Page 48 of Deep Cover

She turned this over in her head, quiet as she watched the snowy branches of the trees blur past the window. Still, she couldn’t make sense of the man beside her.

“What’s on your mind, Ryss?” He didn’t take his eyes off the road.

She wasn’t surprised that he’d read her. He used to know her better than anyone alive—every shift in her mood and every thought before it was fully formed in her head.

Maybe he still did.

That thought unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.

She shook herself and focused on his question. “It’s interesting that you went against your CO.”

“It’s not like they’re going to fire me.” He sounded almost amused. “Sierra’s the top of the top. There’s nowhere left to go. Being Blackout means a different set of rules apply. Yes, we have to follow commands, but we have little to lose. We’re already dead, Ryss. There’s no demotion. We’re the top of the food chain out here.”

The casual way he stated it struck harder than he probably meant it to, and she let it settle, feeling uneasy.

They drove in silence after that, but not an uncomfortable one. More like two people circling a pit that neither of them were willing to jump into. She saw him stealing glances at her more than once, and she caught herself doing the same. All the while she wondered whether them meeting the way they did—being together again—was fate or just an ugly coincidence.

She didn’t know whether the universe had really used an investigation into a crooked supply chain to drop her back into the life of a man she’d loved and believed long gone, or whether she was simply desperate to find meaning in all of this.

They drove out of the mountains, past a quaint town that looked pretty sleepy, and after a long time, into the city. The post office occupied the end unit of an aging strip mall, its faded blue sign wedged between a laundromat and an insurance office.

As they exited the vehicle, she tracked her surroundings, but Reid really went on high alert. His easy strides belied the tension locked in his muscles and the way he swung his head as though on the scent trail of danger.

They found the box without trouble, and the key slid home clean. Inside was a stack of junk mail and a yellow slip for a package too large for the box.

As she stared down at the slip, her heart began to hammer.

She carried the slip to the counter and handed it to the clerk. The woman disappeared into the back and returned with a box wrapped in enough FRAGILE stickers to count as wrapping paper.

Caryssa took the box and thanked her. With Reid at her side, she carried the box back to the SUV, trying to determine its contents by the weight in her arms.

She set the box on the back seat and pulled out her phone. She snapped a photo of the return address, but a search only brought up a pin on the map.

Reid’s body heat washed over her side as he stepped close. “Let’s get out of here.”

She nodded and they climbed back into the vehicle. As he drove, she sent a text to one of her contacts at the Bureau.

“You checking the return address?” Reid’s gaze was fixed on the traffic.

“Yeah. I asked them to run the address.”

Her contact came back fast and she read the message out loud.

“Vacant lot. Nothing there. No business or residence. Just an empty parcel of land registered to one of your shell corps.”

Beside her, Reid went rigid.

He pulled over hard, jerking the SUV off the road without warning. Tires crunched over gravel at the shoulder. Before she processed what was even happening, they were sitting in a vacant parking lot and Reid whipped open the back door.

She twisted in her seat to see him snatching up the package in one hand and grabbing a ballistic shield with the other.

“What are you—”

“Get out. Now.” His voice dropped, flat and lethal.

She scrambled out and stumbled over to him “What’s going on?”

“I heard something. Metal clicking.”