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Abby’s working on that part. My only job on my first undercover operation is to get Rebecca to tell me what my father uses to unencrypt his messages.

I’ve grown a beard, and it’s darker than my hair. Between that and my baseball cap, I don’t recognize myself. I’m hoping no one else will, either.

This is dangerous. My father could have photos of me in his office that Rebecca’s seen. But I’m the only person for this job, because I’ll be in a unique position to blackmail Rebecca later, when I’m ready for her to know who I really am.

I pick up my beer, adjust my hat more snugly on my head, and approach the end of the bar where she’s sitting.

“Is this seat taken?” I ask her.

She’s looking at the screen of her communication device, and she flicks her gaze up to mine.

“No, go ahead.”

After typing something out, she sighs and puts the device back in her bag. The bartender approaches her.

“Hey Bec, what’ll it be?”

“Lemon drop martini, light pour on the vodka.”

“You got it.”

“Put that on my tab,” I say.

Rebecca’s brows shoot up. I grin at her.

“For letting me sit by a beautiful woman until your date gets here,” I say.

Her face flushes. “Oh, I ... I’m just waiting on a friend.”

“Lucky me.”

The bartender sighs wearily and walks away. I’m sure she’s a pro at spotting pickup artists.

“I’m Ford,” I say, offering my hand.

“Rebecca.”

“You don’t look like you just came in from an ash storm.” I give her an appraising look.

“More like you’re about to lead an important meeting of people who work for you.”

She flushes again, her gaze roaming to my biceps. I wore a shirt with fitted upper sleeves for this exact reason.

“Oh, I’m not a leader.” She smiles shyly. “I just work for one.”

I nod. “I figured. Someone important, right? You’ve got the look.”

The bartender sets her drink down, shooting a glare at me.

She takes a sip of her drink. “The vice president.”

I part my lips, making sure I look appropriately impressed. “Wow. Nice. I’m a boring IT guy, here for the week on business.”

“Where from?” She takes another sip of her drink.

I’m nursing my beer because I haven’t had alcohol in a very long time and I need to keep my shit straight. Ford has a backstory that includes an answer to every question she might ask me.

“I work for Corvis. We’re based in Sacramento, but with the fires, we’re kind of spread out all over.”