Page 79 of Our Tricks

Not bothering to lift my head, I let out a sigh. “You know, if some disaster wanted to happen right now, I’d be totally okay with that. Probably won’t because it only manages to occur when I’m about to take a bite of food, but who knows… maybe this time I can make it work for myself.”

“Dax,” Magnus said, his voice edged with warning.

Slowly, I lifted my head to see men in suits and three black SUVs outside. A man got out of one of the SUVs and entered the diner, walking right up to us.

“Holy fuck, I didn’t think that was going to work,” I whispered.

“Hello, it seems when we spoke to Mr. Black about his meeting today, we didn’t stress the importance of all his team joining him. If you could, I think we should be able to fit everyone between the three vehicles,” the man said as he gestured for us to go ahead of him.

I started to laugh at just how absurd this whole interaction was. “You have got to be shitting me. Do you really think we’re just going to climb in your car and take us to God knows where? Sorry, pal, but you got the wrong people if you think that’s gonna fly.”

“Mrs. Blackmore, while I applaud your caution, it’s not going to make a difference. You’ll all come with us willingly, or we’ll make it happen without your consent,” he informed me. “So if you please, your husband is waiting in the first vehicle if you wish to speak to him about this matter.”

That had my attention. “Cam is here?”

“I believe that’s what I just said,” he retorted, then spoke into a radio, “Can you please roll down the window for Mr. Black?”

The first SUV’s passenger window rolled down, and there indeed was Cam, with a furious expression on his face. Slowly, everyone got up from the booth, and Wes tossed down some cash for the meal. The café had gone quiet as they watched us getting marched out by a single man in a suit. My anger was starting to build as we stepped outside, and the doors to the vehicles were opened.

Cam began to get out, but another man stopped him. “If you don’t want my wife to lose her shit, then I suggest you let me out to prove I’m alright. Otherwise, you might be losing a few good men to your bravado.”

The agent who stopped him looked behind us to the man who’d come to collect us. “It’s fine. Whatever will get things to move along faster.”

Instantly, Cam was out of the car and had me wrapped in his arms. “Listen to me carefully and don’t react. This is a black-ops team for the CIA, and they want to use us to get to Marco. They assumed when I asked to come over to their side, I’d be bringing you with me. I’m so sorry there was nothing I could do, they already knew where you were.”

Nodding my head, I pulled back. “You’re okay?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

“Better now,” he said, giving me a halfhearted smile.

“Let’s go. We’ve drawn enough attention as it is.”

Cam and I climbed into the first SUV with Void and Wes. Harper and her guys took the next one while Eagle, Cognac, Picasso, Sprocket, and Alvaro fit in the last one. We had the driver, the man who came in to get us, and another agent who sat in the back with Void.

“Where exactly do you plan on taking us?” I asked. “Something tells me it’s not Langley for a meeting.”

“You’d be correct, but I can’t tell you where we’re going. That’s privileged information,” our kidnapper answered.

“Any chance we get to know your name? Or do I just keep getting to call you Agent Kidnapper in my head?” I inquired.

He shifted to look back at me. “Agent Kidnapper? Is that the best you could come up with?”

“Sorry, if you want my finer works of art, you’re gonna need to give me more to work with. So far, it’s been saving me from shit coffee and kidnapping. I suppose I could go with Agent Meanie or Agent Pisses-Me-The-Fuck-Off… any of those catch your fancy?” I drawled.

“You can call me Agent Casper,” he responded.

Rolling my eyes, I let out a huff of laughter. “Why, because you’re a ghost?”

“You’re as smart as they say you are,” Agent Casper commented, facing forward. “We have about an hour’s drive to get where we’re going so get comfortable.”

Yeah, like that was going to happen.

We drove out of the city and into farm county. There were so many historical markers on the highway pointing out this or that attraction—so many plantations, farms, and homes of important dead people to go visit. It seems I’d have to come back to D.C. another time to do some sightseeing because I didn’t think that was going to happen now. Then again, depending on how this meeting went, I might never want to return.

The SUV turned off the highway and headed down a two-lane rural road with large, open grassy pastures. Some had horses while others seemed to be empty. When I couldn’t remember the last farmhouse we passed, they turned down a gravel drive. The house was set way back, but we didn’t head there. Instead, we parked in front of a barn.

“Seriously? This is straight out of every spy TV show or movie with a secret facility under a barn. Could you be more cliché?” I demanded as I hopped out of the SUV.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted someone moving in on me. When they got close enough to strike, I ducked, grabbed the person’s arm, and tossed them over my hip. Unlike most people, he clung to me and took me down with him so we were grappling on the ground. Cursing myself for not having a weapon, I started to feel around on the person to see if they did. Nothing, shit. Using some of the new moves that Void taught me, I managed to flip the asshole over and slam my elbow into his face. I heard the sound of his nose breaking, but I didn’t see the fist that was coming at me. He clipped on my jaw, snapping my head to the right, making me groan.