Reading books romantic stories you will plunge into the world of feelings and love. Most of the time the story ends happily. Very interesting and informative to read books historical romance novels to feel the atmosphere of that time.Brain Storm by Cat Gilbert (detective books to read .TXT) đź“–
- Author: Cat Gilbert
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Book online «Brain Storm by Cat Gilbert (detective books to read .TXT) 📖». Author Cat Gilbert
“We’ve been talking, and we’ve got some questions,” Trinity started in right away, Mama D at her elbow, presenting a united front.
“Okay. Shoot,” I said, eyeing the dripping coffee, wishing I’d been able to brace with some caffeine before facing this.
“Say we come along with you,” she asked, “what do you see us doing? What’s our part in this whole thing?”
Ah. I stared at the pot willing the coffee to brew faster. I was on thin ice here and without the benefit of a fully functioning brain. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes stalling for time for the coffee to finish. Suddenly, the stream of coffee slowed to a drip and I snatched the pot out and quickly poured a cup. I took the time to add some sweetener and cream before I went over to sit on the bed facing them.
“First off, you don’t just come along,” I started, pausing to take a long sip of coffee, letting the smooth taste slide down my throat. “You’ll be part of a team. Our team.”
I was a little confused about the question here. We had talked about this last night before the meeting. Trinity was the one who said she wanted to stay. Insisted that we were a better team together. In fact, she’d yelled it at me if I recalled correctly.
I stood up, taking another drink, my brain finally starting to click. Trinity wanted to stay, but she didn’t want to just come along for the ride. I’d been worried about Jonas having a role, feeling needed. She and Mama D both needed the same thing. To know their place. To be needed.
“We all have different abilities and experience that we’ll bring to the table. You aren’t going to be out there fighting gun battles, creeping around spying,” I assured her. “We need your brains. You know the law, and we’re going to be walking a fine line there. Probably stepping over it more often than not. We’re going to need information that you’ll know how to find if you don’t know it already. We’re breaking new ground here, going where no man has gone before. There’s going to be legal ramifications, and we’re going to need you to fight those battles.”
She nodded agreement, relief evident in her face. I felt bad. I should have foreseen this and told her last night.
“Mama D, you are every bit as important to the team. You have a wisdom and a peace that we need, but, even more importantly, you represent something that we desperately need, and that’s a sense of home. Don’t think that we haven’t noticed that you’re making sure we’re fed and taken care of. You’re both important and of value to the team. That’s why I gave you the option of coming.” I wanted them to realize they were wanted and needed, but I also needed them to understand the risk involved.
“Look, I have no intention of involving you in a gun battle or putting you in dangerous positions, but you have to understand, I can’t guarantee anything. They’ve already come after you in surprise attacks and they probably will again. I can’t make any promises.”
Trinity looked at me, and I could see the doubt and indecision written on her face. Mama D saw it too and took the choice away from her.
“Trinity, I’m going with her. I’ve lost everything, and all I have left is you and Taylor. Samantha, I mean.” Mama D looked over at me with an apologetic look that nearly broke my heart. “I may not be able to fight them, but like Sam said, there’re other things I can do that will help.” She reached over and took Trinity’s hand in hers. “Baby, they’ll find us whether we’re with her or not. You can’t protect me forever. I say let’s stick together and fight them.”
Trinity wrapped her arms around Mama D and looked over at me, tears running down her face. “Okay. We’re in,” she announced, with a laugh. “What do we do now?”
“Now,” I said, not exactly dry-eyed myself, “We turn me into Samantha White.” I grabbed up the bag of stuff I had gotten at Wal-Mart the previous night and headed into the bathroom with a grin. They were right on my heels.
BY 7:40 THE transformation was complete. One of the few advantages of being poor was learning how to do things for yourself that people with money pay to have done. As a result, Mama D was a whiz with a pair of scissors. I had a short, breezy new cut and had gone from my medium brown hair to a dark rich brunette with red tipped spikes on the crown. I’d plucked my eyebrows into a thin high arch, added a few rings to my fingers and a pair of racy dark shades to finish off the new look. The results had been dramatic.
