Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
The woman he called Lace was quiet for a moment. “Did you open the boxes? Get any footage of what was in them? Perhaps collect a couple of samples?”
It was Zach’s turn for a pause. “I had to get her out. That fire was going, and no one was putting it out. I doubt Cooper had a chance to get down there.”
“So what you’re saying is even if by some miracle the fire doesn’t destroy what could have been incredibly valuable intelligence, the Agency now has it. Not your old boss but his boss,” she pointed out in a terse tone.
“Yes. I know what a fuck-up it was, but I wouldn’t take it back. I couldn’t leave her there,” Zach insisted.
Leave her? He was talking about her. The “her” in question was Devi Taggart. What had happened? Everything was fuzzy. Her brain was on the fritz. She might be dreaming this. She dreamed about Zach all the time. Dreamed about him not turning out to be the biggest mistake of her life. Dreamed that he’d come home when he was supposed to, and the betrayal was actually the dream and she needed to be way less insecure because they were perfect for each other.
“Zach?” Devi managed to say his name. It felt weird. She had to concentrate to talk.
“Sweetness?” He gently smoothed back her hair. “Thank god, you’re awake. You’re safe. You’re in a car, and we’ll be on a plane in an hour. What’s important is that you are safe and you’re going to stay that way.”
She understood nothing except he was here and he shouldn’t be. He ran. He hadn’t come home from Canada. He had taken off and was now AWOL, and every intelligence group in the world might be hunting for him because he betrayed his team. “How are you here?”
“That is a long story and one I’ll tell you when we get to the safe house and I’m sure we’re secure,” he replied, his voice a low rumble.
A huff came from the Brit. “It’s secure. I told you. It’s safe as houses, and no one will think to look for us there. I’ve been working on our cover with the locals. Though I would like to point out there were only supposed to be two of us, and I’m going to need a cover for her.”
“She’s my girlfriend. That’s all they need to know,” Zach shot back and then his hand was on her hair again and she fought the urge to sigh at his touch.
There was something so wrong with that statement. “Not your girlfriend.”
He sighed, and she felt his weariness. “You sleep. You’re okay, and I’m going to make sure you stay that way. When you wake up, know I’m going to take care of you. I promise.”
Take care of her. It was all she wanted from him. Zach was the one, but he’d been gone for so long. Something played at the back of her sedated brain, but it didn’t seem important now.
“You should have told me you were extracting a Taggart,” Angry Brit said.
“Why does it matter that she’s a Taggart?” Zach asked, a bit of suspicion in his tone.
“They’re trouble for us, and you know it,” she said after the slightest hesitation. “You should have told me this was your plan. I’ve trusted you with my life for a while now, Zach. This feels like you don’t trust me.”
“I do, but I didn’t know I was going to do it until I was there,” Zach shot back. “I planned to let her uncle take her, but it’s obvious to me he can’t handle her. We’ll have a talk about that.”
Bodyguard. She’d had a bodyguard. She hated having a bodyguard. Not Landon in particular. He was an okay guy. He was even attractive, and she’d thought seriously about trying to wipe Zach from her memory with him.
She couldn’t do it, so she acted out. She acted rebellious and gave Landon the slip, and something terrible had happened and that was why she was in this car with the man of her nightmares.
“You still should have told me, and you shouldn’t have carried her like that when you’ve got a hole in your side,” came the reply, and Devi felt the vehicle turn. “Lucky for you I’ve got a kit in the plane. I’ll stitch you up before we go.”
“Lucky for me you found a damn plane,” Zach muttered. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It was a gametime decision. I appreciate you coming all this way for me. I know how hard that must have been and what strings you’re having to pull to get me out of the country.”
“It wasn’t that hard.” The Brit’s voice was softer now.
He was leaving again? Thoughts seemed to flow in and out. Time, too. For a moment she remembered standing in the private terminal with him, their arms around each other. Saying good-bye had been hard, but she’d loved showing him off to her family, letting them know she’d snagged that gorgeous, funny, amazing guy. “You just got here.”