Page 17 of Dozer

"I am." She says with a reassuring smile. I don’t believe her.

"You don't look it."

She smiles again. "That's because panic makes me ugly."

I almost smile. Almost. She catches it anyway and her eyes narrow.

"Did you just dare to almost crack a smile?" She teases me as if she’s known me my entire life. I’m not sure how to respond to this.

"No." I lie.

"You did."

"You're mistaken." I try again.

Hunter looks between us. I can feel him trying not to laugh. I glare at him, letting him know with my eyes exactly how I feel about this situation. He fails and his laugh fills the space around us.

Kenzi points at him. "You saw him almost smile."

"I saw nothing." He says, throwing his hands up. “I’m not getting involved.”

"You're a terrible liar." She banters.

"I'm not lying."

"That makes it worse." She frowns at him.

Hunter turns back toward the screen, his shoulders shaking as he tries to keep his laughter in.

"We have a twelve-minute window,” he says.

Kenzi immediately becomes serious. The transformation is subtle but absolute. The humor disappears. Her fingers move across the keyboard.

"Show me the recovery location."

Hunter pulls up satellite imagery.

She studies it, zooming in and rotating the image on her screen then stops. "Who's controlling the cameras?" she asks.

"Local security."

"That won't work."

Hunter frowns. "Why?"

"Because this camera is already compromised." She points.

I lean forward to view the image on her screen and ask her, "How can you tell?"

"Reflection." She enlarges the image and points. I can see it, a vehicle appears in the reflection of a building window. "That's not security."

I look closer and she's right. A black SUV sits where it shouldn't be. I can recognize it for what it is. There are no markings or visible plates on it.

Hunter's expression hardens. “Can you tell how long it has been there?"

"At least forty minutes." Kenzi answers him and then glances at me. "Maybe longer."

Something shifts inside me. It’s not attraction, not yet. But something else. Respect. Hunter said she was brilliant but she’s more than that. She’s useful. Very useful. I understand her appeal and why he hired her for the job. Her observation skills will be beneficial to all of us. Some would have missed the details she’s already cataloging.