The Single Lady Spy Series Boxset

by Tara Brown

  His lips parted and my heart stopped. I spun, seeing the fierceness on my mom’s face as the sound of Vincent dying filled the air.

  “The Burrow and the Organization are the same thing. I fucking knew it!”

  She pulled the blade from his lifeless body as he dropped to the ground. “You don't know everything.” She wiped the blade on his body and stalked back into the house.

  “Tell Coop,” I whispered to Jack.

  “Holy fuck, Evie!”

  “We’ve been tricked.” I swallowed hard and followed my mom inside.

  “What is this? What is this place and who is he and who are you?” I asked, suddenly aware that I didn't know anything. She was right.

  She sighed and leaned on the railing, completely badass and sassy. “Evie, you are serving a purpose, isn’t that enough?”

  “I want the truth, all of it.”

  “The Burrow and the Organization are similar. The Burrow started first, exactly the way you have been told. The Organization is a branch that grew from the Burrow. They are the ones who want to use what they have found.”

  “And who are you in all this?”

  She narrowed her steely gaze for a moment and then laughed. “I’m chaotic good. Just like the old superheroes. I don't believe the Burrow is the solution, and I don't believe the Organization is right. They are both right and wrong and, unfortunately, they don't listen to reason.”

  “What about Dad?”

  “He believes in the Burrow. He knows about the Organization, and he is the man behind the project you are on. He is the reason you have the job you do. He wants the Organization stopped. He thinks if they can rid the Burrow of the bad people, then it will succeed. He thinks only the bad people are in the Organization. He doesn't realize or understand what they are trying to do. But technology is growing. It’s only a matter of time before someone tries to claim the Burrow. Can you imagine the wrong person finding it? We have to stop the threat to the Burrow by ending it. And that might mean ending your dad. How could I tell you that?”

  “What about Servario?” I didn't want to think about my dad being killed by me or Mom.

  “Gustavo has his own agenda; he always has. Ask him yourself. Are we done? Vincent is dead and I want this house gone for good. When you found out he was part of the Organization, I realized it was possible he was the record keeper. He is one of the few who knows where the Burrow is. Me, him, Fitz, Servario, and a few others. The majority of the Organization has no clue.”

  “This is all a mistake.” I strode past her, not answering. I wanted to kill her for not telling me the whole truth.

  “You know why they didn't tell us, right?” Jack asked softly.

  “I guess.” In a sick and twisted way I understood. There was no easy way to tell someone the crazy reasoning and details that went into something as harsh as a prison for innocent people. Adding to that, the possibility we may have to kill my dad, and I was certain I never would have listened to her.

  I went downstairs and placed my bombs in the room with the boxes. “Coop, you ready to go?” I asked over the radio. He had been silent for some time.

  “No, I need more time!”

  “Too late, I set the bombs.” I walked for the front door, intending to steal one of Vincent’s cars and leave that way.

  My mom caught up to me, nudging me. “You angry?”

  “Yes.”

  “But?” She nudged me again.

  “But, fuck!” I turned, exasperated.

  “Butt fuck?”

  “No!” I started to laugh. “I get it. I just hate all the lying and deception and bullshit.”

  “You and me both. But you never would have helped out if you understood the mutiny within the Burrow.”

  “Maybe not, but this is over. I am done with the lies and the missions where I don't know everything. Is Janice even a threat to the world, or is it just the bad people in the Burrow who are?”

  “Janice isn’t a threat to anyone,” my mother spoke softly. “Not anymore.”

  “What do you mean?” My stomach clenched.

  “She killed herself earlier. Hanged herself.”

  I snapped my eyes shut and processed that as Coop came out the door. “Next time wait for me to tell you to set the bombs. I had to get Jack access into Vincent’s computer, which required effort, thanks to us killing all the signals,” Coop snarked and dragged me down the hill away from the house. We climbed into the car and drove away as the house exploded into a ball of fire.

  “Will the forest catch fire?” I asked, suddenly concerned.

