DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(124)

“Yeah, well, people have done stranger things when offered an insane amount of money.” My father rubbed his face, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I asked around. A patent like this one would be worth more than a few billion dollars. If it’s really everything Mr. Montgomery says it is, it would be absolutely priceless. Millions of patients would require it, and they would likely pay almost any price for it.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah. I was reading about these devices. It does seem to be very valuable to a lot of people.”

“If I were the brother, I might not care too much about brotherly love if someone offered me a billion dollars to steal it. Besides, aren’t they stepbrothers or something?”

“Yeah. Jacob is a product of his father’s first marriage, and Lucien is the son of Callahan’s third wife’s first marriage.”

“Confusing.”

“A little. But what it boils down to is that they aren’t really related, and Jacob is eleven years older than Lucien, so they didn’t really grow up together. They act close, but it could be just that. An act.”

“Okay.” My father stood and stretched, a huge yawn threatening to dislocate his jaw. “Stay close to Mr. Montgomery, and keep an eye on Mr. Callahan. I’ve got Sara and Mercedes checking out the other three names Montgomery gave us. If any red flags come up, they’ll call you.”

“I’m actually due to meet Lucien at his office at two.”

“Like that?”

I looked down at myself. I was wearing my typical office attire: jeans and a vintage t-shirt. I was not a skirt and heels kind of girl. I’d always been more comfortable in jeans, the result, likely, of the fact that my father raised me on his own after my mother died in a car accident when I was nine. My mother and my younger sister, Amelia. He never was one to learn how to do pigtails or to shop for prom dresses. So I wasn’t either. And then there was the military. Not exactly a feminine atmosphere there, either. The dress I’d worn last night? Borrowed from Theresa, our receptionist. And the makeup? A saleswoman at the local Dillard’s applied it and sold me everything I’d need to do it again. The only thing was, I wasn’t sure I could repeat what she’d done.

“I’ll change.”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt for you to take Theresa and go on a little shopping spree. You could charge it to the company card, since it is for a case.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t think about it, Adrienne. This is a high priority case that could lead to more cases like it. It’s important we treat it that way.”

I nodded, feeling properly chastised. We’d already had this conversation, in some form, after he agreed to take the case without telling me what it was I was going to have to do. It hadn’t been quite as cordial as all this.

My job was to work in the background, find the person who was causing our client problems. Usually it was simple things, like death threats and stalkers. I did research, followed people around as they went about their day, coordinated with the police when we caught someone breaking the law. I occasionally had to hang out in an office, and for those occasions I had a simple business suit. But this… It was completely out of my job description.

“You’ll have to act as his girlfriend for a week.”

“His girlfriend?”

“Dress up. Show up at his office. Watch the people around him.”

“That’s usually the kind of thing you have Mercedes do.”

“Yes, well, Mercedes is busy with another case. And she doesn’t quite fit his type.”

“His type?”

“He wants someone he can take to formal dinner. Someone who won’t cuss the waiter out in Spanish if he looks at her sideways.”

“So send Sara.”

“Sara’s also on a case already, Adrienne. You’re all we have, and this is an important case. I wouldn’t send you if it wasn’t.”

“You’re my pimp now? Is that it?”

He didn’t acknowledge that statement, and I apologized later. But I still didn’t like what he found so easy to make me do. But, again, I wasn’t sure he was fully aware of how enthusiastically the client took the whole girlfriend charade. To my father, dating consisted of nothing more than a few dinners out and some innocent handholding. Maybe a chaste kiss at the door. If he’d seen Lucien’s hand under my skirt last night, it would not have been good for either of them.

I sighed as I watched my father walk out the door. Then I picked up the phone and called down to the reception desk.

“Can you get Robert to watch the desk for you? I need your help.”




I nearly turned and walked back out when Theresa pulled me through the doors of a boutique in River Oaks. This place was so far outside of my comfort zone that I couldn’t even breathe the stale, upscale air. But Theresa had a firm hold on my arm and dragged me farther into the room until a saleslady caught sight of us.

“How can I help you?” the woman asked, her nasal voice matching the way she looked down her patrician nose at us.

“My friend here needs a new wardrobe. ASAP. And she has an unlimited credit line on her credit card.”

The saleslady’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Well, then, follow me.”

She led the way to a back room that was clearly reserved for special customers. There was a long couch and a lovely bar in one corner, and a raised platform where models could come in and show off the latest fashions. I felt like I’d fallen into a bad chick flick. The only thing missing was the appropriately aloof hero with the credit card between his fingers.