Chapter 4 #3
“For transparency’s sake, I put in for two weeks’ vacation time on the flight here.”
Apollo eyed her suspiciously. “Does that mean you’re not working this in any sort of official capacity?”
Careful, now.
“Let’s just say, I learned about Kozlov’s resurfacing from my retired director, rather than my current boss.”
“You think he’s dirty?”
“My boss?” Lena gave a curt shake of her head. “I think he always puts the betterment of the agency first, and the last thing he needs is a bunch of bad press.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re on your own until this Kozlova character is caught?” Apollo surmised.
“Pretty much.”
Rafe’s deep voice sounded from next to where she stood. “You’re not on your own.”
The low rumble sounded a lot like a promise.
She looked his way and found him staring straight at her. Lena’s lower belly tingled, and her chest tightened at the concern hiding behind his magnetic gaze.
“I know.” She smiled before turning back to the team. “And neither are any of you. Obviously, I have a personal stake in locating and capturing Kozlova. But I’m going to help you find the person who shot your friend, no matter what.”
“Shadow’s not our friend.” Bones’ expression turned somber. “She’s our family.”
“You’re right,” Lena acknowledged. “I’m sorry. I only meant—”
“We know what you meant.” Coulter flashed her a quick grin. “And thanks for caring enough to come here and give us all a heads-up.”
“What about your driver?” Apollo brought the conversation back around to Syria.
“You mentioned the two agents who were sitting at the table outside the café the day of the attack . . .” He paused.
“What about the other guy on your team? The one who was driving the van? Has anyone reached out to warn him yet?”
“Damien Pascal,” Lena acknowledged. “My former director’s making sure he knows.”
After a stretch of silence, Bones spoke up once more.
“Okay, so Shadow and Dig will be covered at the safe house, and the rest of us will take our women and find somewhere else to temporarily lay low. But what about you two?”
Rafe blinked. “What about us?”
“If yesterday was a botched attempt on your life, shouldn’t you be on your way out of town, as well?”
“He’s right.” Coulter nodded. “Going to the hospital this morning and then coming here was pretty damn risky.”
“You both make a fair point.” Rafe met each man’s inquisitive stare.
“But there are two things you should know. One, no one will ever keep me from seeing my own daughter. I don’t care who they are.
And two, if those men who shot at us yesterday were hired by Kozlova, he’s almost certainly already given them the directive to keep their heads down for the next several days. ”
“It would be the smart move.” Lena shared her unsolicited thoughts on the subject.
“And Kozlova hasn’t survived this long by being stupid.
The shooting was in the middle of downtown .
. . and in broad daylight. He’ll be expecting this place, and probably your home, to be closely guarded.
If I had to guess, I’d say he’ll instruct his guys to hold back a few days until the dust starts to settle. ”
“It’s what I would do,” Apollo grunted. “Give it enough time, your guard will eventually go down, and that’s when he’ll make his move.”
Rafe nodded. “I agree. Which is why, for the time being, Lena and I will be staying at my place.”
We are?
A smile spread wide across Coulter’s handsome face. “Going for the home field advantage, eh, Boss? That’s smart. Make them come to you on your own turf.”
“That’s the hope. If they really are watching, it’ll appear as though we’re merely two friends reconnecting. In reality, we’ll work to gather as much intel as we can to be as prepared as possible on all fronts.”
“What about your security system?” Bones revisited a previous portion of the conversation. “If it really is janked, shouldn’t we come out and take a look? You know, just to make sure you aren’t caught by surprise?”
Lena brought a hand to her mouth and coughed to cover her sliver of laughter.
As she did, Rafe slid a sideways glance in her direction. “I appreciate that, Bones, but I’m pretty sure it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
She physically had to bite lip to keep from bursting out in laughter. Man, she’d missed working with him.
Whatever. You’ve just missed him.
To Coulter, Lena instructed, “Tell West to look into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Agents Calhoun and Sanchez, as well.”
The former spy sent her a sloppy salute.
She shook her head with a grin as Rafe addressed a few more questions from his team. As he spoke, she watched him with silent acknowledgment that the voice in her head was right.
Lena had missed Rafe. More than she’d ever admit. Their reunion a few weeks back had been unexpected and far too short. She’d missed his rare smile. His sinful voice. The same ruggedly handsome face that had haunted so many of her dreams.
And as she stood beside him with appreciation for the man he’d become, she refused to think about how bad it was going to suck having to walk away from him again.