Free Icy Control by Elizabeth Lapthorne

faint scent, the strength of his body under her touch a pleasant distraction.
    The elevator moved down.

Chapter Four
     
     
     
    “Is there a way to keep Vicky out of this?” Sally asked as she drove the car.
    Rob had been scrawling and muttering for the last few minutes. When Sally’d overheard him say something about ‘… precursor to the bloody report I’m doomed to spend hours …’ she’d decided a change in topic was due. She glanced down at his notebook and his usually difficult to decipher writing had become all but illegible.
    He might be annoyed at the interruption now, she thought, but he’d thank her later. Clearly he was getting worked up over something, likely the case and the mountain of paperwork it would generate. She knew how much he hated reports and the more administrative side of his job. Besides, if his writing got even more illegible he’d become further frustrated at two in the morning when he couldn’t read what he’d written. A brief distraction now might help him calm down and focus better.
    Sally looked away from the road and caught her lover’s gaze. His mind seemed to tick over and he caught up to where her question was. She returned her gaze back to where they were going. They were nearly at Vicky’s and she wanted to pay attention, find a good parking spot.
    Silence filled the car, but she could hear the weight of his thoughts. She bit down lightly on her lower lip and furrowed her brow slightly. Scanning the curb, she couldn’t see anything free down this street. She cast a swift glance at Rob, wondering if he’d gone back to his report. She jolted in surprise when she caught him staring at her, a twinkle in his dark eyes.
    “What?” she queried. Lifting a hand to rub at her nose, she wondered if she’d had paint or something smeared there this whole time. Rob grinned at her warmly and she moved her attention back to her driving.
    “Nothing. You’re just adorable. You make my breath catch. I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
    She grinned.
    “Too right you’re lucky. I know El is a brilliant partner for these missions of yours, but today I’m your lucky charm. Vicky can hopefully give us the answers you need and is the missing key to this thing.”
    Out of her peripheral vision she saw Rob shake his head. She lightly tapped the brakes and turned the corner. She continued cruising slowly, looking for a spot.
    “Sal, you’re perfect and I can’t wait to prove that to you, now and every day in the future. As to your question earlier, unless your friend knowingly took part in a crime, or willingly acted as an accomplice or co-conspirator, she has nothing to worry about. Even if she falls somewhere in the gray area, I doubt the Agency will want to cause problems for her. You realize we don’t beat people with rubber hoses or torture them for being human, right?”
    “That’s not what I’m worried about,” she said. She had no illusions about Bobby. He was a moral, upright man who strongly believed in justice and the right thing. She had no doubts he made life miserable in many ways for bad people. He’d likely even done his share of violence in the past and would do so if called for again in the future. But ‘beating people with a rubber hose’ just was not his style. Not ever. The thought of it made her want to chuckle.
    “It’s just…well, Vicky might have a somewhat checkered past,” she tried to clarify. While Sally also considered herself an inherently moral person, she knew some of her beliefs weren’t as black and white as Rob’s. She saw more shades of gray and had room in her belief system for taking other factors into account. And a number of her acquaintances had less white and more gray shades in their personal codes.
    She didn’t want to put Rob on the spot, nor get any of her friends into trouble.
    The moment of silence stretched out and she focused fully on looking for a parking space. She could hear Rob thinking again, and cast a glance at