The Asset, page 5
She shrugged. “Why do you all look surprised? HQ runs the show. Don’t we all do what we are told? At least, female assets do. All the time. It’s expected of us. Maybe you guys don’t know how it all works.”
All the men in the room went silent.
She decided to let them off the hook. “You seem to be missing the point. Why has Gregory been telling everyone that we have? Why would he lie to Helen Blockwell?”
“For street cred?” Roman offered. “He’s into you and thinks you’re hot.”
“Straight up truth. He wants his IC jerkwad friends to believe you could be into him,” Rat said.
“I don’t think that’s the reason,” she said softly. “He’s trying to protect me.”
“From what?” Mike asked.
“The firing squad.” She shivered. “He saved my life.”
Hammer jumped to his feet. “He knows you’re a spy?”
She chewed her lip. “I don’t know.”
“Slade!” Hammer was half a decibel from roaring. “If you are compromised, it’s game over.”
“Holy shit, that’s just…holy shit!” Rat said again.
“Does that mean we’re all compromised?” Roman asked again.
Mike was on his feet too. “We need to get her out of the country. Send her to Mexico immediately!”
She held up her hand. “Calm down. I am okay for now. I want to get closer to Gregory, figure out what motivates him. Understand why he hasn’t turned me in. Yet.”
“Think you can flip him?” Hammer asked.
She shrugged. “It would be a boon for HQ, right?”
“Hell, yeah. Getting the bomb guy on our side to reveal intel about the IC and learn how to neutralize the Patriots’ explosives? We’d win the war next time,” Rat said.
“What if he tries to use you?” Mike said to her. “We don’t know what his motives are.”
She nodded. “That’s a real possibility. We just have to wait and see.”
“I don’t like it. Too dangerous,” Hammer growled.
What in the heck was the matter with Hammer these days? “It’s worth the risk.”
“No. And I don’t want you meeting him again until we get better intel about him. We need to know more. Stay in Jackson Court until we have answers,” Hammer proclaimed as if he were the boss of her. She hated when he did that.
“Agreed,” Mike said.
She threw her hands up in the air. “I’m stuck here for…what? Three years?”
“That doesn’t sound fun,” Rat agreed with her. “I’d go nuts.”
“You should talk to your handler,” Roman said.
“I wouldn’t trust her, either,” Mike mumbled a Spanish word that sounded a lot like “psycho.”
She faced Mike. “What?”
“Nada.”
She pointed her finger at each of them. “Listen up, boys. My mission, the one Madame X gave me, was to get close to Helen Blockwell. That’s the plan, and I am sticking to it.”
“She thinks you are a Mexican spy,” Roman said. “She’ll have you killed.”
“Not anymore. Gregory convinced her that she was way out of line. She’s taking me shopping to make it up to me,” Heather said. “I will use the time to get back into her good graces and keep the mission on target. End of story.”
“What about the rest of us? Your message was to get Miguel underground. Do you think he needs to go back to Mexico now?” Rat asked.
She chewed her lip and glanced at Mike. He was studying her, like he always did. She didn’t want to send him away, but she couldn’t lose him, either. Mike meant too much to her. “I don’t know. Gregory has seen us together twice now. Once on the train and then at the Smith’s party. He might connect the dots and wonder how he can be both a Mexican bodyguard to the Free States and food truck chef.”
“If you stay, I stay.” Mike’s voice was resolute. “I’m your partner. It’s my job to protect you.”
“Protecting Slade is my job,” Hammer said.
They stared each other down.
“Stop it. I can take care of myself,” she huffed. “But I won’t make you leave, Mike. It’s your call.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Mike said.
“I knew it that day when he broke my nose,” Rat smiled. “Robles may be a dumb sonofabitch, but he’s got ginormous cajones.”
“Is that it? We wrecked an ugly embassy car for nothing?” Roman asked.
Rat nodded. “It deserved it. Mexican embassy cars are the ugliest pieces of junk on the planet.”
“All righty then,” Roman stood. “Let’s bounce.”
Rat put a hand on her shoulder as he passed. “Stay safe, gorgeous.”
Roman winked. “Kick ass, Slade.”
The two men walked out the door.
“You need to stay here until I tell you it is safe to leave,” Hammer said. “Got it? Your home is not a safe place, Slade.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But my father needs to be safe too. I guess I’ll bring him here.”
