Lethal Affairs by Kim Baldwin, Xenia Alexiou Page B

us, and she won’t just stop and let it go.” Pierce watched her reaction as if he wasn’t aware Domino knew exactly why he was looking at her like that. “As you know, she’s meeting Vasquez tomorrow. You’ll be with Reno. He’ll be inside the diner with them, you in the van outside.”
“Why am I going? You said this guy’s no threat.”
“As far as we know he’s not. But he’s a fanatic, and who knows what he’ll do if she’s got information he wants. I don’t want that tape passing from a reporter to someone even more unpredictable. If a situation arises, I want to be able to contain it immediately.” He softened his tone. “And if you hear her digging for information about you firsthand, you won’t think she’s such a harmless innocent.”
“What if Vasquez does get the tape?” Domino reached for her coffee and took a sip. “Who’ll believe him? He lost his job because his own people think he’s crazy. He’s an unreliable alcoholic. Besides, if anyone could get anything off the tape, don’t you think someone would have recognized me by now or come after me? Operatives have been taped before, and obviously those tapes alone haven’t been enough evidence to harm us.”
Pierce scowled. “But it is the first time someone aside from us has tried to retrieve a tape,” he replied. “There’s something different about this. What exactly I don’t know, but I don’t care whether you’re visible on it or not. If you are, we can send you elsewhere, change your appearance.” He was balanced on the edge of his seat, his posture anything but relaxed. “I do know this tape is important enough for someone to go to the trouble to steal it and send it to this woman, and therefore jeopardize our entire organization. My concern is who the hell is this son of a bitch who stole the tape and sent this note, and what the hell is he—or she—trying to accomplish? He’s the threat, not Hayley Ward, and it’s him I’m after. But if some innocent has to go down for the sake of the Organization, then so be it.”
“This anonymous person has chosen Hayley because she’s dispensable,” Domino said. “He doesn’t want to involve federal or local law enforcement to do his dirty work because he wants to be able to eliminate her once she’s done her part. If we don’t get her, he will.”
“Why do you think he’d want to dispose of her?”
“He’s obviously not playing by the rules or working within the law. If he was, why bother stealing the tape? The right people would already have it. He could simply feed them whatever information he has on the EOO. Whoever took it is trying to save his ass.”
Pierce eyed her with admiration and nodded. She had just confirmed his own thoughts, and she knew it. “What are you saying?”
“Nothing you haven’t already considered. It might be an inside job? That’s why you didn’t brief me before the benefit.”
He nodded again and reached for his mug. “And while that remains a possibility, I want you to keep this to yourself.”
“As with all things. I know. You don’t have to remind me.”
Pierce took a big sip of his coffee, then grimaced. “It would appear Miss Ward is genuinely attracted to you.”
“Yes, it would appear so. Your point?”
“Keep in mind this is work and she’s your target.” He set the mug back noisily on the table as if to emphasize his remark. “As untraditional as this approach may be, you’re a professional, and I expect you to act as such.”
“That won’t be a problem.” Up to now, Domino had maintained direct eye contact with him. But as she said this, she looked away.
“You know what you have to do.” Pierce got to his feet, dismissing her. “It’s for the good of us all, Domino.”
    When Hayley returned from lunch with a colleague, she found a single yellow rose on her desk, along with a note penned with a meticulous hand.
    I want to share one of my favorite places with you this evening. Please meet me at the