Chapter 19
The chief had left Thad and Darcy with more unanswered questions than they’d had going into this. Wearing gloves, Thad carefully went through Wade’s desk. His body had been removed and the police station cleared of unessential personnel. A place of law enforcement had become a crime scene.
“Something weird is going on,” Darcy said from over at the two four-drawer file cabinets against the wall nearest to the desk.
He could say that again.
“Why are all these people involved in killing political figures? Why Mike Harris?”
Why Jaden? Why Andrew Lindeman? Why anyone? He’d talked to Sam already. His brother didn’t know anything about Mike’s plan to assassinate their mother. He was in deep shock over it. He couldn’t believe his friend had done something so extreme. He hadn’t seen the signs, hadn’t recognized his friend had lost his mind.
Jaden had tried to leave the window and the side entrance door unlocked for Mike. He’d been helping both Cam and Mike. And now that Thad looked back on the night Lucy was kidnapped, he now realized why Mike had waited so long to call the police. Lucy’s kidnapping had interrupted his attempt to get into the estate. If Thad hadn’t seen Jaden unlock the door and disable the security system, he may have gotten in and killed Kate.
But he’d gone after Lucy instead. He had liked Lucy when he’d met her and had chosen to save her from Jaden rather than go to the side entrance door. That suggested he still had something of a heart, and whatever had driven him to try and kill Kate must have been bigger than he could manage.
“Might as well call it a night,” Darcy said. “Avery is making dinner tonight. This isn’t going anywhere anyway.”
Darcy going home to his new love preparing dinner made Thad think of Lucy. Before he’d seen her held against her will with a pistol to her head, Darcy’s romantic comment would have bothered him. Now he felt agreement.
The investigation wasn’t going anywhere between now and tomorrow. Besides, there was something he wanted to do before going back to the estate...and Lucy.
“Is Lucy okay? She had quite a scare,” Darcy said.
“She’s doing fine. Staying at the estate to be safe. Mike was one shooter. There might be more.” Thad went over some pages he’d found in Wade’s desk drawer.
“Yeah.” Darcy closed the file cabinet drawer and moved to the messy bookshelf. “I get nervous about living with Avery. I’m afraid for her safety, too. Wade isn’t a threat anymore but that doesn’t mean the threat is gone.”
No. The opposite. The threat was greater than ever.
Darcy picked up a gaudy bear figurine that was left from Christmas, turning it in his hand for inspection.
“Have your feelings changed for Lucy?” Darcy put the bear back on the shelf and faced him.
Thad continued to study the pages he held, but a grin formed on his mouth.
Darcy chuckled. “I knew it.”
“Excuse me, Agent Winston.”
Thad looked toward the office door to see Gladys, the receptionist. She’d stayed to take care of the basic needs of the team and assisting in any office logistics that came up, like tracking down other officers or sending faxes or emails. A lot went into a crime scene investigation, and Gladys had the stomach for it.
“We just got a call from the Wake County Coroner’s Office.”
What now?
“Andrew Lindeman’s body was found on the side of a country road. He was shot in the head.”
Thad slapped down the stack of papers he’d been going through onto the desk. Great. Everyone who could tell him something about the political organization behind all this madness was either dead or not talking.
“They’ll send over the autopsy report once it’s completed.”
“Thanks, Gladys. You might as well go home. We’re wrapping this up for the night.”
She hesitated in the doorway. “Are you sure? I’m glad to stay and help.”
“I know. I’ve got to get back to my mother’s estate.”
He saw her ascertain that meaning. Apparently someone had told her he was taken. Lucy was also staying at Kate’s. Rumor did have its advantages. He didn’t want Gladys having any false hopes for him. She always flirted with him, but he was no longer available.
Six weeks ago, he’d have cringed at that notion. Now it just felt...natural.
* * *
Lucy closed the book she and Sophie had read together. Sophie had started out with the reading, and Lucy had taken over when her eyes began to droop. Sophie’s reading had improved by leaps and bounds over the past few weeks. Lucy had worked with her diligently and it had paid off.
Putting the book down, she turned off the light and bent to kiss Sophie on her forehead. While Thad had spent the day working, she’d been busy taking care of Sophie’s future. With a smile on the inside, she left the room. Going downstairs for something to drink before she went to bed, she heard Thad talking to Kate and a spark of gladness hit her. They were in the informal sitting room, Kate with a book facedown on her lap and a steaming cup of tea on the dainty side table, Thad standing nearby, loosening his tie.
He saw her, and warmth for her smoothed the tension from his face.
“I was just asking Thad where he’s been,” Kate said. “I called the station at six and Gladys said you left.”