“Impossible. You know the rules,” Hammer said.
She squinted at Hammer. “Explain them again.”
“No Patriot can ever know where a safe house is. Ever.”
“He won’t tell anyone, Hammer. He’s not really with them anymore. He learned who Patriots are the hard way at the infinity hospital.”
“It doesn’t matter. If Blockwell’s men capture him again, they will get him to talk. Everyone does eventually. We can’t have Martin revealing where Jackson Court is. Understood?”
“But…”
He stepped into her space and looked down on her with that sternness that made most people shrink. “Understood?”
She held her ground.
“Back off.” Mike stepped up and pushed Hammer. The big man was not prepared for the attack and stumbled backward. Ignoring Hammer, Mike faced her. “I’ve got this. I will take care of Martin. I promise. You can trust me.”
Her heart melted. “You shouldn’t have to do that. He’s my responsibility.”
“As I have said many times, you are my partner. I want to help. Have to is different from want to.”
“Ah, Mike…” she stepped into his space and gave him a big hug. “Thank you.”
“De nada, querida.”
Hammer made an irritated male sound. “You done?”
“Yes. Mike, can you make me one of your world-famous espressos? I need to talk to Hammer.”
That crease formed on Mike’s forehead again. “You sure?”
“Yes, please.”
Reluctantly, Mike strode toward the kitchen. When he was gone, she whispered to Hammer, “Keep an eye on him.”
Hammer grunted his annoyance.
“Please?”
“Fine. But I’m not going to love it.”
She chuckled. “I know. But he could be in more danger than we know. If you hear any chatter at all or see anything that gives you pause, don’t wait. Get him out and send him to Mexico, even if he goes kicking and fighting. Promise me.”
He exhaled loudly. “I promise. It would be a helluva lot easier on me if he were there now.”
She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for rushing to my rescue again, Hammer. I owe you.”
“There’s not enough payback in the world, Slade.”
She grinned. “I know that too. I’m so grateful you don’t keep score.”
“You can’t just send a cryptic message and fall off the face of the earth like that. I need to be able to get a hold of you to know you are okay.” And then, as if he didn’t mean to say it, he whispered in her ear, “You scared me again, Heather.”
She shook her head. “Nothing scares you, Hammer.”
He studied her face for a long moment before saying, “You do.” He added, “Keep me in the loop.”
“You’re in the loop, Hammer.”
“Tighten it up then. Do better!”
She chuckled. “Roger that, big guy. Better looping.”
He kissed her on the top of the head. “Stay safe, Slade. And do not leave this house until I tell you to. Lock up.”
And then Hammer opened the various locks on the door and left.
CHAPTER SIX
“Here you go.” Miguel walked out of the kitchen carrying the espresso he’d made for Heather. He was dying to know what she and Hammer had talked about behind his back, but knew he shouldn’t ask. Couldn’t ask.
Gracious a Díos, the big man was gone and he had Heather to himself.
“Thank you.” She took the cup, and peering over the rim at him, she asked, “Are you okay? Really?”
“I am now. When I heard that Helen Blockwell’s Secret Service had you in their sights…” He cupped her cheek. “You must have been so scared.”
“I was. That’s why I sent off the urgent message for HQ to bring you in.”
“You were scared for me?”
“I didn’t know if I could get out a warning to get you underground.”
“But you did, apparently.”
“Yeah. I thought the message had been denied. Surprisingly, it worked. Now we know that I-Q-T monitors those things.”
There was one thing he didn’t know. “Why did you even try? I mean, you were the one in trouble, not me.”
She didn’t answer right away. Taking another sip of espresso, she closed her eyes as if to savor it. He loved that she loved his cooking. He watched her and waited for the rest of the story. He’d come to realize that she told her truths in her time and he could be patient for them. She finished the cup and put it on the table. Taking his hand, she pulled him to the couch where she sat next to him, her beautiful legs tucked underneath her. They were still holding hands. He had the strangest feeling she was the one who didn’t want to let go.
“I was prepared to fight to the death, or run, probably both, to try to get away. But I couldn’t do any of that knowing they would come for you next. I couldn’t bear it.” Her voice was low, breathy. She was looking into his eyes, burrowing deep into his soul. Her expression was raw pain and it killed him slowly, like stabs from a million invisible fighters. She was the only one who could do that to him.
