Page 7 of Cross Point

“You just have to rub in the director thing every chance you get, don’t you?” Trinity teased. “And I’m not officially an agent right now, remember?”

“Consider me being a director your get-out-of-jail-free-card, so don’t hate. And you’re on medical leave but consider yourself back on the roll. Now, give me the sitrep.”

She sighed. There really was no chance in hell her friend was ever going to let her retire. None of them were.

“I went to check out the expansion site after I got to the resort. I was just heading into town to get something to eat when a jeep came up on me and slammed me into the guardrail. He took off, then Jackson was on scene.”

“Plates?”

“Covered in mud. Same with the windows, so I didn’t get a good look at the driver. Could tell it was a man, but that’s about it.”

“Damn it, what the hell is going on?”

“Don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

“Contact me and keep me updated. Oh, and sorry someone tried to kill you again.”

“Yeah, well, it happens,” she said with a laugh, then hung up the phone.

She’d watched Jackson’s face throughout the entire conversation. It wasn’t hard to do considering he was really hot. Even though he’d fought back showing any expression on his face, she could practically feel the tension radiating off him in waves.

Tucking her phone in her back pocket, she leaned back against the car and crossed her legs in a casual pose. She let the silence settle between them for a moment, then couldn’t help but poke at him again.

“So, are you going to play nice, or are we going to have to go through the dance?”

His nostrils flared and he clenched his teeth, but his voice came out calm when he spoke. “We get you something to eat, and you tell me what the hell is going on. Follow me into town.”

With that Jackson turned around, stalking back to his bike, giving her a spectacular view of his ass. It was obvious that he was pretty pissed, but at least he was past trying to arrest her.

At least, for now.

Chapter Four

Jackson watched in amazement as Trinity devoured her cheeseburger in no time flat. For someone with a slim build like hers, he figured she must stay very active in order to eat like that.

Then again, as an IAD agent, she’d have to.

With his military background and time serving in law enforcement, he’d obviously heard of the agency before. However, he knew very little about them. They were like the boogiemen of the intelligence community. The ultimate clandestine warriors, hidden in the gray areas outside the scope of the law.

For someone who believed in the rule of law as much as he did, he couldn’t say he agreed with the lack of restrictions IAD operated by. Still, he knew there was a need for such agents in the global war on terror. That kind of evil didn’t play by the rules, so those who hunted them needed a little leeway to stop them.

Despite the conversation he’d overheard, he’d shot off a text to one of his officers to have her checked out. The text he’d gotten back confirmed she was legit, but his people couldn’t get much on her. That in itself was telling. She was a covert agent, so it was understandable that her file was redacted.

He just didn’t know what the hell she was doing on his island.

Jackson had grown up on Crescent Island as the only child of his mother, Sandra, and his two fathers, Anthony and Brendan. Because of his rather unconventional upbringing, he had discovered at a young age that a ménage pairing was not for him.

His mother had come from a wealthy family. When she had fallen in love with the bad boy local cop Brendan Stone, her parents had been disappointed yet tolerant. But they’d cut her off, disapproving of their ménage lifestyle when Sandra had added rich Italian Anthony Vincenti to the mix.

Vastly different, Anthony and Brendan had both fallen in love with the striking beauty. For her, it had been an ideal relationship. Anthony had allowed her to continue living in the luxury she was used to, while Brendan catered to her wild side. She loved them both, but she couldn’t seem to stop trying to pit both men against one another, creating a very volatile home environment.

Jackson had grown tired of the strain her actions caused, so when he turned eighteen, he left the island and joined the Army. In the military, he’d found his calling. A natural-born leader, he excelled in strategic tactical planning and analysis. He had quickly risen in the ranks, becoming a lieutenant that those under his command had depended on and respected. His life had been going according to plan until the night he’d gotten the phone call telling him that his father Brendan had been killed in the line of duty.

Deciding to leave the military, he returned to Crescent Island and joined the police department in honor of his father. His mother had been inconsolable. She had begged and pleaded for him to quit, saying that she couldn’t watch another loved one die in such a violent way. But he wouldn’t, couldn’t do what she’d asked of him.

He was born to be a soldier.

A cop.