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Chapter 18
When she opened her eyes, Maria knew it was late morning by the quality of light streaming into the bedroom. She never slept in, a byproduct of her military days, but she had to admit, it felt nice. She yawned and stretched like a contented cat.
Teag’s warm body lay sprawled next to hers. He was snoring lightly, and she smiled at how young and sweet he looked. She took the opportunity to peruse the ink on his arms and chest. Bright and colorful, each piece was a work of art, and he’d designed them all himself. A man of many talents, she mused, lightly touching the starburst on his unbandaged shoulder.
Carefully, she slid off the bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. She’d taken to sleeping next to him with only her underwear and a tank top. His body was like a furnace. She’d woken up soaked in sweat the first night, and thereafter made the proper clothing adjustment.
Their forced proximity encouraged an intimacy that may have taken months to achieve otherwise, but Maria was actually grateful. She recognized that her ingrained tendency to resist this sort of closeness ran counter to her well-being. She wanted more out of life, and she was beginning to think she wanted it with Teag.
After taking care of her morning necessities in the bathroom, Maria called Cam on one of the burner phones he’d provided.
“Hey, just checking in,” she said as she pulled pancake mix from the cupboard.
“How’re you two holding up?” Cam asked.
“We’re good. Teag’s getting stronger every day, and I think he’s bored out of his mind. Every utensil is a drumstick and every surface a drum.”
Cam laughed. “Deluca will be by with more supplies tomorrow.”
“Great, thanks. Anything new about our friendly neighborhood professional assassin?”
“He’s elusive and deadly. Mike Flynn’s brother-in-law, Alex, was CIA, maybe still is. Who really knows with the Agency spooks? Anyway, Mikey reached out to see if Alex had any intel on Ivanovich, and Alex said the guy’s a ghost. He’s been on the Agency’s most-wanted list for years, along with Interpol and every other spy agency in the world, but no one ever got a good look at him. Apparently, he’s responsible for a laundry list of high-profile hits, but the Agency has never been remotely close to catching up with him.”
“Does he have a history of taking cartel jobs?” Maria asked, measuring the pancake mix into a bowl, and then opening the fridge to retrieve the milk.
“A few. He’ll take any job if the price is right, and cartels have the cash.”
“So we have no idea if the bratva group who wants in on the Miami drug trade hired Ivanovich, or if it was the Suarez family?”
“No, and we don’t think the del Fuegos are sure yet either. They haven’t made a retaliatory move on either party yet.”
“How the hell are we going to find this guy, Cam?” Maria asked with the phone tucked between her shoulder and ear as she vigorously stirred the pancake batter.
“I don’t fucking know,” Cam growled, and Maria heard the frustration in his voice. “The local cops have basically given up. The Feds know he’s here on US soil, and technically they have jurisdiction, but the spooks want him for themselves, so it’ll be fun to see how that plays. Both agencies know we have a stake in the game. I hope they’ll share intel with us, but they’re already getting territorial with each other, so I don’t have high hopes.”
Maria rummaged through the fridge until she located a bowl of blueberries. Scooping a handful, she tossed them into the batter and stirred some more. When she flicked a droplet of water onto the griddle, it hissed and sizzled. She proceeded to pour a circle of batter onto the heated surface.
“Mike will pass along intel though, right? And Lucia, from Alex?”
“Yeah, as much as they know, but this isn’t Mike’s case, and Alex is elusive as hell. Jake is working a couple of angles for us, though. We’re assuming Ivanovich is actively looking for Teag. Jake is trying to figure out how Ivanovich is conducting his search so we can stay one step ahead of him.”
“Smart,” Maria said, flipping a perfectly golden pancake.
“I wish we had more first-hand leads, but Ivanovich isn’t someone TSI has crossed paths with before, at least that we know of, so our own intel on him is sparse.”
“Anything I can do to help?” she asked.
“No. We can’t have you online, or basically doing anything Ivanovich could trace. Just take care of Teag and stay alert.”
“You know it.”
Maria ended the call, not nearly as frustrated by their lack of progress as she should be, owing mainly to her unexpected domestic contentment. Frowning, she tossed the burner phone onto the counter, opting to ignore her decidedly unprofessional response to the situation.
She felt Teag’s presence behind her a moment before his strong hands caressed her shoulders, his touch gentle at first. When she leaned into him, groaning with pleasure, he increased the pressure and massaged in earnest.
“You could earn a living doing this,” she said.
“Well, I do, in fact, earn a living with my hands,” he said, nipping an earlobe as he rubbed his thumbs up and down her spine.
