“Where to, Mr. Hyatt?”
I pointed to the Sprinter. “The black van over there. Thanks.”
At the same time, my phone buzzed with a message, so I checked it quickly.
Finally, it was from Kiera.
Guess who’s a new Hillcroft employee? And guess who will gain access to a certain operator’s file to see how stubborn he is about physical therapy?
Well, fuck. That hadn’t occurred to me before. She’d see everything from the past five years, at least. Good thing I hadn’t gotten injured in the field in ages. These days, my mandatory checkups were focused on eyesight, reflexes, and managing occasional nerve pain.
Another text popped up.
Btw, where are you? I miss you!
I winced and raked my teeth across my bottom lip.
Right…about before, when I said I was going to the dentist…
What to say? We’d actually talked about lying over a few drinks and a puzzle once. It was all about having a moral compass. She’d laughed when I’d eventually admitted that the time I’d headed over to her dad’s new house to pick up some power tools, we’d also taken his plane out for a spin. It’d been on a day Kiera and I’d had a lot to do, so I’d omitted the fun parts.
It was a bit of a mindfuck. I’d never really cared enough before to make the distinction between work and private—where lies were concerned. I was up front about the fact that I couldn’t share much about assignments, but with Kiera, I wanted to be as honest as I could. I made more of an effort with her. Iwantedto. Except, with my past, with what I did for a living, I wasn’t budging on security. Operators in general lived with bigger targets on our backs. That was just how it was. And she didn’t get it yet. She was hung up on the money. The cost of things.
I suppressed a sigh and typed a quick reply—for now.
I’d have to handle the potential fight with her later, somewhere between tonight and six to eight weeks. That was the delivery window for everything I’d ordered.
Fuck yeah, my hellcat nurse. We’ll celebrate tonight. On my way home. Gotta drop off the van first.
I reached the van and unlocked it, and I helped the guy get the door off his utility cart.
“All right, man. Take care,” the guy said.
“You too.” Gripping the top of the door, I opened the back of the van and—kinda fucking froze at the sight of Kiera. Buthow? While the seats in the far back faced the other direction, she must’ve ducked down the whole goddamn way out to Fairfax.
She smirked, didn’t look surprised for shit, and put away her sudoku magazine before she flashed her palms. “Please don’t shoot—I’m an American.”
Jesus. Too soon for stowaway jokes.
“Heh.”
Her smirk widened, and she climbed down and held a hand over her belly. “Hi, baby. How did the dentist appointment go?”
I squinted and swallowed. Was I in the doghouse tonight or what?
She hopped up and kissed my cheek. “Nice door. Was this the one that was on sale?”
Uh…
“And please think twice before you answer,” she advised. “I’d rather fight with the truth between us than be sung a lullaby of lies.”
Yeah, that made sense, and now I felt like shit. But, uh… “Did you just come up with that?”
“No, I worked on it for about fifty minutes while you were at the dentist.”
And the hits kept coming. Fuck. Okay, time to wise up.
“One more thing,” she added. “I know you’re in cahoots with Dad. He and I talked, and it’s possible I’ve been slightly unreasonable about the security budget. You want us to be safe, especially if you’re not around. I’m sorry I couldn’t see your side of things right away.”
