Page 30 of Whistleblower
“Linc.”
“What?”
“Don’t go there, man.”
We sit in silence as I watch the headlights dance off the reflective lane lines. It’s so dark that if it wasn’t for the glowing tape, I wouldn’t be able to see the road fully alert, let alone amidst my sleep exhaustion.
Curiosity finally claims me. “Humor me. What’s the warning for?” What could possibly be concerning about Eden?
“Callen brought her in.”
“Obviously.”
“No, I mean—what do you know about Dr. Eden Abbott?”
Outside of the fact that she has the cutest pouty smile, the most lickable cheeks I’ve ever seen in my life, and she’s squeamish around violence—nothing. “What do you know?”
“Remember the enormous tech company that went under a little while back—Empress?”
“The one that was selling data to terrorist organizations?”
“Mhm,” Lance mumbles as he opens the glove box and pulls out a few napkins. He presses against his arm and the napkins quickly turn red. “She’s the one who went to the feds with proof. She took a lot of shit for it, too. The company sued her and she went bankrupt. She was jobless and nearly homeless. She filed eight police reports for harassment and stalking in the past year.”
My jaw instinctively clenches. “The fuck? From who?” I bite out.
“From what I understand, former Empress employees who were pissed about losing their jobs. I think that’s why Callen eventually scooped her up and got her out of there.”
So this is why she’s so skittish. It doesn’t matter how righteous the cause is, informants always end up marked. It explains why she flinches like a puppy that’s been kicked one too many times.
“How do you know all of this? You looked her up?”
“Fuck yeah I did. There’s someone new suddenly all up in our business…of course I looked her up.”
“You still haven’t answered my question. What’s your concern?”
“Her loyalty is to Callen. It’ll only be a matter of time before Vesper sees the light of day and we’re moving on from the FBI. How long do you really think we can all get along for? This is temporary. She’s fun to look at, and hell, even I want to know what her tits look like, but it’s not smart, Linc. We don’t belong to the FBI, the CIA, or DIA. We’re free agents and Vesper will remember that soon. Do whatever you want with your dick, but don’t get attached. At the end of the day, she’s Callen’s girl.”
I don’t think she’s Callen’s girl. She’s just a girl. Just a normal girl…
I’m still picturing the look on her face when she saw those photos—shock and terror. There isn’t an evil bone in her body. She was genuinely scared, and I can’t explain it, but I have this urge to make her feel safe. I don’t ever want to see that look of dread in her eyes again.
I haven’t stopped wondering how she’s doing. I’ll admit that half of my eagerness to get home isn’t just to dump this prisoner off into custody. It’s to see her again—her smile. Just to know she’s okay.
I realize I still need to explain myself.
I just need to see her first…
I also need to figure out why all my thoughts are suddenly so occupied with Eden. I’m not sure why I’m so quickly drawn to this woman. It’s never happened to me before. There’s a lot I don’t understand at the moment, but one thing rings clear…
“Lance,” I say, tightening both hands around the wheel.
“What?”
“You will never get to know what Eden Abbott’s tits look like.” I peel my eyes off the road to glance at him menacingly. “Got it?”
ELEVEN
EDEN