He didn’t dare speak.
“I would’ve given my last breath to save you, Mike. And I’ll do it next time. If I have to. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Heather.” The name on his lips was more than a word. It was a prayer. A cry. A song of joy. And finally, deep hunger—intense, powerful, all-consuming. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her with all the emotions tangled up inside him.
She matched him kiss for kiss, speed and heat, until he felt like they were flying, soaring over the Patriot Union. Away from the evil. The fear that had been building inside him since the moment Hammer had told him that she was in trouble finally released.
They were both out of breath. She pulled back and put her forehead to his. “You’re going to hate me.”
“Never. Impossible,” he said. “Why? What did you do?”
“It’s what we are not going to do tonight.” She got off his lap. “You have to go. I don’t want to leave my father alone.”
“He’s not alone. Worm is with him. I’m sure they are bonding. Or…they’ve killed each other.”
“My thoughts exactly. But don’t say anything more.” She lifted her eyes to the corner of the room.
He followed her line of sight and saw a tiny bulge in the paint. A camera? His jaw dropped. Was HQ watching them? Agent Slade had just been in his lap and they were making out like teenagers. Wasn’t there a spy code rule about things like that?
Very gently, she pressed her fingers to his chin and closed his mouth.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said.
It was his cue to get going.
“There’s one problem. How? My car was totaled. Robotic car services don’t pick up Mexicans in this part of the world. How do I get”—he stopped himself before saying home—
“to the other safe place I am going to?”
She smiled. “You can take Worm’s car. I borrowed it.”
“Impossible. Worm never lets anyone drive his car.”
“He likes me.” She dangled a set of keys before his eyes. He recognized the serpent keychain from Serpents and Swords, Worm’s favorite online game.
“Who doesn’t?” He ran the back of his hand over her soft cheek. “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“You have to,” she said softly. “I’m expected to stay here. If I leave now, I-Q-T will try to follow me and they’ll find Martin. We can’t let them. No one can know where he is. Understand?”
He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Yo comprendo.”
She nipped his thumb. “Good. Now go. And Mike, the trouble has dialed back a bit, but if it looks like Gregory might come for you—”
“I’ll be ready.”
“You’ll go to Mexico. Immediately. Don’t wait for me. I mean it. Just get to safety.”
They stared at each other. She had to know he wouldn’t leave her behind.
“Promise me,” she said softly.
“I can’t do that, Heather.”
She sighed. “You are too stubborn.”
He chuckled. “I’m the stubborn one?”
She pushed his shoulder. “Cállate. And go.”
“Wait. There’s something else I must tell you.” He ran his hand through his hair. How to explain this? “I met your handler today.”
She blinked as if he’d spoken a foreign language she didn’t understand.
“Your handler, Madame X, requested I go see her. I did.”
She gripped his shirt. “Why? What did she want?”
He pressed his hand to hers against his chest. “It was a bit…extraño. All sorts of mierda happened. I was attacked by a bunch of people in a recycling station—you know, normal stuff—and then I woke up in this strange, watery thing. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Was it a water capsule that felt strangely good and yet you couldn’t move?”
“Yes. And this woman was speaking in my ear somehow, but I couldn’t see her.”
“What did she sound like?”
“Bossy, cranky, pushy. Reminds me a little bit of someone else I know.”
She slapped his arm. “Shut up.”
“What?” he grinned. “I meant Hammer, of course. In female version.”
“It sounds like Madame X. What did she say? Why did she want to talk to you?”
“Talk? I think she wanted to brainwash me. Like she does you.”
He thought she was going to push him backward again, but instead she left her hand on his chest, as if enjoying the warmth under her palm. He loved when she did that.
“What did she say?”
“She wanted to know where Martin is staying.” He glanced up at the camera. “I didn’t have answers for her.”
She exhaled softly.
“Your handler wondered where you were too. I guess she didn’t know you were out with Helen Blockwell. I didn’t have answers about that, either.”
“That was my mission—to get close to Helen Blockwell. Has she forgotten her order? Jeez, what is going on with her? She’s been weirder than normal lately.”
“She is a bit intense. Right?”
“That’s one word for her.”
“I didn’t exactly enjoy it when she tried to burrow inside my head.”
Heather’s eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
He knocked on his head. “Just as screwed up as it ever was. The headache did feel better in that water capsule, though.”
