Deception (Carrington Hill Investigations Book 1) (3 page)

Lexi paused outside
Johnson’s office. As the Assistant Director in Charge, Sara’s father was the big man on campus so to speak. Yes, he answered to higher-ups in Washington, but he called the shots in their field office. She steeled her nerves and knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

Lexi pushed the door open and came to a halt as her gaze travelled over the occupants of the overcrowded office. Sara was already seated, along with Garrett and another man that Lexi hadn’t been expecting.
What the hell is Trip Hathaway doing here?

The director stood and motioned to an empty chair next to Sara. “
Lexi, if you’d please take a seat. We were expecting you.”

“Yes,
sir.” Lexi nodded, acknowledging Garrett and Sara as she passed. A big ball of anticipation and dread lay heavily in her stomach. Today was do or die; if things didn’t go her way, she’d make the drastic decision to quit her job and find Catherine on her own.

The
director retook his seat. The tension in the air was thick. “I know you and Sara are close to Agent O’Donnell, and we’re doing everything in our power to figure out what the hell happened and where she is.”

Lexi cleared her throat as she scooted forward in her chair. “Sir, I can only assume the case she was working on was of dire importance, which is why I’m volunteering to finish her assignment.”

“Sir.” Garrett’s eyes widened in alarm. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She
leapt to her feet, glaring at him with her palm on her hip. “Excuse me.”

“Sit down, Lexi.” She
slid back into her seat, feeling a bit betrayed by the man she trusted. The same man who was going to catch her wrath when this meeting was over. “I’m afraid Agent Donavan is right. You’re too emotionally invested in the outcome.”

Unable to control herself,
Lexi stood again and raised her chin. “Sir, I’m asking you to reconsider. If I’m willing to go through a psych evaluation and am deemed capable of going back under cover, I want this assignment.”

Leaning back in his chair, t
he director crossed his arms over his chest as if contemplating her request.

“Sir, I’ve proven myself and my ability to perform my duties
. No one wants to find Catherine and figure this out more than Sara and I do.”

Sara
quietly nodded.

Lexi
faced the director, knowing what she had to do if he said no. No wasn’t an option she was willing to accept. “I’m going to solve this case.” She reached down and pulled the Glock from her leg holster then slipped her badge off her belt and laid both down in front of the director. “If your answer is still no, then I’ll just use my vacation time, and I’ll do it on my own.”

“Lexi
, you know rogue agents will not be tolerated in the bureau.” He stood rigidly, his gaze assessing, possibly wondering if she’d dare go through with her threat. “And if I deny your vacation?”

She noticed
a chink in the composure he usually possessed that she hadn’t seen in a long time. Lexi walked to the door with her hand on the knob and glanced over her shoulder. “Then consider this my resignation. I’m going to find my friend with or without your help,
sir
.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Trip stand before
she walked out of the office and out of the one job she’d fought hard to achieve. Anger flooded her body to the point she thought she’d be sick.

“Wait
up.” Lexi ignored the billionaire and kept walking. He hurried and caught up to her. He held out his hand. “Trip Hathaway.”

She ignored the gesture. No need for niceties since
she no longer represented the bureau.

“I know who you are
, Mr. Hathaway.” She turned into her office. “What I don’t know is why you were privy to that meeting.” She glanced around her office, wondering where she should start packing up the last five years of her life.

“Have coffee with me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and met his piercing blue gaze. It was darker than yesterday, clouded with emotion she couldn’t decipher. “It seems I have an office to clear out and a friend to find. I’m afraid I don’t have time for coffee or anything else.”

He gave her what she assumed was a sincere smile as he stepped into her office and
pushed her door closed behind him. “Please indulge me a few minutes of your time. I’m concerned about Catherine O’Donnell too. She was working on my case when she went missing.”

Lexi
plopped down in her chair and opened her bottom desk drawer and pulled out her personal Glock and shoved it in the ankle holster as she sat. “You’ve got five minutes, Mr. Hathaway, start talking.”

He nodded and leaned back in the chair.

“You’re strong willed and cocky and jump to conclusions before you have time to consider the consequences.”

She
raised her brows. “You do know I carry a gun and have excellent aim, right?”

His deep chuckle
filled her small office, raising goose bumps on her arms. The man was sexy, and her office felt as though it was shrinking with his presence. “I’m making a point, Ms. Carrington.”

“Mr. Hathaway,
you’re batting a thousand. I suggest you get straight to the point.”

“Touché.”
He nodded. “Your record speaks for itself, and I believe everything the director told me about you when we were discussing my options.”

She leaned back in
her chair and crossed her legs, watching his eyes follow the movement in silent satisfaction. He cleared his throat and made eye contact with her once again.

“And I also believe that you care about your friends
and, rather than see another one hurt, you’d put your own life on the line to ensure it doesn’t happen again. So, I have an offer for you.”

“And that is?”

“A merger of sorts.”

His expression became guarded as he stood and
started pacing the small confines of her office.

“A merger of what?”

His eyes
sparked with an inner turmoil as he held her gaze. “Regardless of your answer, I’ll make sure you keep your job. If you want to continue on the case, I can get you access to everything Agent O’Donnell had at her disposal. If there’s anything I’ve learned in business, Lexi, it’s that the person with the most to lose always works harder to make sure the job gets done. And I believe that person in this case is you.”

