“You’re so melodramatic, Eli,” he drawled, rather than advising the agent of the error of his ways.
The boy definitely had a problem, Doogan thought, casting him a dubious look. Eli had been pissed ever since he’d stepped into the plane to see Zoey in Doogan’s arms.
It wasn’t jealousy, though. Doogan could have faced the jealousy and dealt with it. What Eli was trying to protect her from was a danger that seemed to be following Doogan as well. One Doogan was beginning to believe was behind the events a year ago that still threatened to destroy her.
“Don’t worry, Eli,” Zoey assured him, her voice light, easy as she threw Doogan a sultry look. “I promise I won’t let Dawg neuter him. I imagine Doogan just wouldn’t be his charming self without his balls.”
It was her tone of voice. There was something about it that had him wondering if he should be wearing a cup of some sort. Perhaps one made of titanium?
“That is, if she doesn’t do it first,” Eli said just loud enough for Doogan to catch. “By accident even. She’s dangerous. You don’t know . . .”
Sliding Eli a questioning look, he wondered at that particular comment.
Eli was well aware of the importance of keeping Zoey from facing the punishment of a crime she hadn’t committed. Just as he knew why it was so important to allow Harley Perdue to remain hidden and the suspicion of his death to remain intact. The prey Harley was hunting was back in town, according to the message Doogan had received, his attention once again focused on Zoey. The stakes had risen though, and the threat of arrest was in the very near future if Doogan didn’t find a way to stop it, quickly.
John David had made certain he’d aided the Mackays’ little plot to tie Doogan’s agents up with the oldest sisters, but he’d known Zoey would never give in to the only agent Doogan had left in town. Even Doogan knew Eli was still far too young to be able to handle that little spitfire.
Eli knew it as well.
Just as they all knew that Eli wasn’t the reason someone was conspiring to destroy her. Take out Zoey, and the ties between the Mackays and Homeland Security were destroyed. Especially if the agent looking into Harley’s disappearance had his way.
“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” It was all Zoey could do to hold back her laughter as she defended herself against Eli, having obviously heard him. “I promise, if I neuter you, it wouldn’t be by accident.”
Despite the laughter and her genuine amusement, Doogan was perceptive enough to see the fear Zoey was pushing back, though.
“Well, that’s comforting.” That fear wasn’t going to stand in the way of his having her, Doogan had already decided that. He’d thought about nothing else, hungered for no one else, since that first taste of her. “Let’s do our best to ensure it doesn’t happen, either by accident or by design. I wouldn’t be pleased.”
Zoey’s gaze flicked back to him, shadowed and undecided.
“I don’t believe I’d be pleased either,” she finally murmured, definitely too low for Eli to hear as they neared the powerful black king cab four-wheel-drive pickup Doogan had elected to use while he was in Somerset this time.
It was the perfect vehicle for the job he was there to see to. And perfect for her needs. As he’d learned before nearing the starting line, she had to rely on friends to slip her motorcycle from the garage on the lower floor of the converted warehouse she lived in to the races. Eli was most often elected, always late, and always complaining about the chances of getting caught by her brother, her cousins, or their friends.
Doogan had no intention of complaining.
“Load it up, Eli,” he ordered the younger man before escorting Zoey to the passenger-side front seat.
Eli’s muttered complaints were ignored as Doogan opened the door, gripped her waist, and lifted her effortlessly into the roomy front seat.
She was watching him closely, the smile gone, her unusual pale green eyes probing, intent.
“He isn’t happy with you,” she informed him, her hands sliding from his shoulders. “Or with me. He could end up blabbing to Graham.”
It wouldn’t matter; Graham would come to Doogan before he went to a Mackay, and Doogan knew it.
“I can kick his ass far more effectively than Graham can,” Doogan assured her, wondering at the lingering suspicion in her eyes. “And he knows I’ll do it if he blabs.”
At least, Eli better know it.
Closing the door, he strode to the back of the truck, where Eli was strapping the cycle down, still muttering to himself about bosses, guns, and a new career.
Doogan stood silently listening, watching, until Eli finally turned to him with a dark frown.
“I could make certain that finding a new job becomes very difficult,” he told the younger man. “I could actually make it impossible, Eli. And before you open your mouth to Graham, or to our fathers, you should check your e-mail and your new mission parameters from none other than Director Bryce himself. Don’t force me to have you called in for refusing to obey direct orders.”
“And let me guess.” Eli glared at him. “One of those parameters is that Graham isn’t to know about your sudden association with Zoey? Right?”
“Pretty much. At least until I inform him of it myself,” Doogan agreed. “Do you have a problem with your orders, Agent Grant?”