He would’ve been torn over the idea of cultivating the administrator’s friendship under false pretenses no matter what, but he was especially so with Sasha Willis. He hadn’t seen her again since that first day and so avoided making a decision one way or the other. He suspected his time had about run out unless he took the coward’s way out and hid. But the others were depending on him, so given the opportunity, he’d have to act.
Damn it, why did she have to show up while he was still there? More importantly, why hadn’t he left while he had the chance? The answer was simple: he wanted to see her again, to see if his memory of her held up to the reality.
That she’d want to meet with the head Paladin wasn’t a surprise, but it was clear that Devlin hadn’t been expecting her. Glancing around the office, Larem realized he wasn’t the only one staring down the hallway. Several of the Paladins, even those whose desks weren’t in this particular area, were hanging around and pretending to be busy.
As soon as the woman came into sight, all pretense of getting any work done ended. Larem had to give her credit. Once again, having all those male eyes focused solely on her didn’t faze her in the least. She calmly headed straight for Devlin’s office door and knocked. While she waited for him to answer, she did a little staring of her own.
Her gaze swept across the room. Her mouth briefly softened into a smile when she spotted Cullen, one of the few who’d actually spoken to the woman. When the Paladin jerked his head in a sharp nod of acknowledgment, she smiled more broadly before her eyes continued scanning the men.
When she spotted Larem, there was a brief flare of recognition, and he could’ve sworn he felt a brief surge of warmth from all the way across the room. Once again, he was struck by her beauty. The deep green of her blouse set off not only the red in her hair but also her creamy complexion. Was her skin as soft as it looked?
After a second, her expression settled into a puzzled frown. Had he stared too long, or had she suddenly figured out who—or rather what—he was?
Either way, it wasn’t his problem. He deliberately broke off the silent exchange and forced his focus back to the book he was reading. Far better that he spend his time satisfying his curiosity about his gift of healing than worrying about the opinions of one human female, even if she was a beautiful one.
And if he tried hard enough, he might just convince himself that was true.
“Don’t just stand out there pounding on the door. Come in.”
At Devlin’s bellow, Sasha tore her attention away from the men scattered about the office and back to the one she’d come to see. Even so, she found herself reluctant to look away from that guy seated in the back corner. He was one of the two men who’d helped her find her way out of the building on that first day.
Now that she was working her way through the Paladin files, she readily recognized Cullen. From what she’d read, his nickname of “The Professor” certainly fit with the first impression she’d had of him. He’d been quietly helpful when he’d shown her the exit, making sure to introduce her to the guard stationed out in the alley.
But it was the other man who aroused her curiosity. There was just something different about him. Even from a distance, he stood out from the crowd. She didn’t know why, but he did. Eventually she’d run across his file and perhaps find some answers.
Rather than get caught staring, she opened Devlin’s door and poked her head in. He glanced up from the pile of papers spread out on his desk and tried to look surprised to see her. Cute.
She hadn’t missed seeing the guard hitting a number on speed dial as soon as he let her into the building, although she didn’t fault him for making the call. It was his job to monitor who came and went. Her only concern was what Devlin had been up to when the guard called to warn him of her approach.
Now wasn’t the time for inquisitions, so she’d let it pass—this once.
“Ms. Willis, come in and have a seat.” He rose to his feet. “Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? Or maybe a bottle of water?”
“Water sounds good. I’ve already had way too much caffeine today.”
While he got two bottles out of the small fridge in the corner, she sat down, choosing the chair that offered a clear view of the door. Odd that it seemed important, but it did. Safer somehow, although she didn’t sense any kind of threat coming from Devlin himself.
He handed her the water and then returned to his own side of the desk. After popping the top on his own bottle, he asked, “So what brings you to our neck of the woods?”
“I wanted to discuss something with you, but not over the phone.” She took a long drink of water, giving him time to consider the unspoken message behind her comment.
His dark eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You think someone has bugged your line?”
“Not exactly,” she said, frowning. “But I don’t know that they haven’t either. What I need to talk to you about is a bit sensitive, so I didn’t want to take any risks. Besides, it was a good excuse to get out of the office and away from the stacks of financial reports on my desk for a while.”
Devlin grinned. “God knows, I understand that. Despite all the hours I spend on the computer, I’m drowning in paperwork. So what’s up?”
She’d pondered various approaches on the way over without really coming up with anything that felt right. Judging from what she knew about Devlin, she decided to be blunt.
“I’ve been meeting with department heads for the past few days. It won’t come as a shock that I keep hearing different verses of the same song over and over again. The bottom line is that things have been badly mismanaged for some time. I plan to fix that, but I can’t do it alone.”
