Free Whiskey Sour by Liliana Hart Page B

is how good she looks.”
    “That’s not all,” I said. “She also has great taste in shoes.”
    I saw Savage take a quick drink of coffee to hide his smile. Apparently, badass FBI agents weren’t supposed to have a sense of humor. Savage regrouped and looked directly at me.
    “We have no grounds to shut her down because we can’t prove her escort service is a prostitution ring,” he said. “Everything on the surface is above board, and she has enough clout and high profile support that we’ve already been getting calls from the governor and two senators to back off. If there weren’t a dead body involved we’d be out of this completely, and I don’t know how long we’re going to be able to hold on to that.”
    “ The official statement from Ms. Evans is that Amanda wasn’t scheduled to work that night, therefore she must have had plans of her own. We don’t have proof otherwise to dispute the fact. Just a body and a stolen diamond. But I can’t think of a reason that girl would have the gem unless someone who had the means and opportunity to know what it was gave it to her.”
    “So what do we do?” It hadn’t gone past my notice that Agent Savage had been solely talking to me for the last little bit. I was starting to get the feeling Nick and Kate were superfluous in this conversation.
    “I’d like you to apply for a job with the company, or if that fails, make friends with some of the other girls. You’re a littl e older than they like to hire, but you don’t look your age. You could pass for early twenties. You have the look of the kind of girl Ms. Evans likes to employ, so you have a shot.”
    “You’ve got to be out of your mind,” Nick said incredulously. He leaned forward and put his hands on the coffee table, intimidating the hell out of me but not doing much for Agent Savage. “Do you realize the risk you’re putting her in? She’s not trained for this.”
    “Which is why I need her to do it,” Savage said calmly. “There’s not an agent or a cop out there I could put in undercover without them sniffi ng her out. I need an outsider. Ms. Evans has been in this business for a long time for a reason. She’ll know how to spot a plant.”
    “What happens if they don’t hire me?” I asked.
    “It’s not the end of the world. You’re used to doing surveillance, so you can stick to that in the meantime, checking out the girls and documenting any suspicious behavior. Your involvement is just another avenue for us to take in this investigation, because right now we have nothing except two dead bodies and a fortune in missing gems. What do you say Ms. Holmes?”
    “Addison,” I automatically corrected. “Who’s paying me?”
    “You’ll temporarily be on FBI payroll as a consultant. Any other fees are between you and Kate.”
    “I’m in,” I said, before I had the chance to think it through too much. I needed the money, and beggars couldn’t be choosers.
    “Addison—” Nick growled.
    Kate hadn’t said anything, so I turned to look at her so I wouldn’t have to see the death glare Nick was giving me. She looked contemplative and a bit pensive, but she wasn’t issuing a protest. She shrugged her shoulders at me and sighed, and I knew she’d help me do whatever I needed.
    Savage gathered up his files and looked at his watch. He knew when to retreat. “I’ve got another meeting scheduled for today. Can you meet me tomorrow afternoon? Around three o’clock? I’ll talk you through everything and show you what I want you to do.”
    “Sure, you can pick me up from here.” I figured that would be easiest, considering I was practically living here for the moment.
    “Tomorrow then,” Savage said and gave me the full power of his smile.
    Oh, shit . I could have just made a very big mistake. That was definitely interest in his eyes, and I could tell he’d thought he’d won this round with whatever the hell was going on between him and Nick.
    “Nice to meet you, Ms.