Edge of Midnight (McClouds & Friends #4)(98)

He dialed Gordon. The man picked up. “What?” he barked.

“Don’t sulk, Gordon,” he purred. “I have a juicy piece of meat to throw to you. You’re going to absolutely love this job.”



Proof on the tapes in EFPV. HC behind count birds B63.

Liv tried to make her brain soft and receptive. Looking for that relaxed, creative place where insights came from. She stared at one of Kev’s pictures. The lake, with ducks swimming on it.

The rumble of male voices in the background had blurred. She no longer heard individual words. She fought discouragement. The McClouds guys had spent months poring over this stuff, they’d known their brother since birth. Plus, they were all brilliant. If they’d had no luck, what the hell did she think she could accomplish?

Then again, what else did she have to do? It was all she had to offer. Not being a commando warrior like everybody else around here.

She rested her eyes and stared out the huge window that looked out over the cliffs. The fog had rolled in, so they seemed to be floating in the clouds. Insubstantial wisps of mist were woven and braided through the dark trees of the mountains that thrust through the mass of white.

The door to the room slammed open. Tamara stormed in, and placed her fists on her hips, glaring at the men who sprawled on her couches and chairs, guzzling coffee and muttering amongst themselves.

“Your womenfolk have arrived, gentlemen,” she announced. “Have you invited anyone else to my secret hiding place without asking my permission? Should I call the caterers?”

Seth sat up, scowling. “We told them to stay on the island today!”

Connor flopped back on the couch. “It’s like talking to the wall.”

Tam stomped out of the room, muttering under her breath.

Sean noted Liv’s bewildered face. “Don’t worry,” he assured her. “She likes Raine and Margot and Erin. Way more than she likes us guys. She just has to make a fuss, on principle. Pay her no mind.”

“Uh, OK.” Paying Tam no mind was a real toughie. “Whatever.”

“Come on.” He slid his arm around her waist. “Let’s go down and meet them. I want to introduce you.”

They crowded into the foyer as Tam disarmed the security. The pieces of the space-age door retracted. A square of greenery quivered at the end of the long garage. A sporty little silver Volkswagen pulled in.

Three women climbed out. A pretty dark-haired woman who was clearly pregnant, a voluptuous freckled beauty with a bushy red mop of hair, and a slender blonde, her fuzzy cloud of pale hair pulled back into a loose braid. Their eyes fastened on to Liv, alight with interest. She braced herself as they crowded into the little room, looking her over.

“Were you followed? Did you bother to check? Did it minimally occur to you?” Tam barked at the tall redhead in the fore.

The woman beamed, and gave her a bear hug. Tam stiffened, holding out her arms like she didn’t know what to do with them. “Great to see you, Tam. We miss you.” She frowned, spanning Tam’s waist with her hands. “You’ve gotten teensy. What is up with that? You been sick?”

“Sick of hearing about it, that’s for sure.” Tam’s eyes narrowed as she returned Margot’s scrutiny. “Oh, God. You’re pregnant.”

Margot’s eyes widened. “But we’re not sure yet.”

“Be sure.”

“How?” Margot demanded. “Did Davy say something to you?”

“No. He didn’t have to. It’s written all over you. Like neon.”

Liv studied the redhead’s amazonian body, but she didn’t see any neon. Just strong, sexy curves. The brunette, who had to be Erin, grabbed Tam as well, hugging her with the same fearless abandon.

Tam returned the hug, albeit somewhat stiffly. “How’s gestation?” she asked, patting Erin’s rounded belly in a gingerly way.

Erin’s smile was complacent. “Cowlike. Blissful. A boy.”

Tam smacked her forehead. “As if the world needed another McCloud male.” She turned to the blonde, and suffered patiently to be hugged a third time. “You’re not breeding yet, are you? Say you’re not.”

A pained smile flitted over the woman’s face. “Ah, nope. Not yet.”

Tam’s eyes sharpened as she looked her over. “Hmph,” she murmured. “Not from lack of trying, I bet.” She spun around and indicated Liv with a flourish of her arm. “Well, ladies, here she is. The main event. The mild-mannered librarian who sent a contract killer running with his tail tucked. Our kind of girl. Cute, isn’t she?”

“She sure is,” Margot said, her eyes flicking up to Sean’s with a delighted twinkle in them. “Nice work, buddy. She’s yummy.”

“I didn’t, really. Send him running, I mean.” Liv hastened to clarify. “It was just, you know. Dumb luck.”

The women looked at each other. “That’s all it ever is,” Erin told her solemnly. They chortled, as if at some private joke, and smirked at Sean, slapping his ass as they filed by. He suffered this with a look of stoic martyrdom, and followed them down the hall towards the kitchen.

Margot flung an arm over Liv’s shoulder. “Excuse the invasion,” she said. “We were practically peeing our pants from curiosity. Any woman who could wrangle this spaz into shape must have an amazing set of ovaries. We just had to come and gawk.”