“I’m not sure
I follow, Mr. Hathaway. What was she working on?”

“Catherine was assigned to my case because of money laundering and corporate espio
nage. Someone has been embezzling money from my accounts and transferring them into a Swiss bank account. Since I have several government contracts, naturally the FBI got involved. I can’t prove who in the company is responsible; I just know that it’s happening. She’s been working undercover on my payroll for over two months, getting close to the workers and trying to find the thief and the money. I believe she was close to making an arrest. We had a meeting scheduled for Thursday night, and she didn’t show. It wasn’t until Friday morning we realized she was missing and they found blood in her apartment.”

“Can anyone co
rroborate your whereabouts, Mr. Hathaway?”

He chuckled. “I knew I was going to like you.” He
slid back into his seat and leaned back in the chair. “My father was included in the meeting. Security cameras can prove when I left the office and also when I showed up at my residence. The staff can account for the rest of the time.”

He
leaned forward and clasped his hands on the desk. “I have two solutions for getting you close enough to get the answers we both need. One will probably take about two months, like it did Catherine.”

“
And that is?”

“I can start you off in the same position I started O’Donnell
in and you can try to figure out what she was working on and you can hope to catch a break.”

“Mr. Hathaway, I don’t have two months to figure this out. Catherine’s life may depend on me figuring this out fast. What’s my other option?”

“I can pull you into my close circle where your chances of discovering the truth increase dramatically.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing an ankle over his knee. “People love to boast, Ms. Carrington, and I have no doubt when you start prodding and asking questions, you’ll find your answers and not only save Catherine’s life but figure out who the crook is at the same time.”

“And how would you go about doing that?”

He glanced down at his clasped hands and then back up at her. “Marry me.” He hesitated. “The only problem with that is you wouldn’t be able to work undercover anymore. The media would descend like vultures, and I really don’t want to subject you to that.”

“I’m not worried about
working undercover. Catherine’s life is way more important than my career, Mr. Hathaway. And I’m sure I can hold my own against the vultures.” She leaned back in her chair and let her eyes rake over him. He was handsome, successful, obviously caring and could probably get any woman he wanted. What she couldn’t understand was his offer. “Why marriage? What do you get out of being hitched?

“I get my life back.” He looked up into her eyes. “I won’t be expected to
have a woman on my arm every minute of every day, but my mother will quit nagging me about settling down. I can get back to the business of running my company without the added pressure of finding my soul mate and, hopefully, set things right with your investigation. Lexi, if Catherine hadn’t been assigned this case, she wouldn’t be missing.”

“Why not man up
, Mr. Hathaway, and just tell your mom to back off? I’m sure you didn’t get where you are today by being timid. Why not just fake an engagement?”

The corners of his mouth lifted
into a sexy grin. “You haven’t met my family, Ms. Carrington. I understand that it will be a short reprieve but a needed one just the same. A way we can both concentrate and figure out what the hell is going on. My family can be ruthless; if they don’t believe it’s a permanent arrangement, then my mother will do everything in her power to get you to leave. We don’t need the added pressure.”

“You don’t know me
, Mr. Hathaway. I could be a serial killer or an alcoholic or something worse, a gold digger.” She couldn’t help the smirk on her lips. He didn’t have a clue who he was dealing with and, if she went through with this ridiculous plan, he’d be the one surprised.

He reached for her hand and clasped it in his big fingers
, tingles shot up her arm. She flinched and slid her hand from his.

His brows dipped. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head.

“I know enough about you to know you’re the right choice. Catherine talked highly of you and Sara.
She told me what type of people you both are and you proved it to me today. You’re a loyal friend and determined; I respect those qualities.”

Marriage wasn’t something she would normally jump into and
definitely not with a stranger, but Catherine’s life could be hanging in the balance. She’d view it as a means to an end, a temporary undercover assignment. She could work with the situation if she thought of it in those terms.

She extended the proverbial olive branch and hesitated before
covering his hand with hers to show she meant what she said. “Then yes. I’ll marry you. I can’t promise that I won’t drive you crazy. The only thing I
can
promise is to run interference for you with all your female suitors and your mother, and you
can
expect divorce papers when this is over. Take it or leave it.”

He nodded.
“Agreed.” He pushed to his feet. “Let’s go inform the director of our recent development.” He stopped and pulled a business card out of his coat pocket and handed it to her. “Call me if you have a change of heart; otherwise, I’ll pick you up here first thing in the morning.”

Her mind was racing with the implications of what she’d just agreed to, probably just like his was. Was she crazy for agreeing? A
ny potential undercover work was history after she signed on the dotted line. Could she live a life that didn’t include taking the bad guys off the street? Would she be losing her life so to speak, just as Catherine might have? In the end, the questions stopped, and one thing remained. Catherine, her best friend, would have done it for her without hesitation, and Lexi had an opportunity to make things right by putting one more if not two criminals behind bars where they belonged. “What happens tomorrow?”

“I pick you up and we go to my attorney’s office where a justice of the peace will be waiting to marry us.”

She reached for a piece of paper and pen from her desk and jotted down her attorney’s information. “Have the paperwork delivered to my attorney along with the prenup, and if he approves and you sign…I guess you’ve got yourself a wife.”

He glanced down at her scribble
. “You have an attorney?”