Armed With Steele (14 page)

Nate must have hung it there when he’d set the bowls down. Probably envisioned this very scene as he did, the big jerk.

I latched it to Brutus’s collar, tore the door open, and we bolted from the house. Brutus took two steps and stopped, then proceeded to piss all over the driveway.

“Nice,” I said as I watched the growing puddle with disgust.

He finished his deed, then made for the backyard, his nose following a world of smells in the cool, fall air. I followed along, happy to trade the hard, frigid cement for our softer grassy backyard. A breeze kicked up then, and chilled me in unexpected places. That’s when I realized I had on no socks, no shoes…and no pants.

“Shit!” I crouched down and pulled my oversized t-shirt down as low as possible. Another fall breeze kicked up, chilling me to the bone. “C-c-can’t y-you h-h-hurry up-p-p alr-r-ready?”

Somewhere down the alley, I heard a car door slam and a motor start—a potential witness to my outdoor pajama party. “C-c-c-c-ome on-n-n!”

Pooch finally found a spot that pleased him, circled once, then squatted. I averted my eyes, both to offer him a little privacy and to keep from getting grossed out. After a moment I felt a tug on the leash. I glanced over at the mighty gift he’d left for me in the grass and nearly gagged. Brutus, in the meantime, had pranced past me to the back door. He stood there, looking back as if to say, “So, are you coming, or what?”

I growled and scurried toward the door.
Almost there…almost there…

A whistle rang out from the alley. I gave its owner the ole one finger salute, then hurried both me and dog inside. The pile out back could wait—I had more important things to do, like defrost my feet while I plotted Nate’s murder.

Damn him and his bright ideas.

I refilled Brutus’s water and food bowls, and threw him a stern look. “Don’t destroy anything, okay? I’ll be out in a few.”

I turned the shower on, and heard my cell phone ring. Didn’t bother to check the caller ID—I was 99.9% sure of who I’d find on the other end of the line. “Hello?

“Mornin’ sunshine. How’d Brutus do last night?”

“Why, Officer Steele, how nice of you to call.” The frost in my tone matched that of my feet.

“That good, huh? Let me guess, you tried to keep him out of your room.”

“Yeah.” I cast a nervous glance toward the lower right-hand corner of my bedroom door and made a mental note to look later and see just how bad it looked on the other side. The scratching had commenced as soon as I’d turned off all the lights, and no amount of yelling, threatening or ignoring would get him to stop. After half an hour, I’d caved. Let him into my room, but not onto my bed. No way was I going to allow that slobbery beast on my beautiful down comforter.

If I’d wanted a waterbed, I would have bought one.

“You know, some nighttime instructions would have been nice.”

“Mmneh, I knew you’d figure it out eventually.”

Steam rolled out from the bathroom, calling to my shivering body with power equivalent to Ulysses’ sirens. “Look, it was very…
kind
…of you to offer me some extra security and all, but I really don’t think this is going to work out.”

“Sure it will. You just need to give it a little more time. Get used to having him around. Why, you’ll be best buds in no time.” The voice of his dispatcher piped up in the background. “Oh, I gotta go.”

“But wait! What about Brutus?” Desperate to be rid of the dog, I tried to change tactics. “Don’t you miss him? I mean, he moped around here all evening!”

“Well, sure I do, but it’s just temporary. And don’t worry, he wasn’t moping. That’s just his normal look. Anyway, I’ll stop by later to see how that resume’s coming.”

I gritted my clattering teeth. “You’re assuming I’ll be here.”

He chuckled. “Well, if you do step out, just make sure you put some pants on this time.”

* * * *

We were in the backyard when Nate arrived, me on the bottom step of the deck and Brutus scratching his back on the crispy autumn grass. Only, I didn’t know he was there until his dog froze, perked its ears up, and then took off full speed around the side of the house. How he didn’t rip my arm completely out of its socket is still a mystery.

“Hey there, boy!” Nate knelt down and welcomed his buddy with open arms. Brutus wagged his tailless backend in delight. “Were you a good boy for Jessica? Huh? Were you?” he asked in baby talk, each hand scratching under one of Brutus’s ears.

I tossed him the leash and rubbed my sore shoulder. “Oh yeah, he’s been
super
.”

“He couldn’t have done that much damage in one day.”

“No? Well, let’s see. His sudden, urgent need to pee this morning caused me to run outside half naked.”

“I’m still sorry I missed that,” Nate said, a grin on his face. “I’ve got a few guys keeping a closer eye on your place right now. Frank sure enjoyed the view.”

“Well, at least those security guards are outside, and aren’t known to have an affinity for wicker baskets.”

Nate stopped scratching and held Brutus’s face in his hands. “Bad boy. No eating Jessica’s things.”

Brutus answered with soft “woof.”

I dug my thumbs into my jeans pockets and shrugged. “It wasn’t mine—it was Grace’s. And honestly, I’m kinda glad it’s gone—I can’t stand wicker.”

Nate looked up at me sheepishly. “Maybe she won’t notice?”

“Grace not notice something? Ha! Ain’t gonna happen. In fact, I’d be willing to bet money she notices it’s gone within five minutes of coming back home.”

Nate stood and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. “Shoot. I really am sorry about that.”

I shrugged. “What’s done is done. Are you coming in, or do you have another hot date to run off to?”

