Circle of Desire by Carla Swafford Page B

that type of power, but they’d never forgotten it.
    Nor had she. She had frequent nightmares about it.
    Collin strode by with Nic almost skipping to catch up. Olivia’s gaze followed the man down the hallway. Her chest tightened with a new thought. Her nightmares might take a new turn.

 
    Chapter Nine
    O livia’s first time to Phoenix had been with Theo and all she remembered was desert and everything brown and dirty. A few years later, alone, she’d tracked down an assignment to Phoenix and found the place colorful, filled with people wanting to enjoy life to the fullest. Mind-set had a lot to do with it, and this time she couldn’t wait to experience a town she’d grown to love with a man who challenged her at every turn. She was ready for whatever he threw at her.
    She turned from watching the golden sun setting over the raised interstate and buildings. Not the best view, but considering the area was packed with stock car fans, they were fortunate to find a room. Of course, she wasn’t complaining. She eyed the man sitting at the desk with his back to her, checking the times of the different events on his laptop.
    Before they’d left on their flight, Collin had filled her in on why they wanted Mason so bad. OS needed some information about a valuable missing artifact Mason may or may not have. If the Inferno had it and sold it, they would have enough funds to purchase the plutonium they needed off the black market to complete a bomb large enough to blow up several blocks in Washington, D.C., if not the whole city. By the OS stealing the artifact, they could block the sale and destroy any chance of Inferno from existing. No funds. No operation. Then they hoped the fanatics, defeated, would think twice about crawling out the swamps they came from.
    An itch on the back of her neck warned of being more involved.
    “We have pit passes. That’ll make it easier to scout out the area near his favorite driver.” He jotted down a few notes on the pad next to him.
    After receiving intel about Mason’s planned excursion to the NASCAR cup race the next day in Phoenix, Collin was able to pull a few strings and score some tickets. So it appeared she’d be going to her first stock car race. Actually, she was rather excited about it.
    “You think Mason will be hanging with the other groupies in the pit?” she asked.
    “He’s convinced several of the drivers he’s a representative for Champion Oil. With the way he flashes money and talks big, anyone would believe it.” Collin clicked on a couple pages, showing the layout of the racetrack.
    “So what’s our story?” On the way there, including on the plane, they’d played husband and wife, Joe and Lisa Murphy, on vacation.
    “We stick with our story as a newly married couple out having fun and visiting our favorite sport, looking for a good time. We decided the race sounded as interesting as the canyon.” He continued to click on the computer keys.
    That was bothering the hell out of her. After he’d been the attentive husband all day, she wanted him to finish it. What had he expected? She’d had so much fun rubbing against him every chance she got on the trip, maybe even becoming a little too amorous on a plane with a large group of people. Not until they reached the hotel room had his jaw unclenched enough for him to speak normally. So what was stopping him? What was so interesting about the fucking computer that made him ignore her?
    “There were a couple times on our little trip I had to make up some history. So what’s our story? Met in college, work? Been married three, six months, or a year?” she asked, hoping to irritate him as much as he irritated her.
    He stopped clicking, stared at the wall for a moment, and then closed the laptop.
    With a shake of his head, he looked over his shoulder at her. “What’s the matter? I gave you the file before we left. It’s not like you’re an amateur.” He pushed back the chair and stood.
    Well, wasn’t he