Page 46 of Shadowed Agenda
She’s talking to her sister now. It shouldn’t take Regan long to shower and change. Drake can pick up the bear while we’re at the book signing.
Pavlo shoved his cell in his pocket. Regan wouldn’t feel comfortable sleeping in her hotel suite. They’d need to figure something out. Pavlo knew exactly where he’d like her to be—in his bed.
He returned his attention to the conversation between Regan and Mackenzie.
“Fine, I’ll call you before everyone’s afternoon nap.” Regan hit the end button and glared at her cell phone. “Mackenzie refuses to ask the kids to wait. They didn’t sleep much last night, and everyone, especially Mackenzie, is cranky. Emmeline kept crying because she couldn’t find Fuzzy Bear. At one point, all four kids were hysterical over the missing teddy bear. Things didn’t die down until three in the morning.”
Emmeline was safe. That was all that mattered.
“Were you able to find out when the bear was taken?” he asked.
“That’s all I heard about,” Regan fumed and stood. “Did I know how hard it was to look afterfourchildren? IfI’d toldher Emmeline couldn’t sleep without thedamn bear, she would have never taken it to the park. She wastedthirtyminutes looking forthe stupid thingwhen she should have been taking the kids back to the cottage for their afternoon nap.”
They took Emmeline’s teddy bear while they were at the park yesterday afternoon—another win. Pavlo wasn’t going to interrupt Regan’s rant to point that out.No way. He’d been on the receiving end of that anger and wasn’t about to piss the woman off by saying the wrong thing. Their interactions finally resembled adult conversation instead of insults thrown in a boxing ring.
Pavlo scrubbed his face with both hands as his body remembered her skin’s softness and her responsiveness. Yeah, he’d categorize that as adult conversation—a conversation he wanted to finish.
He watched Regan as she continued to pace across the room, flinging insults at the absent third party. While he could do without the drama, he agreed when Regan repeatedly called her sister a bitch.
Knowing the specific time Mackenzie had taken the kids to the park would be helpful. He could ask when Regan took a breath, but he wasn’t that brave. Instead, he grabbed his cell phone from the table and texted updates to Javier and Drake.
He sent Javier another text to check with the PI to see if he spotted someone taking the bear.
Their team would be on site within a few hours. They’d immediately notice anyone watching the property or following Mackenzie. All of Shadow Defense’s employees were former military or law enforcement. They were the best of the best.
Two minutes later, Javier texted back. A guy had picked up a stuffed bear from a park bench at the playground yesterday. The PI had thought he was a parent collecting his kid’s toy.
It took a long while for Regan to exhaust herself before she sank into the chair opposite the couch. She stared at Emmeline’s teddy bear, her arms wrapped around herself.
“We’ll need to ask Hector to come back,” Regan heaved a sigh and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips.
Pavlo perched on the chair’s arm and rubbed her neck.
“There’s nothing to investigate,” Pavlo said, and she shifted her attention to him. “Javier looked at the hotel’s security tapes. There’s no way to identify him—hotel uniform, black balaclava, and gloves. You’ve already checked that Emmeline is fine. Other than instructing the hotel manager to reprogram your key card and warning you to be aware of your surroundings, Hector can do nothing. Javier will fill him in, and Drake will collect the bear. It’s evidence.”
Baldy and his friends were organized amateurs. Whoever was pulling their strings had played this game before. That made them dangerous.
Chapter twenty-one
ThankgoodnessFinlaydidn’tunderstand the expressiontravel light. The high-necked blouse Finlay had loaned her hid the butterfly. The gray suit, also on loan, perfectly matched the pale blue silk blouse. Her friend had good taste.
Regan stepped back from the floor-length mirror. The above-the-knee skirt fell a couple of inches below Regan’s knees. They were the same size, but Finlay had several inches on her. Her friend had saved her from another expensive trip to the hotel’s boutique.
She jumped at the loud knock at the suite’s door. Pavlo was quicker than she’d expected. She still had to pin up her hair.
Regan shoved her feet into her high heels, grateful they’d survived the ordeal in the stairwell. She’d been tempted to wear her flats. The plan was to walk the four blocks to the hotel the Toastmasters group used for their luncheon meetings. Flats wouldn’t portray the right image. Fortunately, the heels were comfortable. Like the dress from the hotel’s boutique, she’d be buried in them. Comfortable cost money.
There was another impatient knock. Regan rushed to the door and flung it open.
Nicholas pushed past her. Regan groaned. She should have used the peephole and left him standing in the hallway.
“Nicholas, please come in,” Regan said as she followed him to the suite’s living room. The routine was growing old quickly.
“Isla said you were in your suite. You wanted to spend the morning undisturbed so you could write,” Nicholas said, throwing the envelope he had in one hand on the coffee table and sitting in the middle of the couch.
“How nice of Isla to share that with you.” On the way to the luncheon, the two would talk about with whom Isla was at liberty to share Regan’s schedule. Not that she intended to cross Isla’s path after Friday. “Apparently, you don’t know the meaning of the wordundisturbed. What do you want?”
There was no sense in being polite. Nicholas was there for a reason. It must be important, or he’d have sent one of his lackeys.