Free Seconds to Live (Scarlet Falls) by Melinda Leigh Page B

you’re in some sort of trouble, you need to be straight with me. I can’t help you if you’re holding back important information.”
    Mac leaned his forearms on the table and leveled his eyes with hers. “I’m a DEA agent.”

Chapter Ten
    Mac needed her help to find that woman and prove he hadn’t imagined her.
    If he was really going to be honest with himself, he wanted Stella to know he was one of the good guys. Since he was a teenager, he’d been unable to shake his reputation. He’d been clean and sober for twelve years, and his family still doubted him.
    Tonight it felt suddenly and inexplicably important that Stella believed his story.
    “I thought the DEA had a strict policy of not hiring anyone with prior drug experience.”
    “I didn’t ask for the job. They came to me.” Mac knew the DEA’s policies. “I had a particular skill set they needed.” Lately, he’d wondered if he was listed as a disposable asset. His former boss had sought Mac’s help, but the region was under new management. Mac’s new boss didn’t want to give up a valuable source of information, but he didn’t seem to mind putting Mac into dangerous situations. A few years ago, Mac hadn’t cared, but Lee’s death had changed his perspective.
    Her lips pursed. “Dangerous job.”
    His hand strayed to his bandage. He probably shouldn’t have told her, but he couldn’t take back his admission now. Maybe that was the point.
    Stella frowned, deepening a vertical line between her brows. “How long?”
    “Three years.”
    “Three years of hanging out in the jungle, snooping on drug traffickers, and pretending to be studying otters?”
    “Well, I actually do observe the otters. I’ve published several papers on family group behavior. Local kids are always wandering into camp. It’s important that my cover be well-established.” Mac sank back into his chair. “And I like otters.”
    She deadpanned.
    “What?” He raised a hand, palm up. “Otters are badass.”
    “Seriously?” Stella shook her head in disbelief.
    “They eat piranha. Once, I saw four adults kill a young caiman that showed too much interest in their den.”
    “That’s not what I meant.” She stabbed the table with a forefinger. “When I first met you, everyone treated you as if you were a space cadet, but I knew it was an act. You’re smart, and you were too good at planning that search last November. Now it all makes perfect sense.”
    Mac felt heat rise into his face.
    “Do your brother and sister know about the job with the DEA?”
    “No.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want them to worry.”
    Her head tilted. “Why did you tell me?”
    Good question. The first time he’d met her, Stella Dane had left an impression on him that he hadn’t been able to shake. But he could hardly tell her that. “You’re a good cop, and I want you to take this disappearing woman seriously.”
    Her face turned solemn. “I would have anyway. I only asked for a drug test because your story was so strange, and I was concerned.”
    She’d been worried about him. The idea pleased him. Most people simply assumed the worst, but Stella was different, which brought on a whole other set of concerns. Mac would be heading back to Brazil in eight weeks. He was spread thin trying to establish a connection with his family. But Stella . . .
    She made him think about things he’d never considered before, like not coming home to an empty house. Like having someone to share a late-night meal.
    Or his bed.
    “So that’s what you were doing when you were shot? Investigating drug traffickers.”
    “I’ve been working in that region studying wildlife since I was an undergraduate. I know many of the villagers. Until I went to work for the DEA, I was a simple wildlife biologist studying the effects of deforestation and pollution on giant river otters. Now my expeditions are funded by a fake university that’s actually a front for the DEA. Before this trip, I always worked