by Norris, Kris
She huffed, motioning to Crow. “Excuse me, but did you say partners? As in work with the one man I want dead more than Slader?”
Smithers sighed. “Sorry, Devlyn, but this is out of my hands. Ward has a letter from the damn Secretary Chief, himself, instructing me to partner him with any agent who makes contact with ex-CIA Officer Ian Slader and lives to report back. I honestly thought it was a damn prank until you told me about your run-in. Looks like you drew the short straw on this one.”
“Short straw? This asshole leaves me for dead, and you think working with him, again, is going to be a matter of inconvenience?”
Crow cursed under his breath, stepping into her personal space. “Afraid it’s not so black and white, sweetheart.”
“And I already told you to save it. There was a time I would have listened to what you had to say, but that ended about four months ago.” She waved off his attempted reply. “I don’t care what happened. If you got abducted by aliens... You could have contacted me. Hell, sent me a damn text with a cliché lie attached to it. After everything we’d shared, you owed me far more than that.”
Smithers gave her a light pat on the shoulder. “While I’m sympathetic to your feelings, I’m afraid they aren’t part of the equation. Which means you’ll have to suck it up and go the distance, one way or another.”
She glared at the man. Going the distance normally involved doing things that were either hard or dangerous, and at the moment, she wasn’t really in the mood for either. Not if they involved Crow.
She gave them both a smile as she took a few steps then turned. “Fine. Then, I quit.” She headed for the door only to be stopped with a firm grip on her elbow.
Crow spun her around, stopping her from falling with a hand around her hip. “You can’t quit.”
“Really? Pretty damn sure I just did.”
“That wasn’t you quitting. That was you throwing a tantrum.”
“A tantrum? You vanish from my life, and you think this is a tantrum?” She leaned in close. “Trust me, baby…you haven’t seen anything close to that, yet. But if you’d like to have me kick your ass as compensation, just say the word.”
“Will that ass kicking happen before or after you pass out? Because I’d say you’re about two minutes away from kissing the floor.” He narrowed his gaze. “Just how badly did you get hurt?”
“Not nearly as badly as the last time I was in your company.”
His expression fell, and he released her on a soft sigh. “If you think I wanted this…”
“Then, find yourself someone else. Anyone else.”
“I would if I could but… Now that Slader knows you’re still alive and that you’re on to him—that you’re part of this and might have the information he’s looking for—you’ll be a target.”
“Knows I’m on to what? What information? Everything on that drive was encrypted. I don’t know squat.” She threw up one hand, nearly tripping onto her ass before catching her balance on Crow’s arm. “Would someone please just tell me what the hell is going on?”
Crow glanced at where she touched him then released a weary breath. “The short answer? Armageddon. Turns out that thumb drive you brought back has absolutely nothing to do with weapon’s blueprints. All that intel is just a cover for a ghost drive with encrypted files underneath.”
“Files regarding what, exactly?”
“What Slader’s been after all along. The reason he tried to kill you—left you for dead on our last mission together. It’s another copy of that list we got a glimpse of at Bains’ hideout, complete with every hidden stronghold, safehouse—undercover operative there is—domestic and abroad, including military, NSA, CIA, MI6, Interpol… Everything and everyone, all served up with a bow. And from what I know, yours is just the first copy we know of to surface. Not the only one possibly out there. And Slader will do anything to get his hands on it. Even if it means killing you, me, and anyone else who stands in his way.”
About the Author
Author, single mother, slave to chaos—she’s a jack-of-all-trades who’s constantly looking for her ever elusive clone.
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