She gently rubbed his temple.
“She is trying to figure out why we are still partners. She asked questions about us. I had the distinct impression she wants me out of your life,” he said.
“Oh, yeah. She asks that a lot.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, really. I think she likes to feel like she’s in control of me all the time. She puts her thoughts in my head. Tells me what to think. Who to be. What to do. But you are something she can’t control. You’re a part of me and she doesn’t like it. She can’t change it. Can’t control it. You’re you. I’m me. And we’re connected. She can’t deal with it, I guess.”
“Makes sense. Do you know what my first thought was after I woke up in my car? You. I was off to go find you when Hammer’s men ran me off the road.”
She kissed him softly on the cheek. “Stay on the road this time. And go take care of Martin.”
“Call me if you need me.” He kissed her one more time and then forced his legs to carry him to the door. He turned and looked at her one last time. She sat on the couch with her legs stretched out now. A vision.
“Go,” she said.
Always the boss.
Fighting everything inside him that wanted to stay, he walked out of the safe house.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The alarm system went off near midnight. Lights inside the room started blinking and a high-pitched bleating pierced her ear when someone was within fifty feet of the safe house. It made her heart jump every time. Heather had been trying to keep her eyes closed in the bed that wasn’t hers. The alarm grew louder. Whoever was out there hadn’t passed by, but was coming closer to the house. She grabbed her dagger off the nightstand and leapt out of bed. She raced to the computer monitor. A figure was actually walking up the porch. A woman? The motion sensor light turned on, blasting the intruder with harsh, blinding light. The woman had several bags in her hands. She lifted a bottle to the camera.
Raven. With Wine!
Heather pressed the button on the intercom system. “The good stuff or Union swill?”
Raven didn’t have to press any buttons for her voice to be picked up and carried inside the safe house. “Only the best from the Santa Ynez Valley.”
The Free States still had delicious grapes, and Santa Ynez produced some of the best. The Patriot Union had immature globes of bitterness and gut ache.
“Thank God. Get in here already.” She buzzed her in. Once Raven stepped over the threshold, the door snapped closed behind her.
“Jeez.” Raven startled.
“Right? Now you’re locked in here with me for three years.”
Raven’s gorgeous almond eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
All the men in the room went silent.
She decided to let them off the hook. “You seem to be missing the point. Why has Gregory been telling everyone that we have? Why would he lie to Helen Blockwell?”
“For street cred?” Roman offered. “He’s into you and thinks you’re hot.”
“Straight up truth. He wants his IC jerkwad friends to believe you could be into him,” Rat said.
“I don’t think that’s the reason,” she said softly. “He’s trying to protect me.”
“From what?” Mike asked.
“The firing squad.” She shivered. “He saved my life.”
Hammer jumped to his feet. “He knows you’re a spy?”
She chewed her lip. “I don’t know.”
“Slade!” Hammer was half a decibel from roaring. “If you are compromised, it’s game over.”
“Holy shit, that’s just…holy shit!” Rat said again.
“Does that mean we’re all compromised?” Roman asked again.
Mike was on his feet too. “We need to get her out of the country. Send her to Mexico immediately!”
She held up her hand. “Calm down. I am okay for now. I want to get closer to Gregory, figure out what motivates him. Understand why he hasn’t turned me in. Yet.”
“Think you can flip him?” Hammer asked.
She shrugged. “It would be a boon for HQ, right?”
“Hell, yeah. Getting the bomb guy on our side to reveal intel about the IC and learn how to neutralize the Patriots’ explosives? We’d win the war next time,” Rat said.
“What if he tries to use you?” Mike said to her. “We don’t know what his motives are.”
She nodded. “That’s a real possibility. We just have to wait and see.”
“I don’t like it. Too dangerous,” Hammer growled.
What in the heck was the matter with Hammer these days? “It’s worth the risk.”
“No. And I don’t want you meeting him again until we get better intel about him. We need to know more. Stay in Jackson Court until we have answers,” Hammer proclaimed as if he were the boss of her. She hated when he did that.
“Agreed,” Mike said.
She threw her hands up in the air. “I’m stuck here for…what? Three years?”
“That doesn’t sound fun,” Rat agreed with her. “I’d go nuts.”
“You should talk to your handler,” Roman said.
