Lahat ng Kabanata ng Solid Gold (Unseen Enemy 8): Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Griff felt the scowl spreading across his face, and he forced his eyes back to his screen. Grimly, he started to type up his observations and thoughts, making sure to keep his language as neutral as possible. He had to get this report to Dallas by that evening, and the man was expecting a black-and-white document. No frills or fancies: just the facts, ma’am.Griff worked steadily, impassively, for almost an hour. He watched Claire without seeming to watch her, watched her do nothing more than sit at her table with her earbuds in place, tapping away on her laptop. Even though she wasn’t facing him and she never even looked his way, her profile was astonishingly expressive, he was interested and surprised to note, and she seemed to be reading or looking at things that pleased her a great deal. She smiled, bit her lip, played with her hair.Maybe she has a lover? That’d be helpful, actually… maybe someone I can get to and use against her somehow, to get information?He’d just finished ha

Emma Cartwright smiled down at the baby nestled at her breast. Frankie was sleepily sucking away, and she knew that he was seconds away from dropping off. Seeing as he’d barely slept the night before, she was grateful that he seemed ready to succumb now.She stifled a yawn, gazed wistfully over at Olivia Foreman, née Jameson. Liv was holding a massive mug of the most fragrant-smelling coffee that Emma had ever come across. God, what she wouldn’t give to throw back a cup of the stuff…. but since she was breast-feeding, caffeine in her blood stream was not an awesome idea.Liv caught her eye. “You OK, Em?”“Hmmmm.” Emma shifted a bit, pushed her dark curls behind her ears. “Just waking up and smelling the coffee.”“Sorry,” Liv said quickly. “I can dump it out.”“Don’t be ridiculous,” Emma said. “Enjoy it for both of us.”“More tea, Em?” Jennifer Lawson asked from her large, bright kitchen. “Maybe a bit of toast? I got some low-fat peanut butter for you, just like you asked.”Emma looked

“Oh, Christ, Em.” Jenny set down the tray on the coffee table. “Don’t bother denying it, OK? You look like you’re being force-fed rat poison every time you have to answer that damn phone. Now.” She brushed her long blonde hair back and over her shoulders, glared at the stunned Emma in front of her. “What’s. The. Goddamn. Deal?”“Uh.” Emma blinked and looked at Beth and Liv; she saw the same shock and awe on their faces that she was sure was written all across hers. “Well… he’s just – he’s being a bit –” She broke off, seeking the right word. Once again, Jenny took them all aback.“Stifling?” Jenny said crisply. “Overbearing? Domineering?”“I was going to say ridiculously overprotective,” Emma said. “But all of those work, too.”“Oh, sweetie.” Jenny sat down next to her on the sofa, her voice gentling. “You can’t be surprised.”“I know,” Emma said. “I don’t blame Dean for worrying about us, but I also didn’t think that it would be quite this bad. I mean, I expected the checking in… bu

“Well, actually,” Chris chimed in. “You really are. Expecting Emma to report in on a schedule, and give you a detailed explanation of her movements, and provide explanations as to her whereabouts when she’s not where she’s supposed to be… seems kinda prisoner-y to me.” He considered. “Except that actual prisoners have slightly more freedom.”“Brooker, goddammit,” Dean began, but before he could tell Chris to fuck off too, Dallas stepped back in.“OK, enough,” he drawled. “We ain’t really attacking you, man.”“Feels like it,” Dean muttered.“That’s just ‘cause we’re unsubtle assholes, as Olivia constantly reminds me,” Dallas said cheerfully. “Lacking in finesse and all that good stuff.”Finally, Dean cracked a smile. “Damn right.”“We’re worried about you,” Dallas said. “You and Emma.”“Guys, look.” Dean took a deep breath, slowed his heart rate. “I know I’m acting like a lunatic. I do. I know that it’s making Emma nuts, and she’s just sweet and aware enough to play along and be patien

Not giving one second’s thought to the fact that he was about to blow the op out of the water and sky-high, Griff turned the key in the ignition and pushed the pedal gently, mindful of the icy conditions. He turned right, turned on his high beams… and watched as the man spun to face him, then shot to his feet, wrenching the backpack from Claire’s grasp as he did so. He then dove into his car and peeled out of the rest-stop before Griff was within twenty feet of the entrance.Griff paused, wavering a bit now. OK, he had two choices here, clearly. One was to tear after the guy, and get back whatever it was that was in the backpack. Obviously, it was important… important enough to haul ass all the way out here in a blizzard and assault a woman to get it. Maybe it was important to the SEC investigation; maybe it was even crucial.The other choice was lying motionless on the freezing ground. That choice was embodied by a woman that Griff despised on principle, a woman that stood for everyt