Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“Oh, I had Terry deal with all of it. I never contacted Huber at all. After your team raided the German compound, Terry told me that Huber was suddenly more interested in Lou than he was in the sergeant. That’s when I decided to work with MI6 to bring her in for questioning.”
“That bit of intelligence was one of the reasons I thought it was a good idea to bring her in,” Oliver admitted. “If Huber thought she could be a stand-in for the bombmaker, then we needed to take her off the board.”
“Sharing that bit of intelligence and sitting down with us so we could all work together would have been the right play, but Parker over there doesn’t like to share,” Big Tag said, menace plain in his tone.
“I think you know the reputation your team has when it comes to sharing,” Parker countered. “Miss Magenta doesn’t play fair, and that’s exactly why I didn’t call you up. We’re not friends. Your team literally tied me to a damn spanking bench in Australia and left me out of whatever intel you picked up. So yeah, I wasn’t about to offer to work together.”
Big Tag stared at the Canadian. “We can discuss politeness at another time. When did you decide to set up Lou again?”
Parker sat back with a weary sigh. “I had the idea when I was sitting in the lounge here with Ms. Magenta. She was teasing Lou about the Dennis guy, and I got her to tell me the story. She told me she was almost certain Dennis would try again. I found him, and Terry convinced Dennis to change his plans. We needed the whole thing to go down in a place where we could control the comings and goings. That particular bar has been closed for weeks in preparation for a renovation. We simply reopened it. But I wasn’t going to let Huber walk out with Lou. She wasn’t supposed to bring TJ with her. According to the DMs she sent to Sims, she was going to attend alone.”
“Yeah, he was setting up a freaking opportunity to molest her,” TJ said under his breath.
He was very dramatic. “Given all the things going on, I wasn’t about to go on a date. I thought it was a get-together with some people from high school, and TJ would have known almost everyone there. I wasn’t ever going to meet with Dennis alone. Not until this situation resolved.”
TJ growled.
“Not ever now.” Her boyfriend was a very growly top. She had to admit it did something for her.
“I was watching the whole time, and Terry handled things properly. He made sure he was the one who checked you for weapons. He left you the gun,” Parker pointed out. “All I wanted was to hear the name. I needed Huber to acknowledge the name on tape. Terry was going to get close enough to Lou to ask her to talk to Huber, but he didn’t need to. She brought it up herself.”
“Because TJ pointed out that he thought you were there.” She gave her guy a bright smile. “That was brilliant. I didn’t pick up on it.”
He grinned. “You would have figured it out. I only did because the guy let me keep my gun. It was logic from there. I knew we didn’t have an agent embedded, so it made sense that it was the Canadians.”
“Working missions on American soil without informing the Agency,” Big Tag pointed out.
“Says the man who started it all.” Parker slapped at the table. “Years ago you ran an op in Toronto, and that’s precisely why we’re here. The CIA killed Huisman’s father.”
“I wasn’t working for the Agency at the time,” Big Tag pointed out. “And somehow I think Emmanuel would have found his dark side one way or another. He’s good, though. He played things beautifully in Australia. I wasn’t able to give the Agency anything on him. Now we can talk.”
“Will what we’ve found be enough for your boss to keep the case open?” Lou asked.
Ben nodded. “Yes. I’ve already sent Joseph what I got, and he’s handling Terry’s body.” Ben’s jaw clenched. “I’m really… Damn it, it shouldn’t have gone down like that.”
“I’m going to give you some advice, Parker.” Big Tag closed the folder in front of him and stood, looming over the room. “Ditch the guilt. The way you play, there’s no place for it. You were willing to risk everyone’s lives for one answer. If I was your handler, I would be perfectly happy to send you on any op because you’ll get the job done. That blood on your hands is nothing. It’s a speck. You’ll bathe in it before you’re done. You keep down the path you’re on and there won’t be an inch of your soul that resembles what you started with. What you did today is one of the most ruthless things I’ve seen in a long time. There’s a part of me that’s impressed. There’s a part of me that thinks I should take you out now because Terry isn’t the only person you’re going to get killed.”