“Stop the act, Eden. I knew Edwin. Nasty bit of goods.”
She rolled her shoulders. “I’m not sure. I just don’t know what’s happening. It’s almost like someone is killing people to cover something up, if you know what I mean.”
And she knew from his expression, he did. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. When Emily told me his name, I remembered he was an agent in your region. Do you think it has anything to do with your outing?”
“Truthfully, I’m not so sure. Why wait this long? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“People rarely make sense, especially spies.”
“What makes you think it’s a spy?”
He gave her a look of disgust. “Don’t treat me like I’m stupid.”
“Sorry.”
And she was. She liked Ian. He was one of the partners she’d had who she felt understood her.
“Trust me. I can help you.”
She did trust him, but there was something else that bothered her. “You could be put at risk.”
He rolled his eyes. “I can bloody well handle anything they have.”
“Really? Because that’s what El thought too.”
He pursed his lips as he studied her for a long, uncomfortable moment. Usually, long moments of silence didn’t bother her, but she felt the weight of her partner’s irritation. Then, his face cleared.
“You care about me, and you’re trying to protect me. I’ll have to tell Autumn because she still isn’t sure about you.”
Autumn Bradford was a thorn in her side. She had boldly questioned Eden about whether Ian could trust her. Granted, she would do the same to anyone who worked with her brother, but he was more of a lone wolf than a partner type. At least, these days he was. The only person he would work with other than Eden was Emily, and Eden knew she could trust her.
“Anyway, there is no reason for that. We’ll have drinks after work.”
Then he strode away as if his announcement changed everything. She hurried after him.
“I don’t do drinks.”
“That’s okay. You can drive.”
She could fight it, but Ian could be tenacious. She would just have to come up with something before then. Sam said she could trust Ian, and she had never steered Eden wrong. But everyone who would help her would be drawn into the danger, and Eden would feel responsible if Ian got hurt.
El sat in his car down the street from TFH headquarters. He wasn’t happy with the situation, and he was more than a little pissed that Hanson was back in Eden’s life because of this mess. When El found out that he was on the island, he had moved to the area. Eden was strong, but that man had always been her weakness. If he had stood by her all those years ago, El would be happy for her to be with him. Instead, Hanson had turned his back on her, broken her when she had been at her lowest.
That was something El would never forgive, and it put Hanson in the “don’t trust” category. So, he sat in his car, his gaze trained on the front door, waiting for him and his ‘partner’ to come out.
He was so intent on watching the door that when someone knocked on the passenger door window, he jumped. Fuck. Rookie mistake.
Emily bent down to eye level with him. He didn’t immediately unlock the door, so her eyebrow raised. Dammit, he didn’t need her here. Not that she wasn’t a good agent. She was smarter than many people gave her credit for, which worked to her advantage in the field. That high IQ was a problem when he was around her because she tended to mess with his concentration. Nothing that she did in particular. Just existing in his orbit seemed to leave him befuddled.
With reluctance, he unlocked the door.
“That was very rude,” she said in way of greeting as she settled in the passenger seat.
“How did you find me?”
“You have a Dillon Security car. I just looked ya up.”
“I dismantled…”
