Page 60 of Brooks

“Define often.” She wasn’t asking him a question, simply offering an answer. “Okay, so I fail the take down. What then? Call him back and tell him I couldn’t get to her?”

“Yes. Unless Tex or Garrett finds something. But so far, I’m not seeing anything.”

“Fine,” she huffed.

“Declan, if this is a trap you need to be ready for anything. Maybe this has to do with us. He could want her out of the house so he can take out the team and save her. Be ready for anything. Trust no one outside of you six.”

I was happy to see Zane had included Tatiana in the circle of trust.

“One more thing. Good work, Tatiana.” Zane, always the one to get in the last word, hung up.

Declan immediately started putting together a plan. He, Kyle, Thad, and Max would stay behind. He and Max would take patrol around the block and Thad and Kyle would take watch inside the condo. I’d be shadowing Tatiana. I hated not having a clear understanding of any given scenario, but I really fucking hated walking into a trap.

“You ready? Time’s ticking,” I told Tatiana after Declan was done.

“Yeah. Let me grab my phone.”

Max had been suspiciously quiet throughout the entire conversation, but when Tatiana left the room, he spoke.

“Watch your back.”

“Always do,” I answered, as I finished strapping my tac vest on.

“No. I mean, watch your back. Z was polite enough not to run through one more option in front of Tatiana, but there’s a chance—”

“I got it,” I snapped, unwilling to listen to Max tell me there was a possibility Tatiana was in on whatever play Leon was making.

“All right,” Max muttered and walked away.

His acquiesces couldn’t have happened at a better time. Tatiana entered the room kitted out in her gear. I looked her over and still had a hard time reconciling the dichotomy. Soft, beautiful, sexy female to the cold, tough, assassin with twenty verified kills and zero misses. Yeah, that was something I would’ve never guessed.

Chapter 25

“You okay?” Brooks asked after we’d been driving for about ten minutes.

“Peachy.”

“You don’t sound peachy.”

That was because I wasn’t. But I didn’t want to talk to Brooks about my stupid life choices. How could I have been so fucking dumb taking a job I knew nothing about? After Zane had said there was no paper trail, which in this day and age meant electronic transmissions, it hit me I’d never received any mission briefs via email or text. I’d scrolled through my phone to confirm what I already knew. I had text messages with addresses but no instructions. I had emails with new job listings and HR contacts but nothing that wouldn’t look like a recruiter trying to help me get a new job. I had emails asking how I was doing, updates on my whereabouts, but those looked like they’d come from a concerned friend, not my fucking CIA handler.

The worst part, I’d known. Deep in my gut I knew The Company had ties to the CIA. How could they not? I was running the same types of operations. The only thing that had changed were the rules of engagement. Or should I say the lack thereof. Leon had given me orders and I’d followed them to the letter. Zane was right, I was rogue. The CIA had practically invented the meaning of disavow. But this was a whole new level. They wouldn’t have to deny I was working a job if it went sideways and I was caught somewhere I shouldn’t have been. Because I legitimately no longer worked for the government. I was a goddamned contract killer, minus the outrageous pay they received for their kills. In my mind, there was a huge difference carrying out assignments my government deemed valuable, and this. This was shit. However, I had no one to blame but myself. Maybe James was right, I was too stupid to work for the CIA.

Dammit to hell. Fuck Leon Brown. Screw The Company. I was the dumbest woman on the planet.

“Well, I am peachy,” I told Brooks. “The house is a few blocks up. Park anywhere. I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

“Not gonna happen.”

“What part of shadow did you not understand? You can’t park out front. Someone will see you,” I reminded him.

Brooks drove a little way more and pulled over. Before I could get out of the car, he grabbed my bicep and stopped me. “Watch your back.”

His words stung. They were the same ones Max had told him when I’d left the room and he thought I couldn’t hear. Max didn’t trust me and Brooks hadn’t said anything. Not that I actually blamed him. I had contemplated carrying out my assignment without telling them. But I wasn’t in on whatever Leon was planning. That was the part that hurt. Max had thought I would hurt one of them. Forgetting everything that had happened between me and Brooks privately, I’d never betray him, or any of them. Not like that. And the fact that Max thought I was capable of it, bothered me.

“I got it.” I tried to yank my arm away but Brooks held fast.

“I’m serious, Doll. We don’t know what Leon’s playing at. This could be an ambush. If something doesn’t feel right, it’s not. Shoot first, and we’ll sort it out later.”