“I wouldn’t trust her, either,” Mike mumbled a Spanish word that sounded a lot like “psycho.”
She faced Mike. “What?”
“Nada.”
She pointed her finger at each of them. “Listen up, boys. My mission, the one Madame X gave me, was to get close to Helen Blockwell. That’s the plan, and I am sticking to it.”
“She thinks you are a Mexican spy,” Roman said. “She’ll have you killed.”
“Not anymore. Gregory convinced her that she was way out of line. She’s taking me shopping to make it up to me,” Heather said. “I will use the time to get back into her good graces and keep the mission on target. End of story.”
“What about the rest of us? Your message was to get Miguel underground. Do you think he needs to go back to Mexico now?” Rat asked.
She chewed her lip and glanced at Mike. He was studying her, like he always did. She didn’t want to send him away, but she couldn’t lose him, either. Mike meant too much to her. “I don’t know. Gregory has seen us together twice now. Once on the train and then at the Smith’s party. He might connect the dots and wonder how he can be both a Mexican bodyguard to the Free States and food truck chef.”
“If you stay, I stay.” Mike’s voice was resolute. “I’m your partner. It’s my job to protect you.”
“Protecting Slade is my job,” Hammer said.
They stared each other down.
“Stop it. I can take care of myself,” she huffed. “But I won’t make you leave, Mike. It’s your call.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Mike said.
“I knew it that day when he broke my nose,” Rat smiled. “Robles may be a dumb sonofabitch, but he’s got ginormous cajones.”
“Is that it? We wrecked an ugly embassy car for nothing?” Roman asked.
Rat nodded. “It deserved it. Mexican embassy cars are the ugliest pieces of junk on the planet.”
“All righty then,” Roman stood. “Let’s bounce.”
Rat put a hand on her shoulder as he passed. “Stay safe, gorgeous.”
Roman winked. “Kick ass, Slade.”
The two men walked out the door.
“You need to stay here until I tell you it is safe to leave,” Hammer said. “Got it? Your home is not a safe place, Slade.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But my father needs to be safe too. I guess I’ll bring him here.”
“Impossible. You know the rules,” Hammer said.
She squinted at Hammer. “Explain them again.”
“No Patriot can ever know where a safe house is. Ever.”
“He won’t tell anyone, Hammer. He’s not really with them anymore. He learned who Patriots are the hard way at the infinity hospital.”
“It doesn’t matter. If Blockwell’s men capture him again, they will get him to talk. Everyone does eventually. We can’t have Martin revealing where Jackson Court is. Understood?”
“But…”
He stepped into her space and looked down on her with that sternness that made most people shrink. “Understood?”
She held her ground.
“Back off.” Mike stepped up and pushed Hammer. The big man was not prepared for the attack and stumbled backward. Ignoring Hammer, Mike faced her. “I’ve got this. I will take care of Martin. I promise. You can trust me.”
Her heart melted. “You shouldn’t have to do that. He’s my responsibility.”
“As I have said many times, you are my partner. I want to help. Have to is different from want to.”
“Ah, Mike…” she stepped into his space and gave him a big hug. “Thank you.”
“De nada, querida.”
Hammer made an irritated male sound. “You done?”
“Yes. Mike, can you make me one of your world-famous espressos? I need to talk to Hammer.”
That crease formed on Mike’s forehead again. “You sure?”
“Yes, please.”
Reluctantly, Mike strode toward the kitchen. When he was gone, she whispered to Hammer, “Keep an eye on him.”
Hammer grunted his annoyance.
“Please?”
“Fine. But I’m not going to love it.”
She chuckled. “I know. But he could be in more danger than we know. If you hear any chatter at all or see anything that gives you pause, don’t wait. Get him out and send him to Mexico, even if he goes kicking and fighting. Promise me.”
He exhaled loudly. “I promise. It would be a helluva lot easier on me if he were there now.”
She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for rushing to my rescue again, Hammer. I owe you.”
“There’s not enough payback in the world, Slade.”
She grinned. “I know that too. I’m so grateful you don’t keep score.”
“You can’t just send a cryptic message and fall off the face of the earth like that. I need to be able to get a hold of you to know you are okay.” And then, as if he didn’t mean to say it, he whispered in her ear, “You scared me again, Heather.”
She shook her head. “Nothing scares you, Hammer.”
