Russian's Intense Love (Drobilka Family Series #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

in with her handler before she had to leave for class. With the door locked behind her, she sat down and flipped through the photos. Finding Peter, she checked the background file, but could not find his name. He appeared to be a ghost. Now more concerned than ever, she suddenly became aware of the lock quietly turning. Bethany knew it couldn’t possibly be Marci, she quickly spilled the contents of her backpack onto the desk and took the lid off her coffee. Laying her head down, she waited to see who would come in.
    When she felt someone standing in front of the desk, she startled up, sending the contents of her coffee onto her backpack and the person standing in front of the desk.
    “Ouch. That’s hot,” Peter said as he jumped back.
    Bethany jumped up and looked around for napkins or tissue, and finding a box, grabbed a handful as she began dabbing at the library books she had soaked. Peter reached for the box to clean himself off as her handler walked in with Sanderson. Maintaining a look of chagrin on her face, Bethany looked apologetically toward Marci.
    “Professor Chase, I am so sorry. I guess I fell asleep, and well, Peter startled me and I got coffee everywhere and here you have a guest and…I am just so very sorry.” Bethany’s voice trailed off as she looked at her handler.
    “Well, from the looks of it, you got the majority of the coffee on your backpack, and hopefully none of those books were from the library’s special collections.”
    “Yes, ma’am. I mean, no ma’am,” Bethany answered as she attempted to sound flustered.
    Turning to Sanderson, Marci introduced him. “This is Jake Sanderson with the FBI. He uses some of my students when he has a need for a translator. I was just telling him about your mastery of the Russian language.” She looked toward Peter, “And you would be?”
    “Just leaving,” came Peter’s quick reply as he backed out of the room.
    After he left, Marci looked at her. “What was that all about?”
    Scooping her backpack off the desk and onto the floor, Bethany tossed her coffee cup before handing her the files back. “It appears that Peter is a ghost,” she stated as Marci looked at the file. “And I’m sure that I locked that door.” Marci raised an eyebrow at her across the top of the file before turning to Sanderson.
    “Is he one of yours?”
    Shaking his head, Sanderson moved to the window to see if he could see the man leaving. “Nope. Not one of ours. I’ll run it up to the next level to see what we can find out. But in the meantime, do be careful.”
    “Why, Jake, is that you showing concern?” Marci asked.
    “Can it, Marci. I know everyone thinks I’m an asshole. We are so close on this; we can’t have your charge here screwing things up because she isn’t paying attention to her surroundings. This is too important.”
    “And he’s back,” Marci replied drolly. “But, he’s not wrong,” she continued with a sigh. “Until we find out how he fits in, be very careful.” Nodding in agreement, Bethany gathered up her things and prepared to leave.
    “I want to see you in my office on Monday,” Sanderson told her as she shouldered her backpack.
    Looking questioningly at her handler, Bethany questioned, “But I thought that I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere near the office?”
    “Our office does use student translators, so we should have no problems maintaining that story, and since it looks like your handler might be compromised, I want you to start viewing any files in my office. Is that understood?”
    Nodding her head, Bethany reluctantly agreed. She did not relish the idea of meeting with Sanderson; she much preferred Marci’s calm demeanor and lack of antagonizing attitude.
    As she was walking to her car after class, her phone beeped with a text message. It was from Vadim’s second in command, telling her to come in at three for a private party. Letting him know that she would be there, she quickened her step, anxious to see who