She paused, waiting to see if Devlin wanted to join in the chorus of discontent. It didn’t surprise her when he kept his thoughts to himself and waited for her to continue, maybe to see if she’d hang herself.
“So here’s my thought on the subject. It’s going to take time to sort through all the accounts before I can effectively deal with all the finger pointing that’s going on. However, I will tell you the same thing I’ve told all the other department heads: I fully intend to get to the bottom of the problem.”
Thinking back to an earlier confrontation, she sighed. “As I told two angry supervisors this morning, I’ll eventually figure out why one department got a lifetime supply of paper clips and the other can’t get any. But honest to God, neither of them grasped that, while I understand their frustration, their problem is small potatoes when compared to the big picture.”
“Seriously? Paper clips?” Devlin’s mouth twitched as he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a couple of boxes. “Here, maybe these will help.”
He might be teasing, but she took them anyway. “Thanks, that’s one fire out. Now, if only everything else was as easy.”
“Glad to be of help.”
Devlin leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on the desk, definitely looking more at ease than when she’d first arrived. Time to get down to the business at hand.
“Spit it out, Ms. Willis. The worst I can say is no.”
Not that he had the right to refuse any reasonable request, but reasonable was in the eye of the beholder. Feeling she was about to step over a precipice, she took a deep breath and went for it. “Okay, here it is. My focus has to be on whatever makes it possible for the Paladins to function.”
Leaning forward, she continued, “You have a reputation of putting your men first, a policy I agree with. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll be reviewing your budget and expenditures to make sure they’re in accordance with the guidelines established by the Regents.”
She made direct eye contact, telling him without words that she meant it. “I figure it’s in your best interest to work with me. So, insofar as I’m trusting anyone around here, I’m going to trust you because your men will suffer if we don’t get things under control. To that end, I’d like to invite you and Dr. Young to join me at my hotel suite for drinks.”
His bright green eyes saw too much. “I’m guessing the occasion won’t be purely social, that what we discuss will be off the record and in private.”
“Let’s just say I have some concerns about the security measures in place. Shall we say tomorrow night at seven? If that conflicts with Dr. Young’s schedule or if the barrier decides to act up, please let me know and we’ll reschedule.”
As she stood up, Devlin did the same. To her surprise, he held out his hand. “Thank you for coming, Ms. Willis. I’ll check with Laurel and let you know one way or another.”
“Sounds great.” Then she gave him a pointed look. “Before I go, do you need time to call ahead to warn anyone else I’m on the loose?”
Then she smiled and walked out without waiting for his response.
Still restless, Sasha had no interest in immediately returning to her office. She’d meant to ask Devlin about a tour of the place but decided to see what she could learn if she wandered around by herself for a little while.
As she walked through the cluster of desks outside Devlin’s office, she could feel the weight of all those suspicious eyes following her every move. No doubt someone was already warning Devlin that she hadn’t headed straight back to her office.
She didn’t take it personally, but neither would she let their suspicious natures impede her progress. She glanced down a narrow hallway and noticed a bank of monitors mounted on the wall, just at her eye level. It didn’t take long to realize that what she was seeing was various views of the famous Seattle Underground.
Although she’d read that the Paladin headquarters were built into the hillside adjacent to the sunken sidewalks and buildings, she hadn’t expected to be able to watch sightseers wandering by on a tour.
What would those people think if they were to learn that the subterranean world they believed long deserted was actually occupied by a secret group of warriors? Probably that they’d stumbled into a science fiction movie set.
The thought made her smile. The movies had nothing on the reality of the Paladins’ world. When the last tourist was out of sight, she moved on, although still not ready to get back to her office and that stack of work.
A short distance later, she realized she could hear the faint sound of voices. She paused to listen. They were coming from down the hall on the right. The sign on the door indicated that it was part of the geology department, probably one of those labs that Cullen had mentioned the other day. Curiosity had her heading for the lab door. Rather than barge in uninvited, she knocked and waited to see who answered.
Larem stopped talking at the same instant Barak turned to face the door. For Lacey’s benefit, Larem explained, “Someone’s out in the hall. By the sound of the footsteps, it’s most likely a woman.”
Lacey looked at both males in disgust. “I hate it when you two go all spooky Kalith on me.”
She set down her clipboard just as the mystery woman rapped on the lab door. “No one around here ever knocks.”
Larem rose to his feet, his internal alarms going off—he knew exactly who it was. “Lacey, it’s probably Sasha Willis, although I thought she would’ve left the building by now.”
“What could she want? I heard she’s talking to the department heads, not lowly employees.” Lacey started for the door. “Not that it matters. I’ll go let her in.”