“Well, Samantha. Um, Sam,” Trinity corrected as I gave her a look over the top of my lowered sunglasses, “I hate to say it, but your new look suits you.”
“I should have taken shears to you ages ago,” Mama D agreed, going through my clothes.
Mama D and Trinity were having a ball trashing my old look. The clothes Mac had for me at the cabin had been along the lines of what I normally wore. Clothes that were meant to blend in. Bright, bold colors didn’t mesh with the low profile I needed to keep, and I avoided them like the plague. With my red tipped hair, I needed some color in my clothes to balance it out. People would see my hair and my clothes. Not me. Which was exactly what I wanted.
“You have some good basics here, but you need a few things to snazz it up a bit, otherwise that cool new hair is just a waste,” Trinity said as she pawed through my luggage. “We ought to stop at the Dillards Clearance Center and pick up a few things before we leave Dallas.”
My eyes glazed over at the thought of shopping, but before I could say anything, we were interrupted by a knock on the door. I opened it to find Mac standing there, Jonas right behind him.
“Wow!” Mac exclaimed. “You look fab. Absolutely fab!” He rushed into the room, grabbing my hands and swinging them back and forth.
“I’m gonna be sick,” Jonas informed us, as he strode into the room, slamming the door behind him. I cringed, hoping the neighbors were already up and about.
“Everyone else on this floor is gone,” Mac said, reading my mind. “We have it all to ourselves.”
“Which begs the question, why are you still prancing around like that?” Jonas said as he flopped down on the sofa.
I looked over at Mac. I wasn’t the only one who had transformed this morning. Mac had obviously brought along some of his other disguises and was now wearing an ensemble I definitely remembered seeing before.
“Julian?” I ventured.
“Troy, actually,” he corrected before pointing at Jonas. “Bryan here is having a little trouble getting used to it, but I think it works. Especially now that I’ve seen your new look.”
“You looked in the bag last night didn’t you, nosy?” I asked him accusingly.
“Yup, I did. I confess, you caught me! I thought since you were changing your look, I’d do the same and fem up a bit.” At Jonas’ mocking laugh, he conceded maybe he’d fem’ed up more than a bit. “Laugh all you want Bryan, but it gives us an out for staying in different rooms and explains why I let her boss me around. Plus, and this is a big PLUS,” he added dramatically, making Jonas roll his eyes, “It’s a persona that no one in the agency has seen. It’s a good cover.”
“Oh, I’ll give you that,” Jonas said, shaking his head in amazement. “I got worried when Trinity, er, Candice wasn’t in her room and went to find Mac. When he opened the door, I was sure I had the wrong room. I’m a cop, and I had to do a double-take. We figured you were here with Sam since you weren’t downstairs in the dining room.”
At his words, Trinity stopped packing the clothes back up. “Why were you looking for me?”
“I wanted to see if you’d decided on what you were doing before we were all back together,” he said, casting a withering look at Mac, who had gone to sort through the clothes with Mama D. “But apparently I arrived a little late for that.”
“Grams and I came over early this morning,” Trinity explained to him, which for me was as hard to believe as Mac’s transformation into Troy. Trinity didn’t explain her business to anyone, most especially to a man, but maybe Candice did. “We had some questions for Sam I needed to have answered before making any decision.”
“I take it you decided to throw caution to the wind and throw in with her.”
At his words, Mac’s hands froze, and the room stilled, waiting for the shoe to drop. Of everyone in the room, Jonas had the least connection to the group. The least reason to risk his life.
“Yes, that’s right.” Trinity’s voice dripped ice. “We’re throwing in with her, as you put it, but we’re not throwing caution to the wind. I happen to think our odds of coming out of this alive are substantially higher working with Samantha, than running off to hide somewhere, waiting for them to find us.”
Ohhh. I could be wrong, but I was pretty sure she just insulted him by insinuating he was going to run. I waited to see if Jonas would rise to the bait. It was a small room for
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