After a lunch of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she donned the black wig, knocked on Gladys’s door and took Sweet Pea for a walk, going the opposite direction from Cole’s town house. Somehow, she managed to stroll around several blocks, making a complete circle that landed her in front of Cole’s place, though. He didn’t jog by this time, and she didn’t see him peering through his window, looking for her.
A stab of disappointment struck her. She couldn’t understand why. She’d bet her life on remaining alone. Why would seeing a stranger occasionally mean anything to her?
Because, after a year of being alone, she knew there were people out there who had her best interests at heart. She wasn’t truly alone anymore. And it felt good.
That thought warmed her cold soul. For too long, she’d had to squelch all emotions. Her training with Trinity had emphasized that point. Any recruit who cried was punished severely. After one or two beatings, she’d learned to hold back her emotions, to swallow the tears and get tough. By doing so, she lessened or erased the pain.
When she’d been tasked with killing the pregnant woman, it had been the first crack in the wall she’d built around her heart. Having the backing of Declan’s Defenders was chinking away at more of the mortar that held her emotions at bay. Talking via voice or text with Cole reminded her of the vulnerability of emotions. It scared her to open up to anyone, to leave herself exposed to the kindness of others.
Hell, even the happiness Sweet Pea displayed when she’d come to take her for a walk had pinched CJ’s heart. She needed to be alone, to remain aloof, to fight her own battles.
But Trinity was bigger than one person could deal with. She’d had to get help. She’d had to trust others to get the job done.
After she left Sweet Pea with Gladys, she went back to her sublet town house, showered and changed into a little black dress she’d picked up at the secondhand store, black heels and the long blond wig. Taking a circuitous route to the nearest station, she rode the metro into DC and got off near the pub Carpenter frequented.
She arrived well before five o’clock, found a stool at the far end of the bar and ordered vodka and cranberry juice, figuring it was girlie enough for a blonde woman wearing a sexy black dress. CJ preferred whiskey or beer, but the drink was cool and refreshing. Now all she had to do was wait for Carpenter to arrive.
If he arrived.
The first thirty minutes passed with a couple tourists wandering in and ordering beer. They left after they’d finished their beers to find someplace to eat.
The bartender asked a couple of times if he could get her another drink, which CJ politely declined.
A glance at the time on her cell phone indicated it was well past five thirty and creeping up on six. CJ had begun to think Carpenter wouldn’t make his usual stop and her time there would have been a waste.
Then the door opened and a man in a dark gray suit entered and found a table in a shadowy corner.
From the pictures CJ had found online, the man was Chris Carpenter.
She studied him out of the corner of her eye, taking in the nice suit and tie, the highly polished shoes and the fact that he was staring at the entrance as if he was worried or expecting someone.
CJ kept her head down, watched and waited.
A couple minutes later, another man walked through the door and took a seat at the bar. He wore an Atlanta Braves baseball cap, jeans and a Led Zeppelin revival T-shirt. After ordering a drink, he removed the cap and ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand on end. He ordered the whiskey CJ wished she was drinking.
When he turned his profile toward her, she sucked in a sharp breath.
Cole.
She couldn’t forget the close-cropped, dark brown hair, square jaw and his nose that wasn’t quite straight but had a bump in it like it had been broken at some point in his life.
Another man walked through the door and sat on one of the stools in between CJ and Cole. He ordered a draft beer. When the tall mug came, he lifted it, turned in his seat and looked around the bar.
Was this a man who’d come to talk to a traitor?
CJ stared at the mirror behind the bar, watching the man’s every move. He turned to her, got off his stool and moved to the one next to her.
He hitched his leg up on the stool and set his mug on the bar. Then he leaned toward her. “Hey, beautiful, you come here often?”
She shook her head, not wanting to start a conversation with him.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
Again, she shook her head and lifted the half-empty glass of the drink she’d been nursing for the past hour and a half. The ice had melted and the liquid had grown lukewarm. CJ didn’t care. She didn’t want another drink as much as she wanted to find the leader of Trinity and put an end to the terror.
“Not much of a talker, are you?” the man said and leaned closer. “That’s okay, talk is overrated. What say you and I go get some supper, then find a place with some music?”
The idiot couldn’t take ignoring him as an answer. Apparently, he had to have things spelled out for him.
CJ drew in a deep breath and spoke softly but with a steely edge. “I’m not interested.”
“If you want to wait until you finish your drink, I’m flexible,” the man said.
She didn’t look at the man, just set her drink on the bar and started talking.
“Sir, I’m not interested in drinking, eating or sleeping with you, now or in the future. You might as well move on.”
The man’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m being really nice. Asking all polite, and everything.”
CJ slipped to the edge of her bar stool, ready to take the man down if he so much as touched her. Meanwhile, a brunette, wearing a slim-line black skirt with a white button-down blouse, entered the bar, pushed a long strand of her chocolate-brown hair out of her face and looked around, as if trying to get her eyes to adjust to dim lighting. After a few minutes, she scanned the interior. She must have found who she was looking for because she didn’t stand around long. Hiking her cross-body purse up onto her shoulder, she walked past Cole, CJ and the man bugging the fire out of her and slipped into the booth beside Chris Carpenter’s. She sat with her back to Chris.
“You sure look hungry,” the guy beside CJ was saying. “What would it hurt for you to come share a meal with me?” Obnoxious Man couldn’t get the hint that his attention was unwanted.
“Darla, honey.” The familiar male voice cut into Obnoxious Man’s continued pressuring. “I’m sorry I was late.” Cole slipped an arm over her shoulder and bent to brush a kiss across her lips.
CJ was so surprised, she forgot to breathe. When Cole set her at arm’s length, he turned to the man beside her. “Do I have you to thank for keeping my fiancée company while she waited for me to get off work?”
The man’s brow furrowed. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. Didn’t know the lady was spoken for.” And obviously hadn’t seen Cole sitting at the bar a few stools away.
“No worries,” Cole said. “My baby knows how to take care of herself.” He winked and looked down at CJ. “Ready to go? We have a few stops on the way home.”
She smiled, though she wanted to frown. What was his game? Then she shot a glance at the booth where Chris Carpenter had been sitting. He was gone. And so was the female who’d sat in the booth beside his.
CJ hopped up from her stool, slipped