Page 57 of Brooks

“She’s your target.”

“My target? Our orders are Nazari and only his children if they engage.”

“That may be the orders Zane has given his men. However, your objective is Sefa Nazari. You have two hours. I’ll expect an update when the job is done. And one more thing. This is need to know and none of the men you are with need to know.”

The unease I’d felt moments ago turned into apprehension. I was no stranger to top secret directives. The assassination order didn’t even bother me. It wasn’t the first and it wouldn’t be the last. What I didn’t like was having to keep secrets from the team.

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard you.”

“You have two hours.”

“Copy that.”

Leon disconnected and I tossed my phone on the bed. I couldn’t forget what Zane had told me about Z Corps being a better option than The Company. And I still wasn’t sure what he meant when he told me he knew more about them than I did, but less than he should. I worked with Leon for years, he’d never given me any indication I couldn’t trust him, so why was I second-guessing his orders now? I shouldn’t have been questioning anything. I had a direct order, one that I needed to obey.

“Everything okay?”

“Jesus.” I startled and turned toward the doorway with my heart damn near in my throat. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”

“You sure? You look like you’re weighing something big over there.”

“Nope. Just thinking about Sefa and Nazari,” I semi-lied.

I was thinking about Sefa, just not the way I’d allowed Brooks believe I was. I’d already started to plan how I’d take her out. I only had two hours. That was not a lot of time to shower, sneak away from the team, complete my mission, and come back.

“Yeah, that shit was pretty jacked,” he returned.

I picked up my clean clothes, phone, and started for the door.

“It was. Time to wash the ick off.” I shouldered past him, ignoring the ‘what the fuck’ look he gave me and made my way down the hallway to the one bathroom we’d all have to share. I quickly shut the door and tuned the lock before Brooks followed me in and started asking questions.

No sooner had I turned the taps on, undressed, and stepped under the shower spray, guilt hit me hard. I’d lied to Brooks. Not the way I had to keep my cover when we’d first met, but straight out. And in ten minutes I was going to lie to the rest of the team and sneak away. Leon would text me the location where I could pick up a weapon and I would assassinate a woman we’d all agreed to gather more intel on. My conscience wouldn’t shut up and neither would Zane’s nagging voice, reminding me these men would take a bullet for me.

Fuck.

My hair was barely wet when I jerked the spigot handle and turned the water off. I yanked a towel off the hook and angrily dried my body. I couldn’t do it. Taking out Sefa wasn’t the issue. Lying, turning my back on the team, was. And it wouldn’t be one lie. They’d all pile on top of each other. Sneaking away was just the tip of the iceberg. Tomorrow when they found out she was dead, more lies would follow. When they investigated who took her out, even more lies would mount.

Then there was the other problem I had. Zane. I’d never known him to be a bullshitter. He had the best instincts in the business and he’d admitted, not in so many words, there was something about The Company he didn’t like. He wouldn’t have told me working for him was a better option if he hadn’t had misgivings about the people I worked for. I didn’t know if it was Leon Brown he didn’t trust or The Company as a whole. Either was a good enough reason to give me pause.

With clean clothes on, I went in search of the guys. I found them all except Brooks, sitting around the dining room table.

“Where’s Brooks?” I asked.

Four sets of eyes swung my way. All of them with matching looks of curiosity.

“Right here,” he said from behind me and walked into the dining area.

With a deep inhale, I prayed I was doing the right thing. Not only was I breaking protocol, I was getting ready to break operational security. I glanced down at the phone in my hand and thought better about speaking freely with the device in the room.

I held up the phone with one hand and gestured with the other to give me a minute. After running back to the bedroom, shoving the phone into my backpack and shutting the door, I felt better about going against Leon’s order not to tell the team.

“What’s wrong?” Declan asked as soon as I reentered the room.

“When I went back to the room, I had three missed calls from my handler. When I returned the call, he informed me I had a new assignment.”

“What? He’s pulling you?” Brooks asked.