Free Fatal Truth: Shadow Force International by Misty Evans

he’d get a new assignment.
    Tonight, all he had to do was guard the door and the sexy body behind it.

Chapter Six
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    W HEN S AVANNA STUCK her head out the door two hours later, she felt like an idiot. She’d made a fool of herself in front of Coldplay and was pretty sure she’d been bamboozled by her own sister. On top of that, she’d been so distracted by thoughts of Parker sleeping with the president and working as a spy—but mostly sleeping with the president—she’d completely blown the interview with Dr. Hopland.
    She’d follow up with Hopland tomorrow. Now, she really needed sleep; her day started with hair and makeup at six a.m., and with the morning drive, she had to be up and out the door by five.
    With all the crazy thoughts swirling in her head, though, sleep was out of the question. Her nerves were buzzing, her neck tight with tension. And although it pained her to consider Coldplay’s theories, she wanted to know more.
    He stood beside the door, arms crossed. A statute, not even turning to look at her. “Everything okay?” he said, his voice low and controlled.
    No. She was not okay. Her world was turning upside down. “Not in the least. I acted like an inexperienced dweeb with Dr. Hopland on the phone just now because I couldn’t focus on her work with posttraumatic stress growth. I kept seeing images of Parker in bed with Linc Norman.” She shuddered. “Yuck.”
    She thought she saw the hint of a smile cross Coldplay’s face, but it was there and gone so fast, she might have been dreaming. “Thank you for dinner. I apologize for my bluntness during our discussion.”
    “Don’t apologize.” Coldplay had manners. She was slightly surprised. Especially since he hadn’t removed his hat at the dinner table.
    She moved into the hallway and stared at the night sky just beyond the window at the far end. “Usually I’m the one putting people on the spot with tough questions and unattractive theories. Now I know how it feels.”
    “I locked down the elevator and stairwell. You’re safe.”
    Back to business. “Thank you.”
    She stood there, not knowing what to do. He didn’t seem interested in small talk. Business it is then . “Do you think you can find Parker?”
    The pause that ensued made her shift her weight and wrap her arms around herself. Why did she have the feeling that he could find Parker in his sleep; he didn’t want to find her.
    Or rather, he doesn’t want to help me.
    “When we were little,” Savanna said, putting her back against the wall and leaning on it. “I wanted to be just like her. She took ballet, I took ballet. When she tried gymnastics, I did too. She was always more of a tomboy than I was, and as we got older, she wanted to do tougher sports. She quit ballet and gymnastics and joined a soccer team. Next it was volleyball and basketball. I wasn’t cut out for those things, and I was really good at gymnastics, but when I was seven, I gave it up for a time because I loved her so much and thought she’d think I was cooler if I did everything she did. A few months later, we had a big argument and she told me I sucked at sports and embarrassed her. It gutted me. I couldn’t verbalize it, but I realized then that I had to stop living my life through Parker and do what I loved instead. I went back to gymnastics the next day.”
    He didn’t respond, didn’t even blink. Just stared at the wall.
    “Do you have any brothers or sisters…” She stopped herself. “Sorry, forgot again. No personal questions.”
    Pacing down the hall, her eyes skipped over the floral arrangement on the table. The hotel provided a new one every few days. She had a beautiful penthouse apartment, all the clothes and shoes she would ever need, a challenging but rewarding job, and she would give it all away to have Parker back.
    “It’s just that, she’s my best friend as well as my big sister. There are days