Free Under His Cover-nook by Lyric James

company. She dialed the number and waited for him to answer.
    “Hey, Bill, this is Jade. Can you get some numbers for me?”
    “Sure, beautiful. Who you got?”
    “Hold on,” she said, unfolding the list she’d stuck inside her bag.
    She read the names off and grabbed a pen while she waited for him to look them up.
    “You want addresses too?”
    “Yes, you might as well go ahead and give them to me. I’ll probably need them at some point.”
    She jotted them all down, including Jackie’s, even though she saw her enough, and stuffed the piece of paper back in her purse. “Thanks, Bill. I owe you.”
    “No problem, sweetheart. I’m still making up for what you did for me.”
    “Bye,” she said, smiling as she ended the connection.
    About two years ago, Bill had hired Private Jane Inc. to find out if his wife was cheating on him. She’d been very secretive the previous few months, going to non-existent appointments and coming home late from work. Bill was a six-foot-five country boy, so in love with his wife he’d been driving himself crazy and needed to know what she was doing.
    Jade had found out what his wife was really up to; planning a twentieth year surprise wedding celebration for the both of them. After she reassured him, he told her to consider him her go-to guy for any information she needed.
    In the drive-thru line at her favorite fast food restaurant, Jade decided to make a couple of calls. She dialed the first number on her list. Cynthia didn’t answer, so she left a call back number then dialed the next. This time, a woman picked up.
    “May I speak with Summer?”
    She heard panting on the other end. God, she hoped she hadn’t interrupted anything. “This is Summer.”
    “Um… Hi, Summer, my name is…”
    Damn, she hadn’t thought up a good cover story. She couldn’t very well say that she was Jade Conner, a private investigator looking for information about who was threatening Lieutenant Governor Rhys Cunningham.
    “My name is Michelle Conner and I’m a reporter for the The Herald .”
    Think of something.
    Think of something.
    “We’ve heard rumors that the lieutenant governor is about to announce his engagement this week, and I wanted to ask you about your relationship with him.”
    That was terrible, Jade. Some private investigator you are.
    But it was all she could think of.
    She heard the woman huff again. “Sorry…I’m working out.”
    “No problem,” Jade replied.
    “Well, whoever she is, she’s one lucky woman.”
    “You think so, huh?”
    “Definitely.”
    “So, you’re not still involved with the lieutenant governor?”
    “Oh no, that was months ago and it was all in good fun. I wasn’t exactly what Rhys was looking for.”
    “So, you two had an amicable break up.”
    “There wasn’t anything really to break up.”
    “So, you weren’t trying to become Mrs. Rhys Cunningham?”
    “Oh no, honey. I would not make a good political wife. I’m positive Rhys will someday make it to Washington. That’s too much time in the spotlight for me. Too many people like you in my business. No thank you. We had fun, but marriage was not in the cards for us.”
    “Well…okay. Thank you for your time.”
    “No problem.” She breathed heavily into the phone before hanging up.
    “Damn.” Scratch her name off the list. She sounded far from a woman holding a grudge.
    Jade had an almost identical conversation with Misty before she made it back to the office. She said the same thing as Summer. They had a great time and, and Jade had to stop her from going on and on about the great sex.
    But where Rhys was going, they had no desire to follow. So Misty made strike number two on her list. She still had to figure out how to corner Jackie and ask her about Rhys, but as much time as they spent together, and the way she looked at Rhys, Jade doubted Jackie was the mysterious person leaving the letters in Rhys’ office. However, she’d make the time to question Jackie anyway. She