Page 68 of Dozer

"It means you're the only person left who knows where it is." I don't answer. He sits forward. "And that makes you the target."

The room seems to get smaller. I look at him across the table, at the man who's spent the last week putting himself between me and every threat in our path, and something cold settles beneath my ribs.

"I know."

"We'll protect you at all costs," he says.

"You're saying we."

"I am."

Something in my chest gives a small, painful twist. "You realize this is how people get emotionally compromised in romantic thrillers."

"I don't read romantic thrillers."

"That's because you apparently enjoy living without joy."

His thumb moves once over the back of my hand. Barely there. Enough.

"You're distracting me."

"I'm trying to keep you from spiraling."

"Is that your professional assessment?"

"No."

"What is it?"

His eyes hold mine. "Personal."

There are probably a dozen things I could say. For once, I don't say any of them. The phone in my hand buzzes. We both look down. The moment disappears so quickly it almost hurts.

I pick up the phone, expecting the confirmation I'd been waiting for, the message from my contact acknowledging receipt of the package, the one channel in this entire operation that shouldn't exist on anyone's radar except mine and one person three states away who I trust with my life.

Instead, there is a text. No caller ID. No number. Just seven words that shouldn't be possible for anyone to send to a device nobody is supposed to know exists.

We know what you sent. And where.

For one second, I can't breathe.

Dozer's hand closes around mine. "What's wrong?"

I turn the screen toward him. His expression changes. The softness disappears. The operator comes back. But his hand doesn't let go of mine.

Someone knows. Someone has found the one secret I thought I'd kept beyond their reach. And now they know exactly where to find me.

I look at Dozer. "Someone knows," I say.

His eyes lift to mine. "Then they just made a mistake."

They told us they're coming.

And this time, we're ready.

CHAPTER 22

Dozer