Covert Intents: A Branson Family Novella Read Online Free PDF Page B

turning out the lights. He knew where both Hudson and Lydia lived. He would bet they were going to Hudson’s house. It was much nicer.
    He hoped they would meet someone or someone would join them there. Anything that might clue him in that they were the ones trying to sell the microchip.
    But nothing. Seth sat in his car most of the night watching Hudson’s home after following them there. Nobody came, nobody left. The highlight of the night was the text he received from Rachel early on letting him know she’d made it home safely.
    Another day finished and Seth had nothing to show for it but gritty eyes. The sun was coming up when his phone buzzed on the seat beside him.
    “Yeah, this is Seth.” Nobody but Omega would be calling on this phone.
    “Hey, Sunshine, hope I didn’t wake you. This is Sawyer.”
    Seth smiled. Sawyer Branson was one of Seth’s favorite people at Omega. Hell, Sawyer was one of everyone’s favorite people. He just had that charming way about him.
    “Nah, Sweetheart, I’m already awake. Wishing I was in bed, but I’m camped out in front of Dale Hudson’s house.”
    “Anything interesting happening there?” Sawyer asked.
    “If you consider the fact that he brought his pretty young graduate assistant home with him and she hasn’t left all night interesting, then yeah.”
    “That is a little interesting.”
    “But not terribly helpful with the case.” Seth ran a tired hand over his eyes.
    “Well, if Hudson is willing to break this rule, it may show he’s willing to break others too.”
    “Maybe. But it doesn’t give us any actual direction to look for the buyers of the microchip.” Seth couldn’t hold back a yawn. It was going to be a long day after this all-nighter.
    “I’ve got more interesting news that still doesn’t lead us anywhere,” Sawyer said.
    That woke Seth up. “Oh yeah?”
    “The other graduate assistant you’re looking into…”
    “Ryan Powell. Yeah, he was at the restaurant last night, but left before I got there.”
    “You went public at the restaurant?”
    Crap. This was not the time to tell Sawyer about Rachel and how they’d connected. It was especially not the time to mention kissing her.
    “Yeah. I got invited to go out, so thought seeing everyone in a different setting might give me a clue.”
    “You don’t know what time Powell left?”
    “No, had to be before nine o’clock.” Seth said. “Why?”
    “We have a computer system at Omega that continuously runs local police stations and hospitals for any names we put in. Ryan Powell’s name came up a few minutes ago.”
    Now Seth was wide-awake. “He’s been arrested?”
    “No. He’s in the hospital. He was beaten pretty severely and is in a coma.”
    Different ramifications were floating around in Seth’s mind. “There was an incident with an elevator on campus yesterday too.”
    Seth told Sawyer the story, conveniently leaving out the part about Rachel being in there with him.
    Sawyer whistled through his teeth. “Something’s going down, that’s for sure. I’ll have Cameron and Juliet ready in case we have to make a move quickly.”
    “I’ll keep you posted if anything changes.”
    “We’ll do the same,” Sawyer replied. “And Seth, be careful. It’s getting crazy around there.”
    Seth thought of his scorching kiss with Rachel. Yeah, things were getting crazy.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    The next morning Rachel was still trying to process everything that had happened the night before. She’d been kissed. By two different men. In the same evening.
    That had never happened in her entire life.
    Not that Rachel had ever really been one for much dating. She’d had a couple of boyfriends in college and while she’d found the physical relationships to be… pleasant… they hadn’t been anything that had made her want to turn away from her studies.
    Not like her kiss with Seth last night that had her so engrossed she had