He studied her face for a long moment before saying, “You do.” He added, “Keep me in the loop.”
“You’re in the loop, Hammer.”
“Tighten it up then. Do better!”
She chuckled. “Roger that, big guy. Better looping.”
He kissed her on the top of the head. “Stay safe, Slade. And do not leave this house until I tell you to. Lock up.”
And then Hammer opened the various locks on the door and left.
CHAPTER SIX
“Here you go.” Miguel walked out of the kitchen carrying the espresso he’d made for Heather. He was dying to know what she and Hammer had talked about behind his back, but knew he shouldn’t ask. Couldn’t ask.
Gracious a Díos, the big man was gone and he had Heather to himself.
“Thank you.” She took the cup, and peering over the rim at him, she asked, “Are you okay? Really?”
“I am now. When I heard that Helen Blockwell’s Secret Service had you in their sights…” He cupped her cheek. “You must have been so scared.”
“I was. That’s why I sent off the urgent message for HQ to bring you in.”
“You were scared for me?”
“I didn’t know if I could get out a warning to get you underground.”
“But you did, apparently.”
“Yeah. I thought the message had been denied. Surprisingly, it worked. Now we know that I-Q-T monitors those things.”
There was one thing he didn’t know. “Why did you even try? I mean, you were the one in trouble, not me.”
She didn’t answer right away. Taking another sip of espresso, she closed her eyes as if to savor it. He loved that she loved his cooking. He watched her and waited for the rest of the story. He’d come to realize that she told her truths in her time and he could be patient for them. She finished the cup and put it on the table. Taking his hand, she pulled him to the couch where she sat next to him, her beautiful legs tucked underneath her. They were still holding hands. He had the strangest feeling she was the one who didn’t want to let go.
“I was prepared to fight to the death, or run, probably both, to try to get away. But I couldn’t do any of that knowing they would come for you next. I couldn’t bear it.” Her voice was low, breathy. She was looking into his eyes, burrowing deep into his soul. Her expression was raw pain and it killed him slowly, like stabs from a million invisible fighters. She was the only one who could do that to him.
He didn’t dare speak.
“I would’ve given my last breath to save you, Mike. And I’ll do it next time. If I have to. I just wanted you to know that.”
“Heather.” The name on his lips was more than a word. It was a prayer. A cry. A song of joy. And finally, deep hunger—intense, powerful, all-consuming. He pulled her into his lap and kissed her with all the emotions tangled up inside him.
She matched him kiss for kiss, speed and heat, until he felt like they were flying, soaring over the Patriot Union. Away from the evil. The fear that had been building inside him since the moment Hammer had told him that she was in trouble finally released.
They were both out of breath. She pulled back and put her forehead to his. “You’re going to hate me.”
“Never. Impossible,” he said. “Why? What did you do?”
“It’s what we are not going to do tonight.” She got off his lap. “You have to go. I don’t want to leave my father alone.”
“He’s not alone. Worm is with him. I’m sure they are bonding. Or…they’ve killed each other.”
“My thoughts exactly. But don’t say anything more.” She lifted her eyes to the corner of the room.
He followed her line of sight and saw a tiny bulge in the paint. A camera? His jaw dropped. Was HQ watching them? Agent Slade had just been in his lap and they were making out like teenagers. Wasn’t there a spy code rule about things like that?
Very gently, she pressed her fingers to his chin and closed his mouth.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said.
It was his cue to get going.
“There’s one problem. How? My car was totaled. Robotic car services don’t pick up Mexicans in this part of the world. How do I get”—he stopped himself before saying home—
“to the other safe place I am going to?”
She smiled. “You can take Worm’s car. I borrowed it.”
“Impossible. Worm never lets anyone drive his car.”
“He likes me.” She dangled a set of keys before his eyes. He recognized the serpent keychain from Serpents and Swords, Worm’s favorite online game.
“Who doesn’t?” He ran the back of his hand over her soft cheek. “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“You have to,” she said softly. “I’m expected to stay here. If I leave now, I-Q-T will try to follow me and they’ll find Martin. We can’t let them. No one can know where he is. Understand?”
He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Yo comprendo.”
She nipped his thumb. “Good. Now go. And Mike, the trouble has dialed back a bit, but if it looks like Gregory might come for you—”
“I’ll be ready.”
“You’ll go to Mexico. Immediately. Don’t wait for me. I mean it. Just get to safety.”
