For the First Time. Stephanie Doyle
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that they were both in the States and trying to live normal civilian lives, they had forged a bond that in the past few months had strengthened into friendship. Strange, considering how they’d started. Stranger still after Mark hired Ben’s assistant out from under him.
Yes, Mark had even harbored the notion of trying to steal Ben’s woman—for no other reason than to resume the rivalry that got his blood pumping. But Anna was in love with Ben and had already been carrying his baby when Mark hired her.
Ben had done the smart thing by tying Anna to him with vows and a ring. She was too easy for anyone to like. Smart, pretty, funny. Easy to be around.
For a moment Mark flashed on his interview from the day before. What was her name...Josephine? Yeah, she did not look like someone who would be easy to be around. But he had to remind himself of that because he’d been having second thoughts about letting Josephine go. Or maybe rethinking his reasons for letting her go.
Immediately, Mark shook it off. He didn’t have regrets. Regrets were a waste of time.
The only thing that mattered now was the note. While Sophie played with Ben and Anna’s baby—the one area of common ground Sophie and Mark shared was taking pure enjoyment out of Kelly—Mark was free to pick Ben’s brain about the note.
“She said she didn’t do it,” Mark answered.
Ben lifted an eyebrow.
“Yes, I believe her. She’s moody. She’s petulant. She’s constantly pissed at me. But as she told me when I asked, she’s not a nut-job. If she wanted to scare me, she could find other ways to do so.”
“You’re sure the threat relates to her?”
“Who else could it be? Sophie’s the only she in my life.”
“What about the grandparents? Maybe it’s a subtle warning that if you don’t work harder to improve the relationship, you’ll lose her.”
Mark shook his head. “Not their style. Dom sternly lecturing me about what I’m doing wrong—yes, that is their style. They’re too vocal about their disappointment in me as a father to do this.”
Ben scowled. “Then we need to think of other possibilities.”
That was the problem. Mark didn’t want to think of other possibilities. Other possibilities potentially meant old enemies who were now in the U.S. and watching him. Threatening his daughter.
You’re going to lose her.
Mark could think of a lot of Taliban leaders who would love nothing more than to cut open his chest and rip his heart out. But even if any of them were in the country, any note they left would include explicit details about their intentions for her. It didn’t make sense. The government saw to it that the Taliban couldn’t enter the country. Besides, now that Mark was no longer a player in the game, why would they want to hurt him? They had their hands filled with active U.S. military and paramilitary agents. He had no information that wasn’t almost a year old. Information that old was useless.
Mark thought of assets he’d turned during his years on the job who might have gotten turned back. But they, too, were all overseas. There were the cases he’d solved in the year since he’d opened his business. People he’d put in jail—some fairly high-profile.
A criminal Mark had brought to justice for a scam-artist ring he’d run for years. A missing girl he’d found dead. The Anderson case. Except that Jack Anderson was dead by his own hand before he ever saw the inside of a jail cell.
With the sound of women’s voices approaching, Ben turned. “There are my girls.”
“Sophie is hired,” Anna said. “She just changed her first poopy diaper and she didn’t even flinch.”
The girl sat on the couch with the baby in her arms. “I’m not going to lie. It was gross.”
“I don’t know that Sophie needs extra babysitting money. She’s doing pretty well with her music.”
Pretty good meant that any college in the country she wanted to go to was already paid for. He knew her plans included Stanford, Stanford and Stanford. In other words, the school farthest from him.
“I wouldn’t charge them. I would do it because I like Kelly. You’re so coarse, Mark.”
Another mistake. He thought he was making an offhand joke. She thought he was an asshole. Typical.
“Can I hold her?” Mark asked. At least while holding the baby he could pretend that a child actually liked him.
Reluctantly, Sophie handed Kelly over and he cradled the nearly five-month-old in the crook of his elbow. She’d been almost a month early and to Mark she still looked impossibly small, but the doctors had all declared her perfectly healthy. Kelly seemed to be deciding whether to cry or coo so Mark helped that decision along by bouncing her gently. The cooing continued and he watched as she broke out into a large, wide smile.
So little. So precious. Mark remembered holding Sophie when she was even younger. He remembered it, because it was the last time he saw her before he left for Langley. The next time he’d seen her she’d been five years old.
Closing his eyes, he brought the baby close and smelled how fresh and lovely she was. How had he been able to leave Sophie as a baby? When he felt as possessive as a Neanderthal with her now. Now when she hated him rather than adored him as she had when she’d rested in his arms.
“Please,” Sophie said. “Don’t even pretend you’re all about Kelly. We know what you think of babies, Mark.”
Mark didn’t respond to his daughter’s jab. He was starting to become immune to them. Anna walked over with a sympathetic smile and took her daughter from him. “Time and patience,” she whispered.
He smiled back. “Look, we should be going. My daughter probably has some more nasty things to say to me and I would rather we not subject the baby to it. It could corrupt her subconsciously. Ben, you’ll continue thinking about our problem.”
“I’m on it. But it might not hurt to have extra help. You should show it to JoJo.”
“Who?”
“JoJo. The detective I sent to you. You said you were going to interview her. I’m assuming you hired her, so have her look into the matter. According to Tom, she’s one of the best he’s ever worked with.”
Mark frowned. “I didn’t hire her.”
“Why not?”
His doubt surfaced as he once more tried to put his finger on his problem with her. “She wasn’t what I was looking for. I was hoping for someone more conservative. I’m trying to create a serious agency with serious agents.”
“Yes. I know. She has serious talent. It’s why I let you have first crack at her.”
Mark struggled with how to identify his specific issue with her. “She’s got tattoos.”
“You have a tattoo.”
“You do?” Sophie stood with her arms folded.
Mark scowled at Ben. “It’s since been removed.”
“You should reconsider. Because if you’re not hiring her, then I will. She’s too good to let go. I figured I was repaying you for stealing Anna away.”
“You didn’t steal me away,” Anna countered. “I chose not to go back to work because of Kelly. You two can be so full of it.”
Ben waited until Anna was distracted with the baby to give Mark a small nod that said he still thought he was right about JoJo.
“I don’t know if she’s still in the area. She said she was sticking around for a few days before heading to D.C. for another interview, but who knows.”
“Then you better act fast. The next person who sees her résumé won’t be so foolish