HardWind by Charlotte Boyett-Compo Read Free Book Online Page B

perched
    on the top of his head. He half-smiled at her.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Star asked despite wanting to kick herself for
    speaking to him at all.
    “My keycard is in my wallet,” he answered. “My wallet is in the bedroom. The
    bedroom is behind a locked door.” He lifted his hand. “Thus, I am awaiting rescue.”
    “Where’s Jackson?”
    “On his way to his next assignment.”
    “Then how did you get up here?” she demanded.
    “They were vacuuming the floors in the elevator. Consuelo’s already gone I guess.”
    Pursing her lips, Star turned around, ran her keycard down the entry box and
    disappeared back inside her home. She was gone a minute or so then came back, tossing
    a keycard toward Dáire. “Keep it,” she snapped, about to shut the door when her phone
    started ringing.
    Dáire smiled at the vulgar word that exploded from Star’s lips. With the keycard in
    hand, he pushed his back up the wall and got to his feet as she went back into her
    condo. He heard her growl an answer into the phone then stilled when he heard her
    next words, asked with obvious concern.
    “Is she all right?”
    Thinking it might be bad news concerning Star’s older sister—her only living
    relative—he turned around and stood there listening to her end of the conversation.
    “Did you take her to the doctor?” She was silent for a moment then asked, “What
    did he say?” Another moment of silence stretched out before Star said, “I’ll be right
    there!”
    31
    Charlotte Boyett-Compo
    Star’s face was ashen when she came rushing out of her home. She barely glanced
    Dáire’s way when he asked if the call had been about Sophie, Star’s sister.
    “What?” Star asked, staring at him as though she didn’t know him.
    “Was the call about Sophie? Is she sick?”
    “No,” Star answered, shaking her head. “It had nothing to do with Sophie. Just
    leave me alone, Cronin.”
    He watched her stabbing at the button on the elevator panel until the doors opened
    and she raced inside. The pallor of her face was even more noticeable as she slapped at
    the lobby button inside the cage.
    “Is there anything I can do?” he called out to her as the doors began to close.
    “You’ve done more than enough already,” he heard her grumble before the copper
    panels slid shut, hiding her beautiful face from view.
    Sighing heavily, Dáire swiped his card down the entry box and went into his home.
    The air was rife with the pleasing scent of lemon, which told him Consuelo had worked
    her magic on his soiled bedroom. He didn’t need to check on the cleaning woman’s
    labors for she was by far the best housekeeper there was at the Farraige, if not the
    costliest.
    Kicking off his shoes, he went to the triple doors that led out to the rooftop pool,
    peeling away his shirt as he opened one of the doors and walked outside. The sea
    breeze was stiff this high up and the shrill call of the seagulls stitching across the sky
    made him feel at home. Tossing his shirt aside, he stretched out on one of the teakwood
    chaise lounges that sat at an angle to the pool. The porotex fabric molded to his body as
    he leaned back, crossing his ankles, lacing his hands behind his head as the wind played
    over his bare chest.
    Though he hadn’t been ready for his next assignment, he chafed at the thought of
    being sidelined, leaving Jackson alone with some other operative. He couldn’t
    remember when the last time was that the two of them hadn’t been partnered and a
    part of him was tense over him not being there to protect the middle-aged man. Friends
    since Dáire had saved the Fibber’s life during a heated gun battle with a suspected
    terrorist, it was only natural three years later that Cronin introduced the government
    agent to Gentry when Jackson retired from the FBI. The two men had been partners
    ever since.
    Jackson bore an uncanny resemblance to the television actor Lee Majors. The two
    had the same height and build and