Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“I’ve certainly been in the field.” Brad managed to sound both prim and annoyed at the same time.
“No, you’ve monitored safe houses and picked up dead drops.” Kyle moved through the light traffic with ease. “I’m not insulting you, Brad. You do a good job taking care of logistics and watching out for the men and women you support in the field. Your analysis can be spot on, but you don’t know what it means to have to make choices without any backup. You don’t have to make the hard calls.”
“Like you did when you killed Julia Ennis?”
The car seemed to go cold, a silence lengthening between the two men before Kyle pulled the car over to the side of the road. “Yes. Like I had to make the choice to kill Julia. You haven’t had to choose between someone you care about and your job, your morals. You’ve never had to make that choice.”
“You don’t know that,” Brad said quietly. “You have no real idea what I’ve done, what I’ve had to sacrifice for this job. You’re a showy guy. You’re the main character in every play, the alpha male who roars his pain. I’m not. I’m a guy who doesn’t take center stage, who keeps his pain inside. So you believe what you want, Kyle. I’m done with operatives like you. You think the whole fucking world revolves around your pain, your needs. You’re a child and you behave like a child. You create drama and chaos where patience would serve you better.”
Damn. She might need to stay behind to make sure Kyle didn’t kill Brad. The tension was so thick between these two men. But she had a job to do, and she had to trust that these were professionals.
Hopefully.
She checked her Glock, ensuring it was ready. She had everything she needed, including the small device she would use to get past the hotel’s key card system on the rooms.
It was go time, and she couldn’t hang out here and watch the drama unfold. “I’m going in.”
Brad seemed to calm. “Okay. Be careful. Do what you need to do and if things get too hot… Taylor, if things get too hot, I want you to think about the op. I want you to genuinely consider what we’re trying to do. Identifying The Consortium is the most important op of the last ten years. If we identify the members, we can figure out where our leaks are and we can save lives.”
“So her life is less important?” Kyle seemed ready to argue.
“You don’t go into this job if you’re worried about your own damn life,” Brad argued.
Oh, she was so done with them. She deeply wished she’d been able to have an all-women team. Far less drama. She would bet if she’d been here with Sandra and Kim, she wouldn’t be listening to endless arguments. She opened the door and slipped out into the night, shutting it behind her before she could get another lecture.
Drake would be giving her one. She was absolutely sure of that.
She started toward the hotel, noting that Kyle had driven away.
She was on her own.
Like her father had been. Like her Uncle Nicky had been before he’d joined McKay-Taggart and Knight.
She walked toward the Tube station, pulling her hoodie up over her head. The plan was to let the CCTV cameras catch her on the Tube, taking the line toward the hotel. It was only three stops from here, but she’d been instructed to approach the hotel this way. They should only know she’d walked in from the east. Kyle would have been careful about where he dropped her off, avoiding the CCTV cams.
She forced herself to stop and breathe for a moment.
Don’t ever walk into a mission worried. Turn that part of your brain off. The only thing you should be concerned about is acting and reacting to whatever happens. You’ll do that best if you’re calm, dushka.
It was so good to be able to hear her father’s voice in her head again. After he’d died, she’d shoved her feelings down, and being able to acknowledge them in a way that didn’t include anger was a revelation.
Her dad was still here with her. Would always be. No one could take his love away. Not even a bullet. She was the only one who could make the choice to ignore her father’s love. It had been given fully and wouldn’t fail her as long as she opened her heart to it.
Her father had always been alone in the field with the exception of the few jobs he’d had partners he worked with. They were never regular partners. His job had been solitary. He’d always talked about how he’d loved the camaraderie of the military teams he’d been on, how there had been a good mix of working the op and watching out for each other.