Before he questioned my motives, I spun and snapped a quick pic of Clay loaded down with bags.
“I’m going to send Colby these pics of my two baking assistants.”
I did it too, to cover my butt, which wouldn’t have been an issue if Asa hadn’t looked so adorable.
Yep.
This was definitely his fault. Or his hair’s fault. One or the other. Both?
While I helped Clay put away his perishables, Asa returned to the table to resume his work.
There was really only room for one, but two could squish in there thanks to the open floorplan.
“We have preliminary results on the remains found at the processor.” Asa scrolled through the email. “They have been positively identified as the fourth missing girl.”
“Dammit.” A carton of eggs exploded in Clay’s fist. “What kind of sicko dreams up something like that?”
“We met a lady who bakes people cookies earlier,” I reminded him. “Black Hat exists for a reason.”
Look at me, spouting rhetoric I had been force-fed most of my life in the hopes I would one day believe it.
Asa studied me. “Do you think we’ll be paying the Malones a visit in the future?”
“If not us, then someone.” Of that I had no doubt. “Rose’s powers are on lockdown for a reason.”
“File a mental note,” Clay warned, “and then forget it.”
Black Hat had a zero tolerance for cowboying. Rogue agents got dead. It was how a lot of old-timers who wanted out but couldn’t quit made their grand exits. They chose their own targets, picked them off, then waited for the kill squad to arrive. That was the worst. No one wanted to terminate a contract.
And yes, that was how the director classified the sanctioned murder of one of his agents.
A contract.
Was it any wonder I had wanted out bad enough to risk a kill squad on my doorstep?
Except that wasn’t what happened, and I must have been banking on it. I was too valuable to terminate. Or I had been. Maybe I thought going white witch would turn the Bureau off me. If so, I had been wrong.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t be standing here, debating what sweet treat I craved the most.
“I’ll bake.” I was relieved to work out some of my aggression in the kitchen. “You guys keep working.”
By the time dessert was done, the food ought to be here. The cookies I had in mind could cool while we ate dinner.
“Do we get to pick the recipe?” Clay fluttered his lashes at me. “I was thinking…”
“Kitchen sink cookies.” I rolled my eyes. “I know what you were thinking. I saw all the ingredients.”
While I indulged in my favorite form of relaxation, I attempted to draw our clues into a cohesive whole.
A text from Colby came through while I had sticky fingers, but the preview was laughing emojis.
That brief contact with her lightened my mood enough I could enjoy the simple act of baking.
The sweet and spicy aroma of extra saucy fried chicken wings overpowered my cookies, and I turned to find Clay bringing in the takeout.
Lost in thoughts and memories, I hadn’t heard the knock or his trek across the room.
“Are you all right?” Asa crowded me to reach the plates in the cabinet. “You’re pale.”