  “No. I have dispatched emergency crews there already. You better hurry,” Jack answered.

  Coop pressed the gas, speeding along the back road to the car we had left behind. When we reached the vehicle, Mom jumped out and hopped in that one, headed for Jack’s.

  We followed her using a road we came in on.

  I turned to face Coop when I got in the car. “We have been sucked into a war between them all. The Burrow is using us to kill off the Organization, which is part of the Burrow. And the Organization is hunting us. I think CI and the CIA are pawns in it. They’re using us to fight a war within their ranks.”

  “I know. I heard it all. I don't even know what to say.”

  “Me either.” I stared out the window and wished I could talk to my dad. “Janice is dead.”

  “Yeah. I was the one who found her. I think your mom hung her.”

  “Me too,” I agreed.

  I hated everything in that moment.

  Everything and everyone.

  22

  Mystery Machine

  The shower didn't make me clean.

  Fresh clothes didn't take away the stain.

  Walking down the stairs I noticed my ribs didn't hurt as badly today but that didn't cheer me up.

  When I got to the bottom, I heard everyone in the kitchen talking. I paused and listened.

  “Why didn't he have security at the house with him? That's what I want to know.” Luce popped a strawberry into her mouth, earning a look from Hilda.

  “It was a trap. Clearly. Evie told Servario, who is part of both sides of the Burrow-Organization coin, and he made sure Vincent was alone. He must have wanted Vincent dead and set us all up to do his dirty work for him.” Coop shrugged, offering Hilda a charming grin and earning himself a strawberry from the spicy German lady.

  I leaned against the doorframe and pondered whether Servario had told someone I was going to kill Drusack.

  Luce turned, seeing my face, hers flushing when our eyes met. They had obviously said other things I hadn’t been privy to, maybe worse than that I’d told Servario something. Coop didn't meet my stare.

  “Hey, you’re awake.” Luce grinned. “Where are the kids?”

  “Still sleeping. They’re exhausted from the time difference and all the hours spent in the pool. Mom and Fitz are taking them home today.” I had a plan. It wasn't brilliant. It wasn't even close to intelligent. But it was a plan to free us from the war we had unintentionally stepped into.

  “Are we going home?” Luce asked and glanced at Coop.

  He shook his head. “What’s going on, Evie?”

  “I have an idea. Just go get in the car and don't ask questions.”

  He leaned back, his eyes darting to the cook. He understood there was no way I was talking in front of her the way they had.

  “Seriously, get Jack and meet me in the car.” I started toward the front door.

  Luce arrived at the car first. “What are we doing?”

  I gripped the steering wheel. “Going for a ride.” I relished the fact that I knew what we were doing and none of them did. It was a small dose of revenge.

  Jack and Coop climbed in, with Coop giving me an indignant glance as he slumped into the back seat.

  I started the car and drove away from the mansion. “They have boxes filled with our private information, boxes of our weaknesses. My kids, your families, whatever the fuck was in Jack’s
box that he begged me not to look at. We have weaknesses. Pegging these people off one at a time gives them time to replace the person that we kill. I think we should have a gala. I think we should host a party and kill them all—all the ones who will leave the Burrow. And I think at the same moment we do that, we should attack the Burrow.”

  Coop sighed. “Except you forget about one small detail: if we bomb the temple we go to war with Japan.”

  He was right. I had forgotten about that.

  “We can’t leave a cache of weapons sitting somewhere, waiting to be discovered. We assumed the people who worked for the Burrow stayed at the Burrow. We assumed it was a top-secret organization that a select group of maybe ten knew about.”

  “She’s right,” Jack agreed. “We can’t leave it there. If we kill the Organization and Burrow people who come to the gala, the Burrow will go into extreme hiding.”

  “How can they move all that weaponry?” Coop scoffed.

  “It doesn't matter. We can’t give them the option.”

  “What if it looked like one of their stupid inventions went wrong?”

  My eyes darted at Jack in the rearview. “Oh my God, that's brilliant. One of us goes back and sabotages the Burrow.”

