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“We’re only trying to cover Dare leaving, right? We need Oakley to believe Dare is still in the suite getting ready to move out to the Blue Mountains tomorrow,” Tristan mused. “So we take him in the front door and lead him out the back. We put him in a car with a bodyguard and drive him out to meet the plane. He’s on his way in a few hours. Meanwhile, Tasha shows her face around the hotel. She orders room service for two, so if Oakley has eyes around, everything looks normal. She can answer the door wearing something that lets the staff know Dare is walking around naked somewhere in the suite and questions won’t be asked. Not until the next morning when Tasha exits stage left and we all head home. Except me. I’m going to London to help set up the London office’s new network.”
“Sure,” her dad said with a shake of his head. “Because the London office can’t find anyone else to do it. You won’t be able to hide forever, Tristan. But you do make a good point. If we can keep the fact that Dare isn’t where he’s supposed to be from Oakley, we might have a shot. I happen to know Oakley’s got a cleaning crew going into his place in the mountains in a few hours.”
“He knows that because we bribed the manager to let us put one of our own crew on the team,” her mom admitted. “Who’s up to clean some toilets and download some files?”
Lou held up her hand. “My accent is shit, but no one expects me to talk anyway.”
Zach frowned. “I don’t think that’s a great idea.”
“We can’t send one of the twins in. Oakley’s seen them, and if he’s got facial recognition on any of his security cameras she’ll be screwed.” Tasha wasn’t thinking about the implications of Tristan’s plan. She wouldn’t be on the plane with Dare. She might not ever see him again if he decided he didn’t want to. “Lou knows what she’s doing.”
“And I’ll have Kenz watching over me.” Lou stood and grabbed her glasses again. “If Tristan can take over the CCTV cameras at Oakley’s place, we’ll have good coverage, and I’ll know if it’s safe to make a try for the data. We can’t send the guys. They don’t look like they belong on a cleaning crew. I’m the best bet here. I can do it.”
“I know you can,” her father said. “Go and get ready. Tell Kenz to get her ass back here. Kenz and Tristan will monitor from here. Kala will drive Lou out and be ready if she needs backup. Cooper, you head to the airfield now. I want you to make sure the plane is ready to go and we don’t have any surprises. I would go with you, but I need to be close to a secure line. The op with CSIS is going down in a couple of hours, and I’m coordinating for the Agency. I need to stay here so Zach can drive Dare out.” Her father snapped his fingers. “Damn it. I think we should leave someone with Tasha. Someone who looks somewhat like Dare in case one of Oakley’s people gets a glimpse of him.”
She was about to protest that she could handle herself, but Dare stepped up.
“It should be Zach.” Dare had a grim resolve on his face. “Zach looks a little like me and he’ll protect her.”
“It should be me,” Zach agreed.
“Dare is not driving himself out to the airfield.” Tasha reached for the only argument she could make. Things were going down way too fast, and she couldn’t handle it. Not ten minutes before they’d had days, if not weeks, to sort things out, and now it was over and she might never have another moment alone with him. He was stubborn. He was set in his world view, and time away wouldn’t fix things for them. If he left, they would likely be over.
Her mother slid her chair away from the table. “I’ll do it. It’s time to get back to my little nugget anyway. Travis is probably in a fetal position by this point, and my little guy needs his babushka.”
“Travis should have worn a condom,” her dad grumbled. “I’ll fly back with Tasha and the rest of the team. All right. We all have our assignments. Tasha and Dare, you head to the hotel. Zach, make the switch away from prying eyes. Charlie will be waiting in the garage to take you to the airfield. Lou and Kala need to leave. Lou’s shift starts this afternoon. Everyone else, we move out in twenty.”
Twenty minutes and then a fifteen-minute drive and he would ride away forever.
She watched as everyone started to move, but she and Dare seemed stuck in their places.