They stared at each other. She had to know he wouldn’t leave her behind.
“Promise me,” she said softly.
“I can’t do that, Heather.”
She sighed. “You are too stubborn.”
He chuckled. “I’m the stubborn one?”
She pushed his shoulder. “Cállate. And go.”
“Wait. There’s something else I must tell you.” He ran his hand through his hair. How to explain this? “I met your handler today.”
She blinked as if he’d spoken a foreign language she didn’t understand.
“Your handler, Madame X, requested I go see her. I did.”
She gripped his shirt. “Why? What did she want?”
He pressed his hand to hers against his chest. “It was a bit…extraño. All sorts of mierda happened. I was attacked by a bunch of people in a recycling station—you know, normal stuff—and then I woke up in this strange, watery thing. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Was it a water capsule that felt strangely good and yet you couldn’t move?”
“Yes. And this woman was speaking in my ear somehow, but I couldn’t see her.”
“What did she sound like?”
“Bossy, cranky, pushy. Reminds me a little bit of someone else I know.”
She slapped his arm. “Shut up.”
“What?” he grinned. “I meant Hammer, of course. In female version.”
“It sounds like Madame X. What did she say? Why did she want to talk to you?”
“Talk? I think she wanted to brainwash me. Like she does you.”
He thought she was going to push him backward again, but instead she left her hand on his chest, as if enjoying the warmth under her palm. He loved when she did that.
“What did she say?”
“She wanted to know where Martin is staying.” He glanced up at the camera. “I didn’t have answers for her.”
She exhaled softly.
“Your handler wondered where you were too. I guess she didn’t know you were out with Helen Blockwell. I didn’t have answers about that, either.”
“That was my mission—to get close to Helen Blockwell. Has she forgotten her order? Jeez, what is going on with her? She’s been weirder than normal lately.”
“She is a bit intense. Right?”
“That’s one word for her.”
“I didn’t exactly enjoy it when she tried to burrow inside my head.”
Heather’s eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
He knocked on his head. “Just as screwed up as it ever was. The headache did feel better in that water capsule, though.”
She gently rubbed his temple.
“She is trying to figure out why we are still partners. She asked questions about us. I had the distinct impression she wants me out of your life,” he said.
“Oh, yeah. She asks that a lot.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, really. I think she likes to feel like she’s in control of me all the time. She puts her thoughts in my head. Tells me what to think. Who to be. What to do. But you are something she can’t control. You’re a part of me and she doesn’t like it. She can’t change it. Can’t control it. You’re you. I’m me. And we’re connected. She can’t deal with it, I guess.”
“Makes sense. Do you know what my first thought was after I woke up in my car? You. I was off to go find you when Hammer’s men ran me off the road.”
She kissed him softly on the cheek. “Stay on the road this time. And go take care of Martin.”
“Call me if you need me.” He kissed her one more time and then forced his legs to carry him to the door. He turned and looked at her one last time. She sat on the couch with her legs stretched out now. A vision.
“Go,” she said.
Always the boss.
Fighting everything inside him that wanted to stay, he walked out of the safe house.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The alarm system went off near midnight. Lights inside the room started blinking and a high-pitched bleating pierced her ear when someone was within fifty feet of the safe house. It made her heart jump every time. Heather had been trying to keep her eyes closed in the bed that wasn’t hers. The alarm grew louder. Whoever was out there hadn’t passed by, but was coming closer to the house. She grabbed her dagger off the nightstand and leapt out of bed. She raced to the computer monitor. A figure was actually walking up the porch. A woman? The motion sensor light turned on, blasting the intruder with harsh, blinding light. The woman had several bags in her hands. She lifted a bottle to the camera.
Raven. With Wine!
Heather pressed the button on the intercom system. “The good stuff or Union swill?”
Raven didn’t have to press any buttons for her voice to be picked up and carried inside the safe house. “Only the best from the Santa Ynez Valley.”
The Free States still had delicious grapes, and Santa Ynez produced some of the best. The Patriot Union had immature globes of bitterness and gut ache.
“Thank God. Get in here already.” She buzzed her in. Once Raven stepped over the threshold, the door snapped closed behind her.
“Jeez.” Raven startled.
“Right? Now you’re locked in here with me for three years.”
Raven’s gorgeous almond eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”
