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D’Arcy threw back his head and let out a belly laugh. “No, Walker,” he said when he finally stopped laughing. “That would be a mistake on both our parts. You can’t be me, and you shouldn’t even try. But you can make the job you. That’s all I did when I started. That’s all anyone can do.” He paused for a minute. “So, what do you think? Are you willing to give it a shot?”
Cody took a quick turn around the room. He’d come in here thinking his career with the agency was over, and now...unexpectedly...he was being offered the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to head up the Denver branch of the agency. The one who had the final authority, but also the crushing responsibility.
Could he do it? And even if he could, did he want to do it?
“The agency needs people like you to run it,” D’Arcy stated, as if he sensed Cody’s dilemma. “There aren’t many absolutely incorruptible people, but you’re one of them.”
Cody smiled faintly as he remembered when he’d said the same thing to himself...about D’Arcy. If D’Arcy believed he could do it, how could he turn it down?
Then he remembered Keira and frowned. No. If he were in charge of the Denver branch, it would be impossible for her to work here, and he couldn’t do that to her. She loved both her job and him. If he asked her to choose, she’d be torn, but he knew she would choose him. He just couldn’t ask that of her. Not now. Not ever.
It was a tough decision, but...
“If you’re thinking about Special Agent Jones,” D’Arcy said, reading the play of expressions over Cody’s face, “I have an idea about that.”
“How did you know I—” Cody began.
“It’s my business to know everything,” D’Arcy said, his grin lighting his face. “Didn’t you know? Why do you think they call me Baker Street behind my back?” He waited for that to sink in before adding, “And soon it will be your business to know everything, too.”
Cody shook his head firmly. “I can’t ask Keira to give up her career with the agency. And even if I could, she’s too damned good at what she does. The agency needs people like her, too.”
D’Arcy nodded. “With her skills at research and analysis, that’s just what I was thinking. But there’s a way around that. What if she worked directly for me—” He held up one hand as Cody started to interrupt. “Just hear me out, Walker. What if she worked directly for me, but on detached status...here in Denver?”
Cody’s heart thudded suddenly, as he realized it just might work. “Permanently?”
“As permanent as I can make it.”
He considered the offer from every angle and couldn’t see a flaw. “She’ll have to agree first,” he said, already knowing in his heart what her answer would be. We can have it all, he thought suddenly, wanting nothing more than to see Keira’s expression when he told her, and his smile lit up his face.
“Then it’s a done deal.” D’Arcy held out his hand, and Cody shook it. “Welcome to your new job.”
* * *
The door to Keira’s hospital room swung open, and she turned her head toward it eagerly, hoping against hope that this time it was Cody. He hadn’t been near her for three days, and she missed him so much it was like a physical ache...worse than the one in her chest because there was nothing the nurses could give her to alleviate the pain in her heart. A tall blonde walked through the door, and the eager light in Keira’s eyes faded. Mandy Callahan.
The last time Keira had seen Mandy she’d been wearing a sling containing her dark-haired baby daughter, with her two blond sons at her side. Now she was alone, and even more stunningly beautiful than Keira remembered. “Hi,” she said, knowing without being told why the other woman was here. But she didn’t want thanks for doing her job. She just wanted...
“Ryan’s been like a bear with a sore head,” Mandy said out of the blue. “He’s mad at me for asking you to protect him, and he’s mad at you for doing it.” She laughed a little but with a touch of hysterical relief thrown in, and Keira couldn’t help but smile.
