Page 12 of Maneater

“Exactly. With everything else going on, I need to be on the ground. I need to get to the bottom of whatever’s happening. Can you find me a flight there as soon as possible?

“Oooh, undercover mission. I like it,” she says, continuing to click and type.

“I wouldn’t call it that,” I grumble as I start tossing things haphazardly into a suitcase. “Everyone knows who I am, so I can’t exactly go under cover at my own resort.”

“Boring,” Sutton grumbles, then my phone against my ear pings with a new message. “Okay, got it. You gotta be at Newark in two and a half hours. That doable?”

“Perfect. Thanks, Sutton,” I say, pulling three shirts from my closet and putting them into my suitcase, followed by a dozen ties. I’m not sure how long I’ll be there, so I might as well pack a good amount.

“You couldn’t function without me, I know, I know. I’ll add it to my file for my next performance review.”

“You’ve never had a performance review, Sutton. You always fill out the form for me and file a raise for yourself.”

“Exactly. I need to keep my notes up to date.”

For the first time since my phone rang, I let out a laugh.

Sutton hums. “When you get a second, send me the details on what exactly you’ve got on this leak, and I’ll try to see if I can find any overlap.”

“You’re a godsend,” I say, then hang up and finish packing.

FIVE

JOSIE

My phone beeps the next morning, long after I’ve woken, worked out, eaten breakfast, and cleaned my apartment. The morning of a new assignment is like Christmas to me, and even though I’m already a bit of a morning person, I’m even more so on those days, my pulse excited with the prospect of some new havoc to wreak, some new puzzle to solve.

The last three weeks have consisted of small jobs, like last night, involving finding evidence of cheating, lying, and the like. Last week, my partner Rory and I spent three nights tailing a man whose wife was convincedhe’d been cheating, only to find those secretive calls had been him setting up some grand anniversary surprise for her.

I give him a year beforehereaches out to us, asking for information on his wife this time.

That being said, a tried-and-true destination undercover job has been a long time coming, and it’s my favorite kind of assignment to get. Upon hearing the beep, I rush to my phone to check if our assignment has dropped, and when I see Rory’s name instead of Gabriel’s, I deflate.

Letme up

Just then, the buzzer to my apartment goes off, and without even checking to see who it is, I hit accept. Two minutes later, Rory is walking into my place and locking the door behind her.

“You don’t even check to see if it’s me? Have you learned nothing in the years you’ve been working here?”

I roll my eyes, then reach over to my counter, grab my pink, bedazzled taser, and buzz it. “I’ve got good ol’ Betty here.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’ve never evenusedthat thing.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Never being in a situation where I have to use a taser?” I set down my trusty weapon before moving over to my couch and flopping back with a sigh. “Why are you here so early?”

“Assignment day. Gabriel told me to head here, and when we were together, he’d call and give us our assignment.”

“How did you know I’d be up?”

She rolls her eyes, as if I’m being purposely obtuse and she’s annoyed by it.

“Because no one gets more excited on assignment day than you, Josie.Everyoneknew you’d be up.”

Fair enough.

As if he can hear our conversation—which, knowing Gabriel, isn’t such a far-off concept—both of our phones ping with a new email before my laptop, already open on my coffee table, starts to ring with an incoming call. We sit closer together without a word before I hit accept, a blank screen popping up and a deep voice coming through the speakers.

“Morning, Mavens.”