It was after eight now.
“I had an errand to run.” Thad turned to Lucy. “We need to talk.”
Kate perked up. She stood from the chair. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
“No,” Thad said. “You might as well hear this, too. You’re as much invested in this as we are.”
Lucy eyed him with a silent, Invested in what? He was acting strange. She hadn’t had much opportunity to talk to him since Mike held her hostage, but his entire demeanor had changed. The way he looked at her, all warm and full of intimacy.
He took her hands. “Lucy, meeting you has taught me a few things.”
Hope flew high as a kite and she had to hang on before it got away from her. What was this all about? She dared not speculate.
“The first and most important is that I should never say never. I never thought I’d fall in love with anyone. I didn’t believe in love. But, Lucy, I do love you.”
“Thad...”
“Shh.” He lifted her hands and kissed the top of one. “I was afraid if I admit I could or did love you, that I’d be forced to marry you.”
“Thad, wait.” She had to tell him what she did today.
“Lucy, I was wrong. It’s okay if I love you. In fact, it’s a good thing.”
Oh, dear God...
“Love isn’t the problem. Love is what makes a relationship great. It—”
“Thad, I’m going to adopt Sophie,” she said before he could go on.
That stopped him short. He stared at her, his hands squeezing hers briefly.
“What?” he finally said.
“Oh, this is getting good,” Kate said, an avid audience. She picked up her tea and sipped with a delighted gleam to her eyes.
“I’m going to adopt her,” Lucy said. “I know you don’t want kids, but I can’t abandon her. I just can’t. She loves it here...with me...a-and you, but if all she has is me, she’ll be all right. She’ll be happy. She’s already happy. And then when I find a man who can accept her, she’ll be part of a family. My family.”
Thad’s jaw had dropped as he struggled to recover from her news.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before I started the process going,” Lucy continued, fretting over his reaction. Was he taking this worse than she thought? “I didn’t think it mattered. I’d made up my mind and what you wanted...well...so far hasn’t been what I want, and—”
“Lucy.” He finally found his voice. “It’s okay.”
That stunned her for a second. “It is?”
He chuckled, as amazed as her over his easy acceptance of adopting Sophie. “You surprised me with how soon you decided to adopt her, but it’s something I was going to suggest anyway.”
“You were?” both she and Kate said in unison.
Kate’s cup clanked against the saucer as she put it down.
Thad let go of Lucy’s hands and reached into his pocket. He brought out a small jewelry box.
All the blood drained from Lucy’s face she was so taken aback. She searched Thad’s face.
Kate drew in a startled breath. “Thad. Are you...?”
He looked at her. “This is why I wanted you to be here, Mother.” Then he returned all his wonderful attention to Lucy.
He opened the box to reveal a simple but stunning round brilliant cut diamond. “This is my promise to you, Lucy. I’m not ready for marriage yet, but if there’s going to be any woman who will give me the courage to stand on an altar, it’s you.”
Taking the ring out of the box, he let Kate take the box and then held Lucy’s left hand and slipped on the ring.
She admired it for several seconds, still shocked by his gesture. Did he mean it?
She looked at him. “A promise ring?”
“A promise to marry you...someday.”
She’d give him all the time he needed. “Oh, Thad.” She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing his mouth.
He held her and kissed her back.
Then doubt raised its head. She leaned back. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve been sure ever since Mike put his gun to your head. Imagining life without you forced me to take a closer look at my attitude. I’ve been wasting a lot of time, Lucy. I’m glad I did, because maybe I’d have married the wrong woman. But I’m sure now.”
“Sophie...”
“Will be part of this family.”
“Our family?”
A family. Everything she’d always wanted. She wasn’t getting it the conventional way. She wouldn’t be married first and she was adopting her first child, but she couldn’t be happier.
“Where do you want to live?” Thad asked her.
That hardly mattered. “Your house. Your mother told me about your house. It’s bigger than mine but similar architecture. We’ll need the space.”
“My house it is. And when it comes time to have children of our own, you don’t have to work.”
Had he actually said “kids of their own”? “I want to work.” She needed to feel accomplished over something, and she genuinely liked nursing. And after working with Kate, she felt well on her way to making her own reputation, rather than on her father’s white coattails.
“Whatever makes you happy,” Thad said.
Lucy’s smile beamed along with Thad’s lopsided grin, each of them giddy with thoughts of a future together.
“A celebration is in order,” Kate said, her eyes a bit misty. She put her hand on Thad’s shoulder. “I’m so proud of you.”
