Chapter 6

Danielle

I toss the towel onto the bed and pull a loose red dress over my head. I feel flustered and rushed. I run a brush through my damp hair and slip on some flats.

Fucking damn him! Sneaking into my room like that!

He’s still just as hot as I remember.

So serious and hard with those dreamy blue eyes.

I knew he couldn’t resist the orphans. He has a soft spot for them—something I discovered in South Sudan.

I try to focus on what I need to do as I smear on a little lip gloss. I’m here for the story.

I don’t have the whole story yet, so I need to keep digging. And to keep digging, I need Janus.

That’s what I called him for. I need him for the job. Nothing else.

I’m still trying to convince myself of that last part as I grab my purse and head back to the main room. He’s quietly shuffling through photos.

“You have quite a bit of evidence here. You haven’t contacted Amnesty or other humanitarian groups?”

“Everything is circumstantial, and the guys I’ve managed to photograph are ghosts. They don’t exist. I’ve reached out to my contacts all over the world, and none of them have found out anything about these guys.”

He nods slowly, getting up.

“We’ll talk more about it downstairs.”

He seems withdrawn, distracted. I try not to read anything into it. God knows what he’s got going on right now.

It looks like he’s prioritized the case at least. That’s all I care about.

We ride the elevator, and I speak briefly with the concierge, asking if I have any messages. None so far. That means contacts haven’t found anything yet.

We go to the restaurant and sit down. The waiter is at our table quickly to take our orders. I ask for a bottle of wine to be brought over.

Janus taps the table lightly with his finger as he thinks.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to read his thoughts right now.

“What we need to do is get a bit more information. I can’t just call my contacts nearby and have them hit the suspected locations, you understand that.”

“Sure, yeah.”

“This isn’t the kind of my thing that my people get involved in. So, I’ll have to put out some feelers, carefully.”

His face is calm, and his eyes glint in the setting sun, but the tone of his voice hints at something more.

“Okay. I’m a bit relieved your people aren’t the type to get involved in this sort of thing. But hopefully they can still help us get schedules, places, and names.”

He grins as he takes a sip of wine. That mischievous glimmer in his eyes that I fell for years ago returns.

“You always did have that single-minded view. If it gets you to your goal, that’s all that matters. Explains why you didn’t chew me out for having friends in low places back then.”

I take a sip of the wine, too, smiling back at him.

“That’s just how my brain works, I guess. The problem right now is finding out where the people go after they’re picked up at the docks or at a couple of places along the roads. I managed to find those places after talking to some people who had been there. I’ve made a few contacts in the bad end of town...but nothing reliable.”

“I’m guessing that they do tend to move everyone around at night. Even with cops on their payroll, operating in broad daylight is risky.”

“Even with the heat their packing. Which, from what I’ve gathered, looks military grade.”

“Really?”

His eyebrow arches in thought, and I wonder if he plans on calling in his friend, Manticore, for assistance.

“I haven’t looked into that. I’ve been trying to chase down where the stolen people are ending up. I even went to places that people like these often end up just to cover all my bases. I went to the brothels, but I couldn’t get in.

“I tried going down to the industrial area, but I was picked up by a couple of officials. They told me I wasn’t authorized to be there and took me to the station. I tried to convince the police of what was happening, they just kept telling me to stay out of it. Not long after, my boss tells me to leave it alone.”

“Hmm.” Janus rubs his chin, rasping his fingers across a shade of stubble. “Definitely sounds like the brass is dirty. If this is as big as you think, then that likely means they’re making a mint.”

The waiter returns with our food, and I order another bottle of wine—a lovely local drop.

I know I’m not here for personal reasons, but it is nice just being with him. It’s been so long, but there’s no way I could ever forget him. And when my boss said I had to have back up, no one else came to mind.

“My next plan was to hide myself in a group of refugees and see where I end up. I believe...I know...that these people are being privately sold and moved back out of the country. I just don’t know to whom or where they’re being sent.”

“That’s ballsy, Dani. You could end up anywhere, and in chains. But then, what do you do when you actually end up in a room with someone who’s bought you? How will you get out?”

Janus laughs softly and reaches out for his glass of wine.

I respond to his laughter with my poker face. I’ve grown a lot in the three years since we’ve last seen each other, and I was no fluffy kitten back then either. I wait for the amusement to slowly drain away from his face before I answer.

“I would do whatever it takes. I’ve done it before. I can do it again.”

He stares into my eyes, absorbing my expression. He looks amazed and kind of sad.

“I believe you, Dani. I do.”

There’s no humor in his voice now. But I still feel angry, like I need to prove myself somehow. I hate it.

I’m certain that I’m only feeling this way because I fucked him over by blowing the cover on his safe house and then had to ask him for his help on something incredibly dangerous. Sure, it’s not facing armed militia in South Sudan committing genocide, but it’s still a dangerous gig. And right out of the blue at that.

And there’s still more than a bit of guilt at leaving him without so much as a goodbye note.

Despite after all that, he’s here.

He made a nice show of trying to make me feel bad. But I can tell by the looks he’s giving me, he hasn’t forgotten about that night either.

Maybe I should have dropped the towel upstairs. I was tempted to do so.

There’s a lull in our conversation as we seemingly focus on our food. In between bites I look up slyly to see if his expressions change and to guess the direction of his piercing blue gaze. More often than not, our eyes meet as we both look up at exactly the same time.

I let my eyes linger on him for as long as I can. This is just business. It’s all well and good to have a lively fantasy—it keeps you sharp and creative—but the reality is we have work to do here.

Not just getting the story but actually helping these people.

I don’t have time for love games, and he doesn’t either. Once this is over, we’ll head on to separate ways.