Saving Amber - Zoe Dawson Page 0,2

just anyone. So, I would rule out wild, crazy or any other kind of sex on a seven-day vacation.”

“Ah, right, you’re one of those. Well, buck up. This is a vacation. There will be no pining or moping over your jerk of an ex-boyfriend.”

Hours later, after she’d filed her last report and shut down her computer, she was trying to dredge up some pain or even regret about the breakup and she couldn’t. She just felt stupid for getting blindsided, for holding on to something that wasn’t fulfilling or going anywhere. It was her competitive edge. She so hated losing.

Amber had spent most of her childhood playing second fiddle to her sister Samantha, or as everyone called her, Sammy. Her older sister was outgoing and beautiful and took the lion’s share of attention from their parents and relatives. Amber had to work twice as hard to get out of her sister’s shadow. She excelled at sports and her studies, garnering scholarships. But no matter what she did, she got the sense her parents thought her second-best.

Sammy had married a very wealthy man while Amber went into the Navy, then became part of the Judge Advocate General's Corps, or JAG, then finally left to become an NCIS agent.

She’d passed all her tests with flying colors, especially her PT tests. Because she was considered an athletic girl, Amber often found herself in the pal role with boys at school and was often used as a stepping-stone to her sister.

When Amber rose and grabbed her purse from the bottom of her desk drawer, Vincent Fitzgerald said, “Hey, why don’t you come out for a drink with us?”

Damn Beau, he must have told Vin. “Us? Like you and Sky and Beau and Kinley?”

“Yeah, I’ll buy you a drink.”

“No, thanks. I’ve got more packing to do. Another time.” There was no way she was going to be a fifth wheel to her happily engaged colleagues. It would make her feel ten times worse.

“Ah, come on,” Beau said, stopping by her desk. “I’ll let you win at darts.”

Vin chuckled and turned off his desk lamp. “Right, Jerrott.”

Amber brushed past Beau and laughed as she headed to the elevator. “Ha! First off, you won’t let me win at anything. I would kick your ass!”

“Sounds like a challenge to me,” Vin said, getting into the elevator after Beau.

“Another time,” she said again firmly, and both men gave her sympathetic looks, which she hated. “Don’t feel sorry for me,” she said.

At the parking lot they both hugged her and wished her a safe and enjoyable trip. In her car, her cell rang again. She looked to see who the caller was and her lips tightened. Pete. Really? What could he possibly say that she would have any interest in hearing? He probably just wanted to assuage his conscience.

She pulled into her driveway and entered the house.

It wasn’t long before she was immersed in a hot bath up to her neck, her long blonde hair piled on top of her head, sipping on a glass of wine and enjoying the time to indulge herself. It had been a week of ten-hour days and two difficult cases. She was officially off the clock.

Her phone buzzed again, but she ignored it. Tomorrow she would be arriving in Aruba and baking in the glorious sun on a beautiful beach.

She sighed. It would be wonderful.

After getting out of the tub and crawling into bed, she tossed and turned, waking up before her alarm clock went off. She got out of bed and assembled her luggage. Just as she was about to leave for the airport, her phone buzzed and this time she answered. “Pete, stop calling me, you complete jerk! I have nothing to say to you.”

“Amber?”

Oh, damn. She recognized Supervisory Agent in Charge, Christophe Vargas’s voice and her dismay at being an idiot to her boss dissipated when she realized there had been contrition in his voice. Oh, damn, he was calling her in. “Chris…no.”

“Amber, I need your help on this.”

She dropped her head back with a long drawn out sigh. “I haven’t had a vacation in a year.”

“I know. It’s a potential friendly fire incident. You’ll be in and out. Done and on that beach in no time. I need you on this one. You’ve got the law degree background.”

“A year, Chris.”

“In and out. I promise.”

“Why can’t someone else do it?” she whined. She wasn’t proud of it, but she’d so been looking forward to this vacation, and not only was she