Free Ring of Truth (Devlin Security Force Book 2) by Susan Vaughan

hadn’t been there. “What’s up?”
    “You met with that ex-con again yet?”
    She felt her shoulder muscles stiffen. Cassie refused to refer to Cort as anything but that ex-con or him . “Cort’s coming in another week. I told you that.”
    She heard Cassie blow out a breath. “You haven’t gone off on your own to see the others, have you?”
    Mara scowled at her sister’s implication, mostly at herself because Cassie was right. But Cort had talked her off that ledge. Then memories of the behemoth who’d attacked her had kept her double-locked in her apartment with the new security system coded in and set. “No way. He and I will do that together.”
    “Good. You never think anything bad will happen. Amazing for someone who researches criminal stuff. I’m afraid. You can’t trust him. I don’t like it either way.”
    She was used to her sister’s criticism but it rankled. “I’m okay. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
    “Good. That’s good. Well...”
    The hesitation meant something was up. Cassie hadn’t phoned only to check on her. “What’s going on, sis? Is it Livvie?”
    “Livvie’s fine.” Ah, the catch of breath, her sister’s pause for effect. “I’ve met a guy.”
    Of course. Ever since her divorce, Cassie’d swung from down in the dumps to a peak of on the hunt so she could flaunt some guy in front of her ex. Mara sought patience.
    “Hold on a sec,” Cassie said.
    Mara heard a male voice in the background. Here we go again.
    But she mustered up some enthusiasm. Maybe Cassie would focus on romance instead of ragging on Livvie and her. “Hon, that’s great. Is that his voice I heard?”
    Cassie laughed. “That’s just the cable guy. Some problem with connections. They’re checking every box on the street.”
    “I don’t have much time but tell me the important stuff. Where’d you meet him? What’s he like? And I don’t mean the cable guy.”
    Her sister’s raspy chuckle hummed through the line. “Good thing. Met André at work. He came to my desk to open a checking account. We’re going to play tennis and have dinner tonight. He’s sophisticated and sooo charming. Looks like that hot French guy who’s on Devious Maids , Gilles something, but a little older, forty maybe.”
    “Gilles Marini? Whew, I’m heating up just hearing about André.” True, but that condition had nothing to do with Cassie’s new guy.
    She’d remained hot ever since Cort nearly kissed her. Fantasies of his hard mouth and harder body warming her inside and out filled her thoughts whenever she wasn’t focused on work. Knowing he was so the wrong man didn’t make any difference to her body. Whenever he phoned to check on her research, his low, rumbling voice caused the same rev of her heartbeat, the same tingle she’d felt when she pressed her palm to his solid chest and his eyes went to smoke. Was this how her mom had ended up married to a man she didn’t love? Did the heat of passion mask their basic incompatibility?
    She chatted a moment longer before begging off. She promised herself to be all business when Cort arrived. Clearing her father and finding evidence for the FBI had to be her priority. Not drooling over a guy, like Cassie. Or going soft in sympathy.
    She exited the building and drove across town, taking side streets to avoid rush-hour traffic. And to shake anyone following her. Mr. Devlin had explained how to watch for a tail. A DSF tech guy searched her car for a GPS tracker and found nothing, thank goodness.
    Cassie’s warnings were unnecessary. She knew to be careful. If they didn’t trust each other, following up on any attraction was out of the picture. Trust or no trust, she needed to know more about what made Cortez Jones tick. And how involved he was in his father’s nefarious business before they robbed the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The bare facts she’d researched and her short acquaintance with him didn’t begin to address his motives then. Or