Frosted and Sliced (Private Spies #4)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

H is chin topped the bar for the forty ninth time, causing a disquieting quiver in his arms. His brows knit in an annoyed frown, and that annoyed him further. How dare any of his muscles perform an unsanctioned move when muscle economy was his focus right now. With a breath, he smoothed his expression and finished the final pull-up.

The phone trilled again, for the third time since the beginning of his workout. This time he allowed himself to answer as he toweled the sweat from his face and neck.

“Burke.”

There was a pause on the line, which was never a good sign. Usually it meant he’d answered too forcefully and scared the person on the other end. Not so this time.

“Burke, it’s Ribs. Sorry, I’m working from home today and my son just bit the dog.”

It was a testament of their long acquaintance that the statement didn’t give Burke pause.

“I heard you’re between jobs,” Ribs continued.

Burke replied with a grunt because what more could he say? He was an out-of-work loser, however temporarily.

“I need someone to do some training for my team. You interested?”

“People,” Burke reminded him. “I don’t do people.”

“Got it, but this is not a trust seminar where we all try to get in touch with our feelings. You have intel on some tech they need to learn. In fact I can’t think of anyone who knows this stuff better. It’s just me, a hacker, and a former cop. Trust me when I tell you none of us will give you a warm hug after.”

Burke paused, another factor weighing on him. “I gotta come to DC?”

“Nope. No space here for the kind of work we need to do. My hacker lives in Maine. She found a place for us.”

Burke’s interest kicked up a notch. Maine. It gave off the sort of neglected recluse vibes he longed for. “’Kay.”

“Great. I’ll send you the info as soon as I put everything together. Any dates that work better for you?”

Burke’s gaze slid to the desolate workout room he’d constructed in his garage, the weights and chin up bar, possibly the only thing that would miss him if he went away. “I’m open.”

“Great,” Ribs enthused. He was that sort of guy, who infused all his words with warmth and friendliness. Yuck. If he hadn’t long ago proven himself as a soldier, Burke would already have ended the call. Some guys were good soldiers, some were peopley; rarely was anyone both. As for Burke, he was a good soldier.

Maine. The thought rippled through him again, mostly because early on he’d assigned it as one of his escape hatches. If life, and by life he meant people, ever became too much, he could go to Maine to get away from it all and start over. And now he’d have the opportunity to test it out, see if that was possible.

His glance fell again on the weights, a hodgepodge of rust, gray, and black. He hadn’t meant to make his home resemble a prison, but somehow it happened. Maine, he thought again, picturing ocean swells and salt air.

This time when he returned to his workout, it was with something more than his usual discipline, it was with a little bit of vigor and, dare he say, optimism? Maybe Maine might be the start of something new, the chance to finally get away from everything. And everyone.