan?” She looked up at him, and he gave her a smile. No, he knew the director wouldn’t go along with this plan.
“I’d rather say it like this to you. Director Young gave me carte blanche and I’ve gotten judicial approval.” Mitch changed the words around to fit his need. It was a skill he’d perfected over the years.
“And that’s to protect me for doing what you want?” Anne asked.
Mitch nodded and looked down at his Doc Martens. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Okay, I’m in. I haven’t told you, but this case holds special interest to me. My brother’s gay. His life hasn’t been easy. People like you, help. I want to help, Mitch. What do you need?” She’d surprised him with that one.
“I need complete surveillance on Mr. DeGeorge, the owner of the coffee shop Elliot Greyson was abducted from,” Mitch said honestly.
“Director Young would have to commission our Information Technologies’ agents…” Mitch cut her off.
“I’m working on a court order now. You have to know some of those guys in the IT department. You know everyone. Go down there with me. Don’t lie to them, just sort of insinuate the approval I’ve gotten. Get me the equipment, I’ll get it set, but I need it monitored,” Mitch said.
“The way I understand it, they can tap into his phone easy,” Anne offered.
“Right, and I can do that myself, but I need people monitoring the activity, listening twenty-four seven, not just recording for me to go through later. I want his conversations, text messages, and all the conversations going on around him. I want everything,” Mitch said.
“All right, and you want web-tapping too, I’m guessing?” Anne asked.
“Yes, absolutely.” Mitch nodded.
“And you will never tell my husband what you witness, correct?” she asked randomly.
“Absolutely not. Scout’s honor.” He suspected what she might be about to do and held up his three fingers, flashing her a big grin.
“Then come on.” Anne was up, walking back into the building and in a new direction. She took him to the back freight elevator, forgoing the standard employee elevators up front. She spent the two minute ride unbuttoning one of her top buttons of her blouse, rolling the waistband of her skirt over one time to shorten the length, and she reached inside of her bra, then paused when she caught him watching, and motioned for him to turn around. Mitch did, not pointing out that he had absolutely no interest in what she had going on. As the doors opened, she tousled her hair, and all Mitch could do was stare at her because she had managed to transform herself from the proper administrative assistant to a hot little number in a hundred and twenty seconds.
“Get that look off your face. You’re making it obvious,” she whispered as she gave an exaggerated walk in front of him, much like she was taking a stroll down an imaginary catwalk.
Damn, if he hadn’t picked the right person for this job.
Mitch smiled as he followed along behind her. For the first time since he started working here, he wasn’t the focus of attention when he entered a room. Anne rounded a corner, Mitch followed and stopped dead in his tracks. She was anchored on the side of a cubical ledge, her arms crossed, effectively shoving her breasts up even farther, and she kept a wide stance, showing a nice view of her mile long legs.
“Jordie, I need help with something. Can you come with me to the conference room?” she asked, her voice a little low. She had the guy’s complete attention.
Mitch had gotten close enough to see this Jordie was typical FBI meets extreme computer nerd, and he fumbled with his words and finally croaked, “Sure.”
Jordie never saw Mitch as he rounded the corner to his cubicle and followed Anne to a small room. Mitch trailed along behind them, shutting the door as they entered. It was the first time Jordie looked his way. The lust-filled gaze turned somewhat panicked until Anne took over again.
“Jordie, this is the new deputy marshal working for Director Young, remember me telling you about him?” she asked and crossed her legs in front of him. Damn, she’s good.
“Nice to meet you,” Jordie replied, sticking out a hand, but his eyes remained focused on Anne.
“They’re looking for someone to help in the investigation. Someone who won’t say a word, keep things on the down low. I told them I know just the person. You’re smart, trustworthy, and I know you’ll put your all into this. I’ve watched you work for years, what do you say? Will you help them?” she asked and batted her eyelashes a little bit.
“What do I need to do?” he asked, and for the first time since they entered the room, Mitch felt like the guy had a brain in his head.
“Well, Deputy Marshal Knox knows the ins and outs more than I do. You know he’s the one Director Young personally assigned to handle this case,” Mitch just looked at her. She was clever as shit. She never one time said the director approved this, but used his name two times and implied it all over the place.