Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Shane chuckled. “The king of abs? I doubt it. Luckily I know Dec and how nasty he can be if he doesn’t get his fix. I brought along a box of sugar packets, and there’s some cream hidden behind the almond milk. Dec would never think to bring it himself, but I’ve been around him long enough to know how to deal with the beast.”
Thank god. She poured a cup and loaded it up with sugar and cream. Heavenly perfection. It was good Josh was sleeping because she had some questions. “Did Dec get my message?”
Again, his eyes wandered over to the stairs. “Let’s enjoy the morning out on the balcony.”
Shit. She’d known it. She took her coffee and followed him outside. It was high tide and she couldn’t see the beach at all, the waves going under the balcony and making the whole place look like it was actually on the water. It was magical, but more importantly, it was loud. It was so loud that no one would be able to hear what she and Shane were discussing. Not unless they literally walked out onto the balcony and sat down with them.
Shane shut the heavy door behind them and joined her at the bistro table. “Dec managed to get a plate off the car that dropped off the screenwriter at the public access point. It was a midsized American-made sedan, rented from a Santa Monica store by Robert Black.”
Despite what Bond films would have, the Agency didn’t open up their wallets for Ferraris. “Which one am I dealing with—Ezra or Levi?”
“He said he couldn’t get a face off the CCTV,” Shane replied. “Dec said there was one person in the driver’s seat, with Allen Houston in the passenger seat, but he couldn’t see if anyone was in the back. How do you know you’re not dealing with both?”
“Honestly, I don’t, though I think Houston would have mentioned a second man. Still, if I had to bet, this is Levi. Ezra would have warned me.”
“Ezra Fain is CIA, Kay. He wouldn’t warn you if he thought it could possibly compromise the operation. Perhaps he wanted you to look surprised.”
She let her jaw drop, her eyes widening as she stared in the distance. “Oh, my god.”
Shane nearly knocked over his coffee, twisting and turning to get to the threat she’d “seen.” His gun was out and pointing while she sighed and sat back.
“I give excellent surprise face, Shane, and Ezra knows that. There’s zero reason for him to leave me out.” She sat back and thoughtfully sipped her coffee. No. There was something else going on here. “It must have been Levi. He hasn’t seen how good my surprise face is.”
Shane frowned as he sat back down. “Damn it, Kay. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
She shrugged. “Now you’ve seen it for yourself. This face goes where I want it to go and Ezra knows it. I probably could have been an actress if I hadn’t figured out I like hurting people so much. Do you ever wonder about that? All the things you could have been if you’d managed to suppress your violent side? The problem is now I know if I had an office job I would be the one who murdered the obnoxious people. Every office has one of those, right? Back at MSS it was totally a dude named Hai. Secretary screwed up, you did not see her again.”
“I fear for the office bully if you’re around.” He stared at her for a moment. “Sometimes you scare me, Kay. So why do you think Ezra is different from every other Agency asshole you’ve worked with? I’ll admit I’ve spent very little time with the guy, but he seems pretty routine when it comes to operatives.”
That was because he didn’t know Ezra like she did. “He’s different because he knows what it means to lose someone. Ezra lost his brother during a mission a long time ago. He thinks about something other than the op. He values lives.”
“Then he won’t be working for the Agency for long.”
She did worry about that. “From what I understand, he’s already on thin ice. The only reason he’s working this op is his close ties to Chelsea Weston. He was her handler for a couple of years and he became involved with the mission to find Theo Taggart. He ingratiated himself to Ian Taggart, and I think that’s why they keep him around.”
“Really? What does a grateful Big Tag look like?”
She shrugged again. “Mostly the same, but the sarcasm has a friendlier feel to it. Ezra has been instrumental in keeping the Lost Boys off the Agency’s radar. I think without him, one or more of my boys might have found himself being experimented on, and not in a fun, sexual way.”