  He swallowed hard.

  Luce’s head snapped around. “It can’t be you.” Her voice cracked.

  He offered a sheepish grin, but I knew as well as he did, it had to be him. He could talk the talk and walk the walk, and no one would be the wiser. He blended with nerds. I would be too old and too lost to be a new recruit, and I was fairly confident I was equal in intelligence to Luce. Coop might manage because of his memory, but he was way too confident and overbearing.

  Had we not killed Janice, we might have convinced her to do it. She was an idealist. She might have gone full rebel.

  But that ship had sailed before we even got to board it.

  I drove to the hotel, pulling up front and smiling at everyone. “Act like we were invited by the queen.” I got out and grinned at the valet as he got the door for me. “Ma’am.”

  “Hello.” I used my English accent.

  “Bonjour.” Jack used his French—his real accent—and gave a slight head nod as he climbed out. He offered me his arm and we strolled in the front door of the magnificent castle hotel. It was my first time coming in the front door, and it was just as grand as I had imagined it would be.

  We were there for macabre tidings, but I could easily enjoy the stroll up to the room and pretend this was a vacation.

  “This is incredible,” Jack whispered.

  “Absolutely.” I pointed at the hallway to the left of the stairs. “You should see the courtyard at dusk. Or the way the vineyard and village look at sunset. It’s like witnessing a miracle.”

  He held my arm tighter as we walked to the suite. I pulled out the key Servario had given me and lifted it to the lock. My fingers trembled. I couldn't deny the doubt I had. There was a chance he wasn't alone, a huge one. It was Servario and he had a hotel room. The only thing stopping him from having sex with another person was the command I had given him. My confidence in him listening to my demands just wasn’t there. I exhaled and heard it echo when I turned the lock. Everything stilled as I opened the door.

  The room was clean and empty.

  “He’s gone.” I couldn't believe he had left without a goodbye—without sex.

  “Of course he is. We exploded a house and killed a scientist. He can’t be in the area. This was your plan?” Coop scoffed. “I could have told you Servario wouldn’t be here.”

  I rolled my eyes and mimicked him behind me. It was one of the few times I got to make him follow my plan without giving him the details, and of course it had fallen through.

  “What’s that on the bed?” Luce pushed past me, lifting something shiny and glass from the bed. She turned and I cocked an eyebrow. “It’s a shoe, Evie.” She walked to me, kneeling. “Your slipper, my lady.”

  “Oh my God. You have got to be kidding me.” I flipped off my Birkenstock sandal and let her slide the glass slipper onto my foot. “That is a fancy shoe.”

  “Roxy had nothing on this.”

  “I don't think I’ll ever be able to guess his next move.”

  “It must be special ordered, like he knew in advance he would be here. Is that possible?” She smiled wide.

  “No. There must be a shop nearby. It’s just a glass slipper shoe in a seven. Any seven would fit.”

  Jack bent to inspect it. “Why a glass slipper?”

  “Neuschwanstein Castle.”

  Jack lifted his gaze knowingly, but Luce laughed at Coop. “Bless you.”

  “It’s the castle built by Ludwig II. It was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle in the Disney movie and Sleeping Beauty’s,” Coop said matter-of-factly.”

  “I remember that castle.” Jack lifted a finger. “It’s close by. Maybe a three-hour drive. Just southeast of here.”

  “He’s gone to Cinderella’s castle and this is the clue?” Luce seemed as lost as I felt.

  Slumping against the door, I sighed heavily, “Why does he have to be such a pain in the ass?”

  Luce, the last girl on earth to be Disney-obsessed, gushed, “I think it’s romantic, don't you? I can’t imagine a man ordering my size in a glass slipper and leaving it as a clue to meet him at a German castle.”

  The starry look in her eyes had me lost. “I guess.”

  “How did a guy like Servario know glass slippers were a thing?”

  “It’s not a thing,” Coop snarled and turned, leaving Luce and me staring at my foot.

