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“You met Kelsey and Diha, didn’t you?”
“And Logan. He came by with Kelsey once or twice. And a really talkative pair…”
“Cat and Felecia?”
“That sounds right, but it’s fuzzy. One of them had reddish hair. Is Robin around?”
“The red head will be Cat. Robin should be close by.”
Samuel was dreading Jessica joining the office girl gang. He’d been working with Kelsey for years, so he was accustomed to her brusque, no-nonsense ways. He’d thought he’d been ready for this new office environment.
Truth was, no one was ready for when the girls got together. Some trouble always cropped up around them.
At long last, he pulled into the garage parking for the grain depot. There were more than a dozen cars present, including Zora’s.
Shit.
It wasn’t likely a good sign if Zora was at the office at midnight.
Four figures in black were positioned behind concrete barricades set a few feet from the reinforced security doors granting entry to the facility.
Samuel knew the moment Jessica saw the guards.
She pressed herself back into her seat and cried, “Oh my God!”
“Relax,” she said softly. “It’s just security. They don’t know it’s us.”
He shifted the Jeep into park then flipped off the headlights. With little to no light, the cameras probably hadn’t been able to identify them on approach so the caution made sense. He lowered his window and waved his hands.
Immediately the four guards lowered their weapons.
They were all on edge after losing their own.
“Stay here for a moment,” he said.
Jessica stared at him with wide, worried eyes.
“They’re just going verify who we are and call Zora. Everything’s okay now,” he said.
“Okay,” she muttered and squeezed his arm. “But if anyone hurts you, I’m going to have Robin’s boyfriend kick their butt.”
Samuel sputtered a laugh, but it took him a few more moments to peel back the layers on that look and her words. Jessica wasn’t concerned about herself. She was worried about him with the same tenacity as she expressed over Robin.
He wasn’t used to being the object of concern for anyone.
Before emotion overwhelmed him with this realization, he opened his door and stepped out.
One of the security detail approached him while the others watched from behind the concrete.
“Samuel Jenkins, FBI.”
“Jenkins?” The security guard’s body jolted in surprise and he quickly closed the distance while grabbing his radio. “Who is with you?”
“Jessica Chapin.”
“You’re both alive?” the man asked then spoke into the radio. “Samuel Jenkins and Jessica Chapin for clearance.”
“What?” an astonished voice crackled from the radio. “Escort them to Ms. Clark, immediately.”