Free Mad, Bad and Blonde by Cathie Linz Page B

calling him Gunny?” she asked.
    “He was a gunnery sergeant in the Marines.”
    “What about you?” Yuri asked Caine. “I thought you’d be a lifer.”
    “It was time. I had important business here at home that I had to take care of.”
    “It must be something really important to make you leave the Corps.”
    “Affirmative. My mission here doesn’t get any more urgent or more personal.” Caine’s look made it clear to Faith that no one and nothing would get in his way.
    Yuri said as much. “You always excelled at getting the mission accomplished.”
    “His mission is deeply flawed,” Faith said.
    Yuri looked at her in surprise. “You know the nature of his mission?”
    She nodded.
    “How did you obtain that piece of intel?” Yuri asked.
    “Caine told me himself,” she said.
    “Is that right?” Yuri asked Caine.
    Caine nodded.
    Yuri shifted uncomfortably. “Uh . . . this seems personal between the two of you.”
    “You could say that.” Caine’s voice was curt. “Her father is responsible for my father’s death.”
    “That’s not true,” she vehemently denied.
    “It is true,” Caine said. “And I aim on proving it.”
    “And I aim on proving you wrong,” Faith said.
    “You’re welcome to try, Sunshine, but you’re bound to be disappointed.”
    “Yuri, do not let this man into my building.”
    “So you own the entire building now, do you?” Caine said.
    “This is private property, and you have no business trespassing on it,” Faith said.
    “I’m standing on a public sidewalk,” Caine pointed out.
    “I’ve got to go or I’ll be late,” she muttered.
    “Late for your new job working for your daddy? Why don’t you just admit it? You were working for him all along.”
    “I’m not admitting anything to you. You’re the one who lied to me continually.” Her eyes widened as a new possibility occurred to her. “Wait a second. What about that guy who was choking at the hotel that first day? Was he your plant? Did you pay him to pretend to choke so you could save the day and get my attention?”
    “No, but that would have been a good idea.”
    You, sir, are a blackheart and a cad . Okay, she had to stop channeling Jane Austen here. The problem was that Faith had never been good at insults. She’d never really had the need before.
    It’s not as if she hadn’t heard plenty of salty language in Las Vegas. But she’d never bothered to pay attention to it. The words had gone in one ear and out the other.
    She wished the same could be said about the things that Caine said. But no, those phrases stuck like Super Glue. What had he called her? Sunshine? It hadn’t sounded like a compliment. It had sounded both condescending and demeaning.
    Faith stepped off the curb only to be yanked back by his hand on her arm.
    “Careful, Sunshine. You don’t want to throw yourself under a car on my account.”
    “I’d rather throw you under a car,” she muttered.
    “I’m sure you would.”
    “I mean if I were a violent person, which I’m not.”
    “You’re just a crack shot.”
    “I don’t go around shooting people.”
    “Not yet anyway.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Children’s librarian by day, tough PI by night. Not your usual combination of professions.”
    “You already know that I’m no longer a librarian.”
    “Once a Marine, always a Marine. Once a librarian, always a librarian.”
    “How would you know?”
    “I’m good at reading people.”
    “Right. Is that why you trailed the wrong person that last day in Positano? Because you’re so great at reading people?”
    “I said I was good , not great. But hey, if you want to say I’m great, that’s okay with me.”
    “You’re neither good nor great at anything.”
    “You know, a more sensitive guy might be hurt by those words. Good thing I’m not sensitive.”
    “I can’t imagine a less sensitive human being on the entire planet.”
    “That’s a little extreme, isn’t it?”
    “Go away.”