Lucy held her hand up to admire the ring over Thad’s shoulder. “I can’t wait to tell my parents!”
Thad stepped back and took her right hand. “Excuse us, Mother. We need some privacy now.”
Kate laughed lightly. “You can have all the privacy you need. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
Lucy felt a little embarrassed as Thad winked back at his mother before leading her toward the stairs and the bed they’d occupy for however long it took to satisfy this new acceptance of their love.
They had a future now. Together. She, Thad and Sophie. A family. And a dream come true.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from TRAITOROUS ATTRACTION by C.J. Miller.
Chapter 1
Connor West had an eight-second warning before the knockout blonde with a too-serious expression showed up in front of his house. His perimeter security alarm beeped and her newer-model luxury sedan displayed on his smartphone screen. A camera situated along the driveway scanned her car’s tags and ran a DMV lookup. Another camera snapped a picture of her face and ran it through facial-recognition software.
Nothing popped up immediately on his computer, which checked his watch list first: federal and local law enforcement, known special operatives, and convicted and released felons. The woman in his driveway must be lost. Connor lived in the woods, far away from civilization, and it was how he liked it. He didn’t often get surprise visitors, and when he did, their arrival was either a mistake or delivered a problem.
Connor hoped she’d take one look at his cabin, spin her car around and hightail it off his property. He gave it an 80 percent likelihood she wouldn’t stop to ask for directions. Didn’t most people have GPS on their cars and their mobile phones? Why would she turn onto his private road? Had to be a mistake.
To his surprise, she climbed out of her car, one long, shapely leg followed by the other. She was wearing a pair of bright green shorts and a white tank top. In her hand, she grasped a small piece of paper. She looked between it and his cabin and back to the paper.
Yes, she was definitely lost.
He mentally urged her to get back in her car and not look back. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. Connor hadn’t seen another human being in a week and he was happy to have it that way.
To his annoyance, she walked up the stairs to his front door. Guess she wasn’t a woman who was easily put off. Connor hadn’t gone so far as to put no-trespassing signs everywhere. He didn’t think he needed them. The location spoke for itself.
The curvy blonde knocked on his door. He could either slip out of the back or pretend not to be home. She would get back in her car and he’d never see her again. He could return his attention to the book he was reading and forget this interruption to his day.
At her second knock, his curiosity overtook his annoyance. What if she needed help? If she didn’t turn and run at the sight of him, telling her she was at the wrong location and sending her down the road would take five seconds. Not difficult. She was a beautiful woman and Connor rarely had the opportunity to speak to a woman who looked like her. It would be his one social interaction for the month.
If her looks didn’t cinch it, her worried expression and terse mannerisms drew him to his feet. Leaving a woman lost and concerned didn’t sit right with him.
Connor opened the front door, expecting a startled reaction. A few months of forgoing shaves and haircuts in combination with his worn jeans and battered, holey T-shirt made for a distressingly poor appearance. She got courage points for not immediately fleeing at the sight of him.
The woman smiled. “Connor? Connor West?”
He instinctually reached for the gun tucked in the holster at his side and unsnapped the strap, letting his hand linger on the handle. Pretty face, short shorts and a tight shirt wouldn’t distract him. He was too smart to be taken out by a female assassin. He was a survivor and this woman wouldn’t get the best of him. Perhaps this visit would be more exciting than he’d first believed. “Hands where I can see them. I want your name and why you’re here. You get ten seconds and then I start shooting.”
Her hands went into the air, and unless she was a great actress, the shaking of her arms and trembling of her lips gave away her fright. She was missing the hard edge and the precise and skilled movements of a Sphere assassin. Perhaps not an assassin, then. “My name is Kate Squire. I have information about Aiden. He was a...friend of mine.”
Another surprise...and Connor hated surprises. His brother had been a friend of hers? She’d paused before that word. A friend? Or his brother’s former lover? Given Aiden’s track record, it was believable that he had been sleeping with this woman. She was his type. Tall, fit and blonde, with a smooth, sexy voice.
A stream of jealousy shot through him and Connor batted it away. What was the point of being envious of a situation he couldn’t change and that had been true all their lives? Aiden had been the handsome, fun brother. Nothing had gotten him down. Connor had wanted Aiden to be happy, had worked to make it the case, and Connor liked to believe that Aiden had been.
Aiden hadn’t mentioned this woman by name during any of their late-night conversations. Not unexpected, since Aiden had grown increasingly secretive and distant in the months before he’d died. Their last conversation had been in anger, a reality Connor deeply regretted. It made it harder to cope with losing Aiden.
“How did you find me?” Connor asked. He kept his home address off the radar. It wouldn’t be found using a typical internet search.
