Page 19

After they’d left the base the day he’d been assigned to her, Frisco had followed Haven to her home and was impressed by the security measures in place.

The property was surrounded by a tall, stone and iron fence.

While that was common in the surrounding neighborhood of expensive homes, what made this one special was the barbed wire that ran along the top of it, not high enough to be seen, but enough to rip someone’s hands to shreds if they tried to scale the wall.

There were also sensors that were parallel to the wire on either side of it, that would signal the occupants of the house that someone was trying to gain entry.

According to Haven, a certain amount of weight had to be applied so the alarm wouldn’t go off thanks to birds or squirrels.

It wasn’t entirely fool-proof, but combined with other safeguards around the property and two houses, they’d give Haven and Avery time to defend themselves.

While an attack was unlikely, given who they were employed by, all precautions had to be taken.

Frisco had also learned that Haven’s van was actually made of bulletproof panels and glass. Avery’s SUV was too.

Entering the large office, Frisco strode over to the desk and sat down in front of his computer.

Roxie seemed undecided about who to go to, one of her constant companions or the newcomer who scratched her ears until she moaned, so she flopped down on the floor between them with a heavy sigh.

Such decisions had to be exhausting for the active canine.

Like she’d been for the past two hours, Haven was deep into something on her computer, searching the Dark Web.

Frisco studied her while she scanned whatever was on her screen.

He was pretty good with modern technology, and had even been on the seedier side of the internet a few times, but he usually left that to those who really knew what they were doing.

Besides, he was more interested in the woman than what she was reading.

He was sure if it was important, she’ d let him know.

The fact that she still couldn’t remember the mystery man she’d seen at the wedding was driving her nuts.

When she wasn’t on the computer, she was pouring through the photos and videos from that night.

They’d fallen into a comfortable routine the past week.

The first few days, he’d arrived at 0800 hours, and they spent hours guessing at possible sites the suspect might choose.

The three Delta teams had been dispatched to the Texas cities of Del Rio, Laredo, and McAllen, all on the Mexican border.

It would be faster for at least one of the teams to get to the target destination from any of those locations.

Carter and Jordyn had Reardon holed up in a safe house in San Antonio.

The geek had his own setup there to access the Dark Web, but there hadn’t been any contact from the elusive Mr. Smith since he’d told “Preston Ward” the meeting would be somewhere south of the border.

After Frisco had fallen asleep in the executive desk chair he was currently sitting in one evening, Haven had taken pity on him and told him to crash on the couch, due to the lack of a guest bed.

Since then, he’d slept there every night, having brought some clothes and things in a duffel bag from his apartment.

While he’d have preferred to sleep in Haven’s bed, the couch was actually pretty comfortable.

Frisco glanced at the clock on his computer screen. “Hey, it’s six o’clock. Since Avery has the night off to visit with her niece, what do you say we order a pizza?”

“Sounds good. Just no anchovies.” Haven hadn’t taken her eyes off the screen as she spoke.

Sighing, he stood, strode over to her console, and rested his ass against the desk top. “Haven?”

When she didn’t look at him, he cupped her chin and turned her head toward him. Her eyes narrowed. “What?”

“You’ve been at it for hours—for days. You need to take a break.

I’ll order a pizza, we can find a movie on TV and act like normal people for a change.

You can’t work yourself into the ground.

” The only breaks he knew she’d been taking were to sleep, shower, eat, and go to therapy.

They’d coordinated their appointments so they could ride over together in her van.

Frisco couldn’t stop himself from brushing his thumb back and forth over her soft cheek as he stared into her cognac-colored eyes. “C’mon, whatta ya say? I’ll even let you choose the movie.”

He thought for sure she was going to turn him down, as she’d done several times this week when he’d tried to get her to relax and unwind, but this time she surprised him.

She opened a drawer on the other side of her chair, withdrew a takeout menu, and handed it to him.

“Okay. But I want Chinese instead of pizza. I’m in the mood for General Tso’s shrimp and pork fried rice. ”

Grinning, he opened the menu and scanned the fifty or so choices. “What else is good besides that? We can share.”

“Who said anything about sharing?” she asked with a smirk. “I don’t share my General Tso’s shrimp with anybody.”

“Hmm ... not even with someone ordering Szechuan beef?”

“Mmm. You drive a hard bargain. I might be persuaded to swap a few bites, if ... you let me have your fortune cookie.”

His brow raised at her playfulness. He’d been flirting with her all week, and while she hadn’t said he was overstepping the boundaries between them, she also hadn’t flirted back ... until tonight. “Tell you what, I’ll order extra.”

Haven pushed on the wheels of her chair and rolled backward. “Great. While you call it in, I’m going to hop in the shower. ”

“I can scrub your back if you want.”

The blush he loved so much was back, staining her cheeks. “I got it covered, stud. Thanks anyway.”

His laughter followed her out the door. Maybe he was finally growing on her. Awesome.