  She had a crazed look in her eyes. “It’s a thing.”

  I slipped the shoe off and handed it to her. “Keep it.”

  Her starry eyes glazed over, and I would swear a bit of drool left the side of her mouth as she clutched it to her chest and followed Coop out.

  Jack watched her, and then gave me a confused frown.

  I shrugged. “It’s a thing.”

  “Apparently.” He was visibly worried but the whole relationship ending was starting to make sense to me. Luce was a die-hard romantic under her bulletproof vest and Jack was—well, Jack.

  I let Luce and Coop get ahead of us before I grabbed Jack’s arm. “You see what she wants, right?”

  “What?” he asked.

  “Luce. She clearly loves you and she just wants more.”

  He cringed and sighed his answer, “Evie, don't meddle.” He lifted a hand to say more but didn’t. He turned and walked after the other two.

  “Fine,” I muttered and followed them.

  When I got to the front desk, I placed the key down and offered a pleasant smile. I didn't know what else to do. How did I explain my having a key?

  The lady at the desk frowned and stared at the key, but I strode off before we had to talk about it.

  When I got to the car, Coop was already in the driver’s seat with Jack sitting shotgun. Luce offered an annoyed eye roll as she climbed in the back.

  “After we play this little treasure hunt game, we go back to Jack’s and finalize the plans. No more fucking around, Evie.” Coop’s accusatory tone bothered me only slightly less than having shoes left behind for me to follow after.

  Everyone in my life was all about the games.

  Coop eyed me in the rearview. “While you and your mom were killing Drusack, I went to his office in the attic and hooked Jack into his computer.”

  My insides always tensed when we discussed the Burrow.

  “He found out the last of the bots, the remaining few Drusack kept, were given to a man named Marcel Labella. When we brought his face up I recognized him immediately as one of the people from the Burrow.”

  “Big shocker there.” I’d be hard pressed to be surprised today.

  “Not really. But the bots were returned to the Burrow by Labella. He was taking them there for research.”

  That surprised me. “Why?”

  “Why do you think, Evie? To make something that
will help them further their goals of world domination. Obviously, it’s not to teach them how to make snow cones.” Jack’s little sarcastic sass was back to normal.

  “But the Burrow isn’t on side with what the Organization is doing. They don't want to take over the world. The Organization is a splinter cell of the Burrow. They disagree with each other.” I explained my question so I didn't sound like I was assuming the snow cones were probable.

  “Right, but all the brightest minds of our time are there. You don't think some of the scientists have been brought to the dark side with the cookies and the possible freedom from the Burrow?”

  I tapped my finger against my lip. “The cookies, yes. Obviously.” It didn't make sense to me though. “So the Burrow has bots that can’t be programmed without Janice’s specific codes? I feel like we won this one. Like we would have taken those bots to the Burrow anyway so Drusack and Labella have done our job for us. What can they do without her codes?”

  Was I actually the dumb one in the car?

  Luce pointed. “She has a valid argument.”

  “You don't think they can crack Janice’s codes?” Jack stared back at me, resting his arm on the console between him and Coop.

  “No. They wouldn’t have needed her if they could. They could have killed Janice, taken her research, and ended it there. No one would have been the wiser if she had died. She was a reclusive tourist living in stodgy old Oxford with no real friends. They are the easiest to remove. If they had the codes or even a chance at the codes, they would’ve killed her. And we all know she didn't give Drusack all the bots she had. She gave him some. Where are those others? She hid them from Drusack.”

  Jack’s mouth parted but he paused before speaking, “Right, she said she gave him double what he needed, not all she had. She obviously had the means to make them fairly fast. Five hundred isn’t a small sum of robots, even microscopic ones. And while they would have been tiny, the equipment needed would have been sizable. Why didn't we ask her where she made them?”

  “Everyone was focused on killing her. Mom only asked the questions pertaining to the Burrow and the Saudi attack. I doubt she cared that there were more since Janice has to be the one to program them and we had Janice.”