The blonde’s arms dropped a few inches. “Aiden gave me your address for emergencies.”
If Aiden had told her where to find his brother, they had to have been good friends. Why hadn’t Aiden mentioned he’d shared Connor’s information with someone? Why hadn’t Aiden mentioned this woman? His distrust was heightened.
“What’s your emergency?” Connor asked. This woman was at his home, claiming to have information and an emergency. How dramatic. Maybe it would feel good for her to get something off her chest, but in all likelihood, whatever she told him, Connor would already know or would find insignificant, as most everything was compared to his brother being dead.
Connor also wasn’t sure he believed her story. If they didn’t plan to outright kill him, it would be like Sphere to send an attractive woman and launch upsetting information at him to get him off guard. Sphere hadn’t given up on bringing him back in, and psychological games were their specialty. Connor wouldn’t fall for tricks. Aiden had been gone for seven months and Connor had made his peace with his brother’s death. He wasn’t getting taken in by a beautiful woman. Whatever this Kate Squire needed to say, he wouldn’t let it affect him.
“Could you please take your hand off your gun? You’re making me nervous,” Kate said.
He hadn’t realized he was clasping the handle. He removed his hand from his gun and put it at his side. If she gave him any reason to think she was reaching for a weapon, he could get to his gun before she could get to hers. “Answer my question. What is your emergency?” Connor didn’t take his eyes off her hands. A difficult task given that she had a lot of features worth a second and third long look.
She lowered her hands and he allowed it. “I heard you were tough but, wow, I didn’t expect this.”
What had she expected? If Aiden had told her about him, he would have told her Connor was a hermit who lived alone, who didn’t like visitors and who preferred the company of his books to people.
“I have something to tell you that might be upsetting for you. Do you want to sit down? Or do you want to get a drink first?” she asked.
No and no. “I don’t need to sit. I don’t need to drink. There’s nothing you can tell me about Aiden that will upset me.” Both he and his brother had worked for Sphere. They had completed missions and tasks that were difficult and dangerous. They had walked the line just shy of immoral at times, they had lived fast and loose, and they had loved the adrenaline high of working rogue missions all over the world in the name of liberty and justice. Whatever this woman had to say about his brother, whatever story she would tell, it didn’t change that Aiden was a good man with a good heart. Nothing would sully Connor’s memory or change his deep respect for his younger brother.
The woman folded her arms over her chest. “I’m the one who needs a drink.” She laughed, a nervous jitter. The sound was light and tingled in his ears. Kate took a deep breath. “I don’t want to get your hopes up and I don’t want to make trouble for you, but I believe Aiden is alive.”
Unrealistic hope flared at the word alive but realism tamped it down. “My brother is dead.” It was a fact. If his brother was alive, Connor would have heard from him. If Aiden’s lover had convinced herself Aiden was alive, perhaps it was a coping technique or the denial phase of her grief. Connor worked firmly in reality and the reality was that Aiden was dead.
The woman looked at the ground, and when she lifted her head, tears shone in her eyes. “I think he is very much alive and he might need your help. I think he was captured in Tumara and is being held by the Armed Revolutionaries in one of their prisons.”
Connor’s denial skidded to a stop. How had this woman known his brother was working in Tumara for el presidente and against the revolutionaries? El presidente was fighting to stay in power despite a burgeoning lower class who was demanding higher wages and better living conditions. Bruno Feliz was their outspoken leader. Armando Lopes, or el presidente, as the dictator was known, had assistance from Sphere to keep the revolutionaries down. Keeping Lopes in power would prevent upheaval, but Sphere only cared about the money.
Aiden’s involvement in the region was classified. He hadn’t spoken about his mission or the work he’d completed for Sphere. Connor knew what he had done from keeping his finger on the pulse of Aiden’s work, a task he’d found more difficult the deeper Aiden had gone with Sphere. “Where are you getting your information?”
Kate stepped closer to him. As she neared, the light scent of vanilla wafted over him. “I could get in trouble for this. For telling you anything about Aiden and his work. But I feel like I have to tell someone. I work for the same company you and Aiden did. I analyzed some intelligence we received from our overseas allies and I have reason to believe your brother is alive. My cover—that is, my work with the State Department—puts me in touch with important people.” She shoved a hand through her hair as if frustrated with her explanation. “I know this sounds crazy, but I need you to believe me.”
Connor’s thoughts shifted into overdrive. She worked for Sphere, the organization responsible for his brother’s death. Sphere’s agenda was buried beneath a flurry of excuses and stories and rationalizations. It was one of the reasons Connor didn’t work for them anymore. “You work for Sphere?”
