Emeralds Are Forever

Dee has always been jealous of her best friend Carlie's adventures, but she never imagined actually going on her own. But when Carlie goes missing searching for a 300-year-old emerald, Dee is willing to do anything to get her back.

Newspaper reporter by day, handler by night, Ben has plenty on his plate, which means no time for relationships. That is, until he runs into Deirdre—or Dee, as her friends call her—at the local grocery store.

Together, Ben and Dee must find their friend and uncover the mystery surrounding the elusive three million dollar emerald before it's too late. Can they complete their rescue in time, or will Dee's first adventure be her only adventure?

Ben dropped his headphones onto the desk and let out a loud “Yes!” The retrieval of Cleopatra's earrings had gone without a hitch, and Carlie was on her way home. The museum would be thrilled to have a matching set. He watched as the plane took off before standing to stretch. Now that the job was done, he could concentrate on the article he was supposed to be writing for the newspaper. But first, he needed to go get some groceries.

He grabbed an apple out of the fridge, then found a baseball cap to hide his hair. He'd have to shower later that night. Going between being “Ed” for Carlie's team and Ben Wilson for the newspaper could be exhausting, but it also meant getting the scoop for the newspaper before anyone else did.

A warm breeze welcomed him as he left the house and climbed into his old Honda. It had been unseasonably hot and hadn't cooled down even after dark.

The grocery store was empty for a Thursday night, but Ben preferred it that way. He pushed a cart inside and made his way down the aisles. Produce, bread, cereal. He ticked his list off in his head as he went.

“Excuse me?” A woman's voice jolted Ben out of his thoughts. He turned to find a woman smiling up at him. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and her striking green eyes stared into his. It took a moment for him to realize he was just standing there.

“Uh, hi.” He tried to figure out how to get his cart around her, but his brain
didn't seem to want to work.

The woman pointed at a bottle of vanilla extract on the top shelf. “Can you get that for me? I'm rather vertically challenged.”

Ben laughed and handed it to her. “Vertically challenged?”

“I like it better than calling myself short. Thank you.” She set the bottle into her basket.

“You're welcome.” He pushed past her, trying to get distance between them so his mind would work again. Clearly, he needed to step away from the computer more often so he'd know what to say to women. Or people in general.

After passing each other three more times going down the aisles, the woman laughed. “We can't keep running into each other like this.”

Ben grinned. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me.”

She raised a hand. “Guilty. I just . . . I swear I know you from somewhere. It's been driving me crazy trying to figure out where.”

“I would remember if I’d met you.” Ben stopped, realizing what he'd just said. He put his hand out. “I'm Ben.”

“Deirdre.” She took his hand and a shiver of electricity went through him.

Ben dropped her hand but could still feel her soft skin and firm grip. “I better get going. I have to get my article turned in . . . not that you needed to know that.”

“Article?” Her eyes brightened. “You work for a paper?”

“Yeah. Well, sort of. I mean, I write articles for the paper, but I do other things, too.” Shut your mouth, Ben. “Well, see you around.”

He turned and walked toward the cashier, mentally cursing himself. He'd been smooth once upon a time. But then the only girl he'd really talked to for the last few months was Carlie as he helped her on missions. That didn't count because she was married.

Deirdre wasn't anywhere around as he paid and went out to the car. It was probably better that way anyway. He couldn't exactly pay attention to someone when he was supposed to be helping his team through missions. That didn't stop him from glancing around the parking lot to see if he could find her one more time, though.

His phone rang as he pulled out onto the road.

“Hey, Carlie, what's up?”

“I just heard from Braden. He said there's something going on at the airport where I'm supposed to land. Can you check it out?” Her voice was muffled, but then it was coming from a phone in the heel of her shoe.

Ben sighed. So much for working on his article. “I'm heading home right now. Give me a sec. How long until you land?”

“Three hours. And Ed? Make sure Braden isn't anywhere near the airport if there's trouble.”

“Will do. Everything you need is in that bag. Be ready.” Ben hung up and checked his car's computer for traffic jams. It was too close to rush hour for his comfort, so he turned down a side street. He pushed a button on his car radio and waited for the computer to pull up Carlie's flight. She was halfway across the Atlantic by that time. She was closer to landing than she thought. He cursed and pushed his foot down on the gas. As soon as he pulled in to his driveway, he grabbed the bags of groceries and hurried into the house.

The computers in Ben's office hummed, calming his nerves. He pulled up the
surveillance of the Atlanta Airport. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but anyone who was after the earrings would know better than to be seen on the normal cameras. A few codes and another hack and he was into the mainframe. He sat back in his chair and watched as the computer cycled through.

There.
Ben leaned forward and played back the video. Apparently Frank wasn't out of commission. Ben swore and grabbed his phone.

“Come on, come on, answer,” he muttered until the other line picked up. “Please tell me you're waiting at the airport for Carlie right now.”

Braden laughed. “Hello to you too.”

“Listen, Frank is there, right by the gate that Carlie is coming through. I'm going to
try to reroute the plane, but if that doesn't happen, you need to be ready to take him out.”

“Way ahead of you. He's in my sight. Just make sure that plane doesn't show up here.”

“I'll do my best.” Ben stared at his phone before punching in another number. “I need to report a medical emergency.”