Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            Heavily he sat in his chair, all thoughts of her résumé fading as the words she’d whispered in pain echoed in his mind. I need more than that.

            Pebbles’s growl cut into his mental fog, the sound low and ominous. Her head was tilted, her uncropped ears pricking up. Then Tom heard it too, the quiet buzzing of an incoming call.

            It was Molina. Grateful for the respite of work, he answered. “Hunter.”

            “Agent Hunter, I’ve got Agent Raeburn patched in. We’d like to talk to you.”

            Tom frowned, not liking the sound of that at all. “Of course. Is something wrong?”

            “No,” Raeburn said. “In fact, I think something could be very right.”

            “I’ll cut to the chase,” Molina said. “Liza Barkley just called me.”

            Tom’s breath got stuck in his chest. “Wh-what?”

            “Liza called. She informed me that, through no fault of your own, she overheard a conversation she wasn’t meant to hear.”

            “Not her fault, either. She was bringing the dog in. I thought I was alone in my house.”

            “Tom,” Molina said overly patiently. “We’re not calling to hand out demerits.”

            Tom’s blood turned to ice as the implications sank in. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.

            “She intends to apply for the nursing assistant job at Sunnyside Oaks,” Molina went on.

            Oh my God. She did. His fury with her reignited and he had to draw a calming breath before he spoke. “You set her straight, I assume,” he said, grateful that his voice didn’t shake.

            “By setting her straight,” Raeburn said, not one iota of levity in his tone, “you mean we said, ‘Yes, please, and let us help you get that job.’ Correct?”

            Tom was speechless. “But . . .”

            “She said you turned her down,” Molina said. “She said that you forbade it. Which, just for your own edification, was a really stupid thing to say, Tom.”

            “Extremely stupid,” Raeburn added.

            Tom’s temper was about to explode and he had to remind himself that the two people on the phone were his bosses. That he had to remain respectful. “She is a civilian. It’s too dangerous.”

            “According to her résumé, which she’s already sent to me, she is a trained, decorated soldier who is also a trained, highly skilled combat medic,” Molina corrected tartly, then seemed to soften. “And she’s not our first choice, if that makes you feel better. We’ve identified two undercover agents who will also apply. You can cross your fingers and toes for them if you like. In the meantime, we want a virus that can be embedded in their résumés. When they’re reviewed by Sunnyside’s HR person, I want that virus to take over that person’s computer. Even if we can’t see the entire network, we can see employee records and we can follow the hiring process.”

            Goddammit, Liza. He couldn’t believe she’d gone over his head like that. He took a second to ensure he’d be appropriately respectful when he spoke. “When do you need the virus?”

            “One hour.”

            “What the f—?” He drew another breath. Started to say it was impossible. Then realized it was perfectly possible. And a good idea. For the other two applicants. Not for Liza.

            But it appeared that he’d been both outmaneuvered and overruled. “I’ll provide you with the embedded code in one hour with instructions on how to add it into the résumé documents.”

            “Thank you, Agent Hunter,” Raeburn said formally. “We’ll have all three résumés ready to be uploaded into Sunnyside’s application form on receipt of your e-mail.”

            “Yes, sir. I assume shutting down Sunnyside’s network, thus requiring them to call in IT support, is also still a goal.”

            “You assume correctly,” Raeburn replied. “I want the résumé viruses first. We’ve already developed identities and backgrounds for the two undercover nursing assistant applicants. We’ll have the same for an ‘IT support team’ sometime tomorrow. It’s possible that Sunnyside won’t hire any of our applicants. It’s possible that none of them will even be called in for an interview. However, if one of ours is hired, we still want support for them inside the facility.”