Page 19 of Stolen Salvation

“I read, I work out, I train with the team, drink beer in the pub, but honestly, we don’t get a lot of down time.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

She watched his muscles bunch as he navigated the roundabout. “I do. We make a difference, one target at a time. No red tape, no political bullshit to wade through like a freaking landmine.”

“I’m glad.” And she was. At least he had that to cling to and good friends by the looks and sounds of it.

“What about you?”

Charlie blew out a breath. “Well, I’m currently jobless, since my employer fired me for leaving to help my sister.”

“What an asshole.”

“Yeah, he was but I was going to leave anyway.”

“Can’t settle?”

His knowing look made her drop her gaze from his keen eyes. “You know me. I never got into this work because I wanted to be a spy. I was just good at it, and it was a way out for me.”

“You could retrain. You’re only thirty-one. Plenty of time to figure it out and change paths.”

“That would require me to know what I want to do instead.”

Noah pulled into the carpark of the facility and cut the engine and turned to her. “You could be anything you want, Charl.”

She couldn’t admit to him that the only role she’d ever wanted was to be his wife and she’d blown it. “We should head in. Our appointment is in five minutes.”

Noah looked like he was going to say something but just jerked his head in agreement. “Let’s do this.”

Lifting her hand, she switched on the comms and did a quick sound check with Watchdog, who was overseeing from base, and Duchess and Hurricane, who were their back-up in case things went sideways. Not that she thought it would. This was an initial assessment to get the vibe of the place.

Having so much backup was unusual for her, but she found she liked it. Or perhaps it was having her partner back by her side that felt so right.

Noah exited the car and came around the passenger side to meet her, his hand sliding into hers as naturally as if they’d done this just yesterday. His strong grip grounded her in a way that she hadn’t felt since before they’d lost Freddie. She’d worn wide-leg trousers in black and a short-sleeved cream blouse with puff sleeves.

Her cover was that she was a professional in marketing and made good bank. Noah was in a short-sleeved polo shirt with dark-wash jeans. His cover was that he was a gym instructor. If the facility checked, they’d find a five-year marriage, multiple failed IVF attempts, and a decent savings account. With her wages in the six-figure category, it would explain away why IVF hadn’t depleted those savings.

Charlie let her eyes wander around looking for cameras and spotting more than she thought were necessary for the place. The thought of Andrea here filled her stomach with a pit of ice.

“You okay?”

Noah’s lips brushed her ear, and she felt the goosebumps grace her skin from the simple touch. “I was just thinking about Andrea and how scared she might be.”

Stopping them, Noah turned toward her, placing his hands on her hips he pulled her close, looking for all the world like a husband reassuring his wife. The weight of the wedding and engagement ring on her finger felt right, but not as right as seeing the matching one on Noah’s left hand.

“We’re going to get her back. I promise you that, Charlie, and this time I won’t let you down.”

She had no time to respond as he kissed her temple and taking her hand, pulled her toward the front door, which swooshed open automatically.

Switching into operator mode was harder than she thought after that, but she focused on the chirpy receptionist, who was different from the last one she’d seen.

“Mr and Mrs Salisbury to see Dr Joseph.”

Noah’s voice was clear and strong as he spoke, allowing her to get her shit together.

Miss Chirpy batted her eyelashes at him, but just like when they were actually married, he didn’t seem to notice.

“If you’d like to take a seat and fill out these forms, I’ll let Dr Joseph know you’re here.”