Cody Walker's Woman

“I’ve got an appointment to see him in—” Cody checked his watch “—nine minutes.”

“Whatever it is, I want in,” Callahan said grimly.

“It’s not your responsibility, not anymore,” Cody said. “You’ve done your duty.”

“This isn’t about duty, and you damn well know it,” Callahan responded in that implacable voice Cody remembered all too well. “This is my family at stake.”

“I’ll see what D’Arcy says.” But even as he said the words, Cody knew Callahan wouldn’t abide by D’Arcy’s ruling...unless it was the outcome Callahan wanted. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “Keira and I don’t want to be late.”

“Keep me in the loop.”

“You know I will.”

Cody hung up, glanced at his watch and locked his computer. Then he picked up the thick file from his desk and stood up. “Let’s do it,” he told Keira.

As they rode up in the elevator, Keira asked, “What did Callahan say?”

“He wants in.”

“You didn’t have to tell me that,” she said drily.

“I understand where he’s coming from—I’d feel the same—but...”

“But he’s a civilian,” Keira finished for him.

“Yeah.” Cody glanced her way. “I don’t know how we’d manage to keep him out, though. If we didn’t include him, he’d just go his own way. I know him.”

“Then we’d better find a way to include him. Better to have him on the team than taking the law into his own hands and maybe getting in our way.”

Cody chuckled ruefully. “Practical Keira,” he said, smiling down at her.

She smiled back. “I try to be.”

Their eyes met, and suddenly Cody wasn’t thinking about the case. It was still there in the background, looming over them, but in that instant he was focused on Keira, and the way her brown eyes and her mobile mouth softened when she smiled.

She must have read something in his expression because her smile faded as she gazed up at him. Cody saw a flash of some emotion in her eyes in response before she shut it down, but he was better able to read her now. Just as he’d known earlier she’d uncovered something crucial to the case, he knew she wasn’t as indifferent to him as she pretended.

He took a step closer to her just as the elevator doors opened. Damn! he thought. Now’s not the time. But he resolved he wasn’t going to put it off any longer. Tonight, he told himself. I’ll talk to her tonight.

He just wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to say.

D’Arcy was standing in the outer office talking to his executive assistant when they walked in. “Walker, Jones,” he greeted them. “You’re right on time. Come on in.” He led them into the inner office and closed the door behind them. “Before we start on this, you’ll both be happy to know we had a positive resolution on Walker’s earlier case.”

Cody shot a sharp glance at D’Arcy, then at Keira to see how she would react. “Thank you, sir,” he said, noting the expression of relief on Keira’s face. It had obviously been bothering her she’d inadvertently caused the failure of that original sting operation. “My partner did happen to mention it the other day.” Hell, I probably should have told Keira, Cody thought, even though he knew she didn’t have an official “need to know.” But he should have known it had been eating at her—she was that kind of agent.

“Good,” D’Arcy said. “So, what have you got on this case?”

Cody waited for him to sit behind his desk. “It’s Keira’s story,” he said, handing the file to D’Arcy before sitting down himself. “She’ll tell it better than I can.”

Keira flashed him a questioning look, and Cody wondered if she thought he’d try to take credit for her work. That had never been his style, but maybe she didn’t know it, so he smiled encouragingly at her. “Tell him what you told me,” he said.

She did, but Cody noticed the animation she’d had in her face and her voice when she’d recounted what she’d found to him was missing. This time she was the consummate dispassionate professional agent, reporting to a superior officer.