Page 3 of Mission: Possible

I licked the sugar off my fingers and tried not to laugh.

"I'm not in such good shape right now," said Delgado, patting his stomach. "I don't think I'd blend in."

"Then it's one of you two," said Solomon, moving his gaze to Fletcher and Flaherty.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" said Fletcher, holding out his hand. He lost the first round, won the second, then suggested, "Best of three?"

"Moving on," said Solomon while the pair continued to duke it out. "Delgado, I have one for you." Solomon opened the next file and read the issue out loud while Delgado nodded along.

"Just my thing, boss," said Delgado, taking the file and flipping the pages. "I'll get right on it. Might be a simple solution, based on the client interview."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"There's a cyber security case at one of the local investment firms. They suspect spyware on their computer network..."

"Not my forte," I told him, not that he didn't already know that.

"I'm taking that one," Solomon confirmed. "Lucas is already working on it, hence his absence from the meeting. The last one is a stakeout at a business downtown. The prospective client suspects his partner of attempting to force the sale of the business and wants him followed to ascertain any underhanded dealings that might be going on. That's more Fletcher or Flaherty's area of expertise although the strip club case came in first so we might have to decline this one. You two can choose between the cases."

"So, I have nothing to do?" I asked.

"The cat case might come back to us."

"I can hardly wait!"

"I want you to handle any walk-ins tomorrow," asked Solomon. "It's your turn to take care of the phones so try to enjoy some down time. Something will come in soon and I want to have a PI fully ready."

"Sure." I brightened. "Can I take off for the rest of the day since I'm not officially needed right now? Lily wanted me to go with her somewhere."

"Yes, but keep your phone with you in case I have to call you in," replied Solomon. He glanced at Fletcher and Flaherty. "Are you two still deciding who goes to the male strip bar?"

"Best of twenty-five," said Fletcher, bouldering his hand.

"You could always decline the case," I suggested.

"I could," said Solomon, "but the club belongs to a much bigger firm that serve as an umbrella company for a range of businesses. This case is small fry but they might have something more challenging next time. I'd like for us to make a good impression."

"We're off to a great start," I said as I watched my colleagues play their hand game. I pushed my chair back and followed Solomon and Delgado out. Delgado returned to his desk and I trailed Solomon into his office. I didn't bother shutting the door behind me, but lingered instead in the doorway. "Were they joking with me about getting shot because my back was to the window?" I asked.

Solomon glanced up as he dropped the case files onto his desk. "Were you actually worried about that?" he asked.

"No," I said, running a hand over the back of my head self-consciously.

"There's a grain of truth in it. They are trained to expect danger. And to look for things. Mainly dangerous situations. They can't do that if they have their backs to the room, or the window or a wide-open space. Mostly though, they were just messing with you."

The tension dropped from my shoulders. "So reassuring."

Solomon moved the few steps towards me and ran his hands along my upper arms, giving me tingles. "That's why I let them run their mouths off before announcing one of them was being assigned to the male strip bar," he said.

I grinned. "That was rather satisfying."

"Even more satisfying is watching Fletcher and Flaherty both struggle to win that game, while in reality, they're both going undercover!" Solomon's smile lit up his face. "There was no other case so they don't have a choice. I was just messing withthem."

"I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you tell them that." I checked my watch. I could still meet Lily if I hurried. "I better go now. Lily asked me to go to baby yoga with her and I said I'd try to make it." I’d even dressed in black leggings and a flowing buttercup-yellow top in anticipation that I would have time.

"I wondered why you dressed in all that Lycra this morning. Don't you need a baby for baby yoga?" Solomon's gaze dropped to my stomach where there wasn't any baby. There had been a lot of discussion lately, and plenty of practice for the main event but no firm decisions. I was happy with that.

"I have no idea. I just figured we could share Poppy. Won't that make it easier?"