The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [45]
And she seemed to be just his kind of woman.
As Drake began stripping off his clothes, hope sprang within him. Sandy would always hold a special place in his heart and he still intended to make sure Solomon Cross paid for what he did, but for the first time in a long time something other than revenge consumed him.
Over the past five years he had learned plenty about emotional pain and the benefit of hard work-being out in the field had helped. But nothing had prepared him for his response to Tori, both physically and emotionally. Just in the short time they had spent together, she had made him feel things he hadn't felt in years.
He still had to admit there were times when he had been with her that he had been reminded of Sandy, and he had accepted that he would always think of Sandy at some point in future days. But he also realized that his interest in Tori was because of who she was, her own unique vitality, and not because he was looking for a Sandy clone. Ashton and Trevor had asked him about that and now he was sure. It was Tori he wanted. And for the first time in five years, he felt the stirrings of anticipation, heated desire and longing flow through him.
And it was for that very reason that he knew he had to see Tori again to understand why.
"Do you understand what I'm saying, Tori? You need to leave right away."
Breathing raggedly, Tori tried to do all she could not to scream out in anger. Hawk had called to let her know that someone had broken into the CIA employee database and she was one of the agents whose confidential information had been retrieved.
After telling Hawk about the attempted breakin the night before, he had become insistent about her leaving Stinson Beach until he made sure the two incidents weren't connected.
She inhaled deeply. Why would anyone break into the database to find out where she had gone after leaving the Agency? She had tried covering her tracks but it seemed that someone had uncovered them anyway. "Do you know who may have done it?" she asked, not liking what she was hearing. Suddenly, everything started meshing together; that mysterious phone call and the attempted breakin.
"No. You've been involved in a lot of missions and it could be linked to any of them."
Tori nodded. "Do you think Drake would have done it? You said he contacted you and seemed obsessed with finding me."
"Yes, but Drake wouldn't operate that way. He would have no reason to try to terrorize you. He would have appeared on your doorstep like it would have been his damn right to be there. Besides, no matter how much Drake might have wanted to find you, he would never have violated Agency policy by deliberately breaking the code and going into confidential information. I think we have a mole within the organization."
Tori sighed. It wouldn't be the first time nor would it be the last. She had worked for the Agency long enough to know that there were moles; crooked agents who worked as informants for the other side, and who would sell their souls if the price was right. It was sad that for some people, corruption was a way of life and it wasn't safe to trust a fellow agent without question.
Another name came into her mind, a person she didn't want to think about but someone who'd had her looking