Beginning: A PAVAD Prequel Novella (PAVAD: FBI Romantic Suspense) by Calle J. Brookes
Authors: Calle J. Brookes
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Prologue
SHE hated dresses that were cut almost down to the navel. She hated the looks she received when wearing the damned things. She hated how naked and exposed she felt.
Special Agent Jasmine Len fought the urge to tug the red silk up over her chest once more, as she smiled the pretty at the politician at her left, while artfully dodging the groping hand of the drunken idiot at her right. Her eyes were trained just past the politician’s shoulder on the reason she was stuck dressed like a fifty dollar hooker. Assistant Deputy Director Edward Dennis. Her date. Her boss. She’d been looking for him in the crowd for well over ten minutes.
He was so handsome in his tuxedo, though she had no trouble seeing the four times he pulled on his bow tie in under a minute. He might be good at the schmoozing, but the man definitely hated it.
All of his dreams hinged on getting The Powers That Be up the FBI food chain to champion his cause, his creation. And the division he’d proposed was definitely needed. Jasmine felt privileged to be a part of its beginning. How many hours of research had the two of them put in? Compiling statistics on each type of case the division would handle? Reviewing personnel files on the agents currently assigned to St. Louis, under Edward? It had been some seriously exhausting work, but it was done.
Now all that was needed was the money to get the Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division–the title she herself had originated–up and running. If her dressing in red silk and letting middle-aged perverts look down her cleavage would help get that money, she would do it. But nothing said she had to like it.
Ed finished speaking with the small group surrounding him and walked toward her. Jasmine felt a genuine smile touch her lips. She loved working with the older man, as his assistant and general go-to girl. It wasn’t what she had imagined when she’d graduated from the Academy at Quantico, but she’d found she was extremely good at what she did. And she did everything he asked of her. She stepped away from the drunken idiots surrounding her and joined him part way.
“Once again, my dear, thank you for agreeing to accompany me. Especially on such short notice.” His hand was warm on her arm, supportive. “And you look quite stunning in red.”
Jasmine smiled again. “It’s your daughter’s dress, Ed. Straight out of Georgia’s closet.”
Ed’s only child, Georgia, was a year or two older than Jasmine, and close to the same size. A bit curvier, though–the main reason why the dress wouldn’t cover Jasmine’s chest. Georgia had a bit more bust to fill out the garment. “I stopped by her house on my way to yours this evening.”
Ed shook his head. “I don’t want to even imagine my daughter in that dress. In my mind, she still wears those little girl sundresses and pigtails!”
His love for his daughter was one of her favorite things about him. Georgia was so lucky to have a father like Edward Dennis. Jasmine hadn’t been so lucky–she doubted her mother even knew her father’s name. Only that he was of Caucasian descent. And she’d met him in a bar somewhere. East of Chicago, Jasmine thought her mother had told her once.
“How was Georgia this evening? I didn’t have a chance to call her.”
“She was tired, but the case went well.” Ed’s daughter was a criminal profiler with one of the teams under Ed. Jasmine had always admired both Dennises for their dedication to their jobs and the skills with which they approached their fields. “They were a bit shorthanded, but she got called out before I left.”
“Yes. Agent Royal is still out on injury until next week, I believe.”
She knew he prided himself on knowing exactly where all of the teams in his unit were at any time. “Boston. A missing trio of teenagers. They’re not runaways, either. Georgia was going to bring Mattie over to Rosa on her way to the field office.”
Mattie was Ed’s three-year-old
SHE hated dresses that were cut almost down to the navel. She hated the looks she received when wearing the damned things. She hated how naked and exposed she felt.
Special Agent Jasmine Len fought the urge to tug the red silk up over her chest once more, as she smiled the pretty at the politician at her left, while artfully dodging the groping hand of the drunken idiot at her right. Her eyes were trained just past the politician’s shoulder on the reason she was stuck dressed like a fifty dollar hooker. Assistant Deputy Director Edward Dennis. Her date. Her boss. She’d been looking for him in the crowd for well over ten minutes.
He was so handsome in his tuxedo, though she had no trouble seeing the four times he pulled on his bow tie in under a minute. He might be good at the schmoozing, but the man definitely hated it.
All of his dreams hinged on getting The Powers That Be up the FBI food chain to champion his cause, his creation. And the division he’d proposed was definitely needed. Jasmine felt privileged to be a part of its beginning. How many hours of research had the two of them put in? Compiling statistics on each type of case the division would handle? Reviewing personnel files on the agents currently assigned to St. Louis, under Edward? It had been some seriously exhausting work, but it was done.
Now all that was needed was the money to get the Prevention & Analysis of Violent Acts Division–the title she herself had originated–up and running. If her dressing in red silk and letting middle-aged perverts look down her cleavage would help get that money, she would do it. But nothing said she had to like it.
Ed finished speaking with the small group surrounding him and walked toward her. Jasmine felt a genuine smile touch her lips. She loved working with the older man, as his assistant and general go-to girl. It wasn’t what she had imagined when she’d graduated from the Academy at Quantico, but she’d found she was extremely good at what she did. And she did everything he asked of her. She stepped away from the drunken idiots surrounding her and joined him part way.
“Once again, my dear, thank you for agreeing to accompany me. Especially on such short notice.” His hand was warm on her arm, supportive. “And you look quite stunning in red.”
Jasmine smiled again. “It’s your daughter’s dress, Ed. Straight out of Georgia’s closet.”
Ed’s only child, Georgia, was a year or two older than Jasmine, and close to the same size. A bit curvier, though–the main reason why the dress wouldn’t cover Jasmine’s chest. Georgia had a bit more bust to fill out the garment. “I stopped by her house on my way to yours this evening.”
Ed shook his head. “I don’t want to even imagine my daughter in that dress. In my mind, she still wears those little girl sundresses and pigtails!”
His love for his daughter was one of her favorite things about him. Georgia was so lucky to have a father like Edward Dennis. Jasmine hadn’t been so lucky–she doubted her mother even knew her father’s name. Only that he was of Caucasian descent. And she’d met him in a bar somewhere. East of Chicago, Jasmine thought her mother had told her once.
“How was Georgia this evening? I didn’t have a chance to call her.”
“She was tired, but the case went well.” Ed’s daughter was a criminal profiler with one of the teams under Ed. Jasmine had always admired both Dennises for their dedication to their jobs and the skills with which they approached their fields. “They were a bit shorthanded, but she got called out before I left.”
“Yes. Agent Royal is still out on injury until next week, I believe.”
She knew he prided himself on knowing exactly where all of the teams in his unit were at any time. “Boston. A missing trio of teenagers. They’re not runaways, either. Georgia was going to bring Mattie over to Rosa on her way to the field office.”
Mattie was Ed’s three-year-old
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