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“In trouble or…?”
Wit grinned and winked. “Having too much fun.”
“Yes. Big brother learned the hard way that his baby sisters were women having adult relationships, if you catch my drift,” Ayelish said.
“I know exactly what you mean. The trick is to take off the watch when…”
“Yeah. Yeah. I get it.” She blushed and changed the subject as they watched the video feed she’d taken from the drone.
“It’s probably because of Killion and your cousin Liam that we’re still here all these years later,” Wit said. “I hope you went easy on him. You know… when he finds the hack.”
“The embedded message I left in his program won’t tell him it’s me or that I’m with you or our location, but he will know it’s friendly –– an O’Reilly.”
“He’ll assume,” Wit warned. “At least that it has something to do with me.”
Ayelish pointed at the screen. “Especially if this guy talks. Made eye contact like a damn amateur.”
“You think he recognized you?” Wit asked.
“I don’t know from where or how, but that look was all-knowing,” she admitted. “Anything stand out seeing it in motion?”
“Same as before. I recognize Bozz and his team. Nothin’ new there,” he said. “None of those assholes in black, though. Damn.”
She closed the laptop and set it aside. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. Keepers, you, the Dozen… Something ties it all together.”
“Chalice,” Wit deadpanned. “That’s usually the common thread when Bozz and his people show up where we are. The other agents, though? No clue.”
“Maybe Chalice put together a new militia of sorts?” Ayelish offered. “The Dozen were their go-to team for dirty deeds. Smaller cells like the one I worked in existed before we figured out our handlers and agency flipped. They had to replace their muscle.”
“Good theory, but who knows. We need somethin’ concrete,” Wit said. “Hopefully our team has fit more pieces to the puzzle together than we have.”
“The bigger question here is howyoufit in to all this,” Ayelish pointed out.
“And that there’s a good question, darlin’.” Wit began to pace in a small back and forth path.
“Tell me everything, Wit,” she said. “Anything and everything. Even if it seems small. Where you grew up, your family.”
“Why? I tell you ’bout my family all the time,” he fired back.
“No, you tell us ridiculous hillbilly tales about growing up related to everyone you met and playing with pet opossums.” Ayelish laughed. “I mean the real stuff. The deep stuff. You do an awful lot of talking, Wit Meyer, but you don’t do a lot of sharing.”
He scratched at his chin and began to pace once more, making his way to the window where he peeked outside again. “Not much to tell.”
“Which usually means there’s a lot to tell. Why won’t you tell me? What are you hiding?” she grilled. “What do you have or know that’s worth twenty-five million dollars?”
He stopped and turned to look at her, his words cold between his gritted teeth. “Not a damn thing. Okay? This is it. What you see is what you get with me. Pretty handy with a weapon and good at catchin’ bad guys, but…”
Ayelish met him where he stood and leaned in. Something intimate about the contact as she ran her thumb across his stubbled chin and searched his eyes. “Before that. Your life before weapons, military, the Keepers. Your family and friends back then.”
When Wit stared back hard and steely, she stood on her tiptoes and went in for a kiss. She was trying to soften him and get him to trust her with whatever she thought he was hiding.
Just as her hand began to snake around his neck and her lips met his, Wit grabbed her wrist and held her back.
“You first,” he said.
She shook her head in surprise and wore a sheepish smile. “You know all about me. I’m an O’Reilly…”
“I’m not kiddin’, darlin’,” he warned.