An amused look flitted across his face. “Sorry, Jess. Did I forget to mention we’re allowed to see other people?”

I took a step closer to him, determined to set some boundaries. “Frankly, I don’t care
who
you see or
when
you see them, so long as it doesn’t get in the way of
you
,” I said, jabbing his shoulder to emphasize my point, “covering
my
back.” I hitched my thumb toward me.

“Good thing you’re not the jealous type. And the name’s Nate, not Frank.”

I spun on my heel, and stalked toward the back door. “Whatever.”

* * * *

“So, you going to show me this resume of yours or not?” Nate asked, then shoveled another forkful of leftover dessert into his mouth. Apple crisp again. Either the man was a sucker for sweets, or just had a bottomless pit of a stomach.

I took a drink from my Coke Zero. “What, you don’t believe me when I say it’s done?”

“Oh, I believe you alright. But I have a feeling you wrote it to reflect your
actual
work history.”

I frowned. “As opposed to wh—”

“As opposed to what you should have written, which is a resume sure to catch the hiring manager’s eye at Maxwell.”

“Are you suggesting I lie?”

“It’s not lying. More like…being creative with words.”

I crossed my arms. “You mean lie.”

“May I please just see it?”

His use of
please
gave him away. Nate was trying not to set me off. Must have known he was still in the doghouse after the stunt he’d pulled with my new live-in security system.

“Fine.” I dropped my arms and went to retrieve the copies I’d printed. “Here.”

He skimmed the first page. Then the second. “Nope, this won’t do.” He looked up. “You got a pen?”

“Hey, I spent a lot of time on this!” Time I should have been spending on my new client’s website.
“What could you possibly want to change?”

“Look, Jess, this would be a stellar resume if you were applying for some sort of computer techie job, but you’re not. You’re applying for an administrative assistant position at one of the biggest names in town.” He turned in his chair and motioned for me to have a seat in the chair next to him. “See, going undercover is a lot like acting. You’ve got to assume the role, you know? Get in your head that you are this other person. Have you done any acting before?”

I froze. Managed to shake my head a fraction of an inch in both directions.

“Really? Not even in grade school? A line or two in one of those silly all-school sing fests?”

I shivered involuntarily as the vision of my third grade music program came to mind. One minute I’m standing on the second riser, looking out at a gymnasium full of parents. The next, four teachers are hurrying me back stage, shoving a paper bag in my face.

My first bout with hyperventilation.

I fought the urge to run across the room to my secret stash of emergency paper lunch sacks. “No.”

“Okay. Well, let me put it another way. If you were Jessica Hartley, administrative assistant extraordinaire, what would your resume look like?” He set the document on the table between us.

“Well…” I tried to think back. How had we worded things on Grace’s resume? “Maybe I should only list past jobs related to
office
work.”

He nodded, motioned for me to continue. “And?”

“And maybe exaggerate the skills and competencies I have that a manager might look for in an AA?”

“Now you’re getting it. If you’ll grab me a pen, we’ll have this revamped in no time.”

Turned out, he was quite the wordsmith. In a tenth of the time it’d taken me to create the resume, we’d completely overhauled it to the point that any hiring manager would have been a fool not give this candidate a chance. Nate was surprisingly easy to get along with, when I wasn’t so focused on trying to shoot down his ideas.

“Nice job,” I said, trying to decipher his chicken scratch. “But this really doesn’t sound a thing like me.”

He sat back in his seat and rubbed his eyes. “Assume the role, Jessica. Assume the role. You make those changes, print everything out, and you’ll be ready to fill out that app at Maxwell tomorrow.”

“Actually, I got on their website today. Already downloaded it.”

He gave me a nod. “Even better.”

“But I don’t want to give my actual address—for obvious reasons. Do you think they’ll let me slip by with my business PO Box?”

“I don’t see why not. Though, when you get hired you’ll probably have to give a legitimate address for tax purposes or something. But we can cross that bridge when we get there. For now, stick with the PO Box. That’s one less chance for them to link you to Grace.”

“Yeah. Lord knows I don’t want anyone showing up here looking for me.”

“If we play our cards right, they won’t. But just in case, like I said, I’ve got a few buddies at work watching your place. If anyone at Maxwell figures out what you’re up to before we’re ready, we’ve got you covered. Plus, you’ve got Brutus here to protect you twenty-four seven.”

“Don’t remind me.” I shot a glance over to the dog lying in the middle of my kitchen floor, motionless except for the growing puddle of drool under his chin. “You really think
he
is going to protect me? He sleeps all day, and I have yet to hear him bark.”

Brutus lifted his head off the floor a few millimeters, snorted, then dropped it back down.

“Don’t be fooled by his laid-back demeanor, Jessica.”

It was my turn to snort.

“Seriously. I’ve trained Brutus not to bark unless there’s good reason to do so.”

“So, if I hear him bark?”

Nate’s eyes flashed to mine. “Call me.”

Gulp. “What if it’s three AM?”

“Then
definitely
call me,” he said, no trace of humor in his voice.

“Okay.” The thought of calling Nate at three AM suddenly intrigued me. Protect and
serve
? I shook my head and tried to clear that line of thinking from my head. This was a business partnership, nothing more, and that’s the way it needed to stay.

Nate carried his dirty dishes over to the sink. “So the application’s filled out. The resume and cover letter drafts are complete. That means there’s just one more thing we need to do before putting this plan into action.”