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Given Zeppelin was seated on the same side of the vehicle, I walked around it. The male driver got out and walked in the opposite direction. By the time I got in, after Reaper offered to move to the third-row bench, the woman was behind the wheel.
“I’m Schön, and this is Macht,” she said as she put the SUV in gear and peeled away from the aircraft.
I gripped the edge of the seat and glanced over at Zeppelin, who finally looked up from his mobile. His wide eyes trailed from my face down to my expanded bosom, then back up again.
“Our pre-op brief mentioned you’d be meeting us in St. Moritz and that a helicopter would transport us from here to there,” he said.
“The views from the road between Zurich and the resort where you’ll be staying are some of the most beautiful in the world.”
“Deliver us to the helipad,” Zeppelin responded in a way that came across as an order.
“Pardon?”
“We’ll travel via the prearranged transport.”
“But—”
“The helipad. Now,” he barked more than said.
“Since we’re transporting Reaper anyway, I thought we could review the op’s objectives on the drive.”
“There is no bloody way in hell I’m going to waste three hours riding in an SUV, sightseeing. I’ll schedule a briefing at the resort later this evening.”
“I’ll travel with you.” She turned to the agent she’d introduced as Macht. “You can meet us at the resort.”
“No.” Zeppelin’s tone was increasingly harsh. “I said we’d meet later.”
Since I was sitting behind her, I couldn’t see Schön’s reaction, but that she didn’t offer the customary, “Yes, sir,” indicated she was not used to having her plans circumvented.
The entire exchange relieved me. I’d anticipated Zeppelin might let the woman lead him around by the nose, as they say. I would go so far as to say I was pleased when he informed her she wouldn’t be traveling with us.
“Nice getup,” he said, taking me in from head to toe once we’d exited the vehicle and were walking to the waiting helicopter.
I nodded but didn’t speak. I hadn’t altered my appearance in order to garner compliments from Zeppelin. Concealing myidentity when I was undercover was what would keep me alive when I transitioned from the coalition into Unit 23.
“You’re quiet,” he commented right before we climbed into the blade. “But then, you usually are.”
I laughed out loud.
He smiled. “What?”
“You are the last person I would expect to say I was quiet.”
“Apart from the times you’re annoying the hell out of me, you are.”
I chuckled when he smiled. “Back at you.”
When he scrubbed his face, I almost asked what was bothering him. But I refrained. The exchange thus far was crossing the threshold of a too-personal conversation. I had no intention of becoming friends with Zeppelin. None whatsoever.
4
ZEPPELIN
Iknew better than to let my guard down with Verity. The moment I did, she’d throat punch me. Not literally, but oftentimes, that’s exactly how her insults felt.
No one had ever busted my balls the way she did. The worst part was, the majority of the time, she was right.
Maddening.That was the word she’d used when she scooted around me on the plane. The same one I’d repeated back to her. Except I knew the word had different meanings for each of us.