Kate looked around as if someone could overhear them. At least she had the paranoid-operative part down pat. Not that he had room to judge.
“Yes. I work there,” she whispered.
“Let me tell you something, Kate.” If that was her name. “I know how Sphere operates. They told me he was dead. Now you are telling me he is alive. If someone gave you that false hope, I’m sorry.” They could be manipulating Kate into seeking him out. This could be another attempt to coerce Connor to work a mission for them. “If my brother was alive, he would have contacted me. You’re being played.”
Kate shook her head. “This isn’t a game. Aiden needs you. I have a picture in my smartphone that might change your mind. Can I get it out and show it to you?”
Connor nodded his assent, and Kate reached into her back pocket and withdrew a slim phone. She typed on it and then turned it to face him. Connor closed the distance between them, poised to react to any sudden movements. Sphere would take out a target by any means necessary: deception, surprise, full-on attack. If Kate pulled out a weapon, he’d disarm or kill her.
The picture on the screen startled him. Aiden was sitting on a dirt floor, a bamboo fence behind him. It was too small for Connor to notice any photo editing. She could have gotten a picture of Aiden and inserted it into the setting. A phony picture to tear at his resistance was a simple lie for Sphere to manufacture.
Connor should have told her to leave the moment she mentioned knowing Aiden. He should have forbidden the slim ray of hope that his brother was alive from shining on his thoughts. But the thinness of his brother’s face, the bruises, the worn and tattered clothes spooked Connor. Could Aiden be incapacitated and unable to send a message to Connor for help?
Thinking of his brother in desperate straits took hold of his core and shook him. If the picture was real, and if it was recent, it wouldn’t help him locate his brother. Unless Kate had more, Connor would have to mount his own operation to search for his brother. It would take time and resources.
Growing up, it had been he and Aiden against the world. To know the only person he’d ever trusted could be hurt, in need and alive changed everything. Kate might be lying, but was he willing to stake his brother’s life on it?
“Did you check if the picture was edited?” he asked.
“The picture is legit. I obtained it, with great difficulty I might add, from work. A contact of mine in Tumara believes I work for the State Department and that I have a streak of goodwill in my blood. He sent the picture to me in case it developed into an international incident. You know, American held against his will by the Armed Revolutionaries,” Kate said.
When someone lied to him, Connor usually knew it. He sensed it. Nothing about Kate screamed liar. What was her angle? “What do you want?” Connor asked, cutting to the chase.
“What do I want?” she repeated, her eyes wide and confused. “I want you to help Aiden.”
Was Connor ready to believe that this woman was telling the truth and his brother was alive? That he was already thinking about how to find Aiden told him that he’d bought Kate’s story. “Tell me what you know and I’ll take care of the rest.” He’d fill in or locate the missing information. If Aiden was alive, Connor would find him.
Kate blinked at him, her bright blue eyes giving away nothing. “If I tell you everything, you’ll take off and I’ll never hear from you or Aiden again. You’re taking me with you and I’ll tell you what you need to know as you need to know it.”
Gutsy. She’d shown up on his property, asked for his help and then set the terms of their arrangement. “Tell me everything and we’ll go from there.” She was right in deducing his intention. Once she spilled the information he needed, he’d ditch her. He preferred his work how he preferred his personal life: solitary.
“Nice try. We work together on this.”
“If you work for the agency, why not find him yourself?” It was as much a challenge as it was a test.
“I’m a computer analyst, not a field operative. I’ve completed the mandatory cross-training, but I am not foolish enough to attempt this alone.”
Sphere recruited two types of people: highly skilled assassins with unique talents, like him and his brother, and überintelligent supergeeks who excelled in their areas of technical expertise. Connor couldn’t envision Kate rapidly typing at a computer. Most attractive people used their looks to their advantage and she couldn’t do that behind a computer. Sphere liked attractive operatives to work the field. A good-looking woman could pull information easily from a smitten man.
Kate set her hands on her hips, bringing his attention momentarily to the dip in her slender waist and the roundness of her hips. “I know the odds are stacked against me. If you won’t help me, you’ve taken away my best option. But I can’t let this go. I won’t let this go.”
Connor glanced at her smartphone again. “This might be a setup. You might be too late. You could lose your life trying to save his when he’s already dead. They could be using you to find and tie off loose ends.” As he spoke the words, his doubts whispered less loudly. What if Aiden is alive?
“I don’t believe he’s dead. I won’t give up,” Kate said, her voice quiet and determined.
Connor would never forgive himself if Kate was right and he did nothing about