Donovan crossed his arms over his chest and sat on the arm of the couch next to Garrett. “I can already tell I don’t like where this is going.”
“So why aren’t you sending one of your men in?” Sam asked.
“Isle de Bijoux is small, not a lot of tourists. I need someone who’d blend. Someone with a reason for being there. Plus Garrett’s motivated. He hates Lattimer’s guts. And I wanted to give him the opportunity to take him down,” he added in an even voice.
“Blend? You think he’d blend?” Donovan asked in amusement.
“He’s perfect,” Resnick said. “He already looks like shit. He needs a shave and a haircut. He’s recovering from an injury. You’d take the beach cottage down from Sarah’s. Do a little fishing. Hang out on the beach. Get some rest. It’d be a mini vacation and all you have to do is keep an eye on Sarah Daniels until Lattimer shows up.”
Garrett stood and began to pace back and forth in front of the couch. His shoulder was aching, but he’d be damned if he gave in to the urge to rub it. Sam and Donovan would be on him about taking it easy, and the last thing he wanted to do right now was take it easy. He was damned tired of being laid up like some invalid. He was itching to get back in the game. Go to work. Even if it was some cake babysitting job. That wasn’t what appealed. Beach and sun and sand did nothing for him. But the opportunity to nail Lattimer? He didn’t give a shit if it meant him going to Bumfuck Africa.
He paused in mid-pace and turned his stare on Resick. “You’re so sure he’s going to show.”
“Yeah. He’ll show. Sarah’s too important to him. She’s the only damn thing he seems to care about in the world. If he doesn’t show, he’ll eventually get her to come to him. Either way, if you’re on her tail, we nail him.”
“So that’s it. I go to this island and I keep an eye on her. Wait for Lattimer to show his hand and nail his ass to the wall.”
Resnick blew out his breath. “Hell, I don’t care if you sleep with her or play priest to her nun. I just need you close enough that you know when she so much as takes a piss. I want to know if Lattimer contacts her or she contacts him. And another thing, Garrett. I don’t want you to lose your goddamn head over this. Do it right. Don’t try to be a hero. If Lattimer shows, don’t try anything stupid. We want him alive.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of backup will he have if things go to shit? I don’t like the idea of sending one man in on any job, no matter how simple it sounds.”
“The full power of my resources,” Resnick said. “Whatever you need.”
Garrett glanced first at Sam, who didn’t look thrilled, and then to Donovan who simply looked worried. Then he looked back at Resnick. “Do you have a file on Sarah? Photos? Age? Habits?”
Resnick’s eye twitched and he reached for his cigarette again. “Of course.” He reached into his suit and pulled out a folder. He thrust it at Garrett who took it and flipped it open. Paper clipped to the first page was a photo.
Sarah was beautiful. Not classical and elegant like Rachel or cute and sweet looking like Sophie, but a quiet beauty that didn’t jump off the page at you but rather settled in nice and comfortably.
She had long chestnut hair, a light dusting of freckles over her nose and deep green eyes. She wasn’t smiling in the picture but he’d bet his last dollar that when she did smile, it lit up her entire face.
He thumbed through her information, glancing at her job. She was an administrative assistant. She’d taken the job as Allen Cross’s executive assistant eighteen months prior. That had only lasted six months. She hadn’t taken a job since. He raised an eyebrow at that. Maybe her brother was footing her bills.
She lived in Boston but had been born and raised in Alabama. No siblings—officially. No parents. According to her records, she’d been raised in foster care for most of her childhood. He frowned. If she was Lattimer’s half sister, then why the hell had she been raised in foster care when he’d grown up with a silver spoon?
She had an apartment in a modest area of Boston. Lived alone. She had acquaintances, but no apparent close friends. She seemed to have lost touch with people she’d formerly hung out with after she’d quit her job with Cross.
He traced the outline of her face on the picture. So she was a loner. Probably what she was used to. In another life, Garrett imagined he was a hermit, and if his overbearing family would allow it, he’d be a total cave dweller now.
Garrett rubbed his neck and then glanced back at Resnick. “You aren’t holding out any other information from me, are you? This is it? I stick to Sarah Daniels and nail Lattimer when the time comes.”
“In a nutshell, yeah. Think of it as paid vacation. With a pretty woman at that.”
Garrett blew out his breath. “Okay, when do you want me down there?”
Resnick shot him a rueful glance. “Try yesterday.”
CHAPTER 3
PARADISE had become hell. Despite the beauty of her surroundings, Sarah Daniels spent every minute of every day looking over her shoulder and waiting. Waiting to be discovered. After her arrival on the island, she’d spent the entire first week holed up in the tiny cottage she’d rented, barely able to sleep for fear of discovery.
Marcus had always been determined to take care of her. It frustrated him that she wouldn’t accept his lavish gifts, his money or his offer to buy her a house complete with staff to see to her every need. What he had done was set up a bank account and deposited sums at intervals until a hefty balance had accumulated. As much as she’d been determined not to draw on those reserves, she was grateful now that he’d done it.