Surrender (Steel Brothers Saga 6)

“Well, my body won’t be her compensation. Money will have to do.”

“How can she sneak into the archives?”

“The archives are off-site, at a storage place.”

“That doesn’t mean that Simpson and Mathias haven’t figured it out and destroyed everything that was in the archives.”

“Yes, I thought of that. I assume she’ll call me back if she can’t find what we need. But for now, let’s be hopeful. If we don’t get a call within a half hour, we head to Murphy’s in town.”

* * *

Jordan hadn’t called, and now I sat next to Jonah in a booth at Murphy’s, waiting for the spunky receptionist to walk through the door. It was nearing eight o’clock, and she had to drive all the way from Grand Junction. I had no doubt that she would show, though. The way she had looked at Jonah when we had been at the school earlier confirmed my beliefs.

A-ha. The bell on the door chimed, and in she strolled, her red head bobbing. She couldn’t be more than twenty-five, but she wouldn’t be the first younger woman to be attracted to Jonah Steel. How could a woman not be attracted to his dark handsomeness?

Jonah stood and motioned her over. She smiled and trotted toward us, but then her face fell when she noticed me sitting on the inside of the booth.

“Have a seat.” Jonah gestured to the bench across from us. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Sure. What are you drinking?”

“We’re just having a glass of wine.”

“Perfect. I’ll have the same.”

“Hello?” I nudged Jonah.

“I’m so sorry. This is Dr. Melanie Carmichael.”

I held my hand across the table. “Maybe you remember me from this afternoon? When we came to the school?”

“Of course. So nice to meet you.” She arranged a large tote bag on the seat next to her.

“Since I didn’t get a call from you and you’re here now, I assume you have some good news for us,” Jonah said.

“I sure do.” She licked her lips. “I hope you know I could get fired for this.”

“I know that, and I really appreciate this,” Jonah said. “We’ll just get the information we need, make copies, and then we’ll get these back to you as soon as we can. I will personally bring them back to your school.”

“Oh, no. Don’t bring them to school. You’ll have to bring them to my home, and then I can sneak them back to the archives.”

Jonah smiled. “Sure.”

I smacked his thigh under the table.

Jordan pulled out four yearbooks from the tote bag and set them on the table. “Here you go.”

Jonah grabbed one and opened it.

I nudged him again. “Shouldn’t we take these home? And look at them privately?”

“We will. But Jordan hasn’t had a drink yet.” He motioned to a waitress and ordered a glass of wine for her.

I couldn’t argue. The woman certainly did deserve a drink for her efforts. After all, she could lose her job if anyone found out she had sneaked into the archives.

“Jordan,” I said, “why do you keep your archives off-site?”

She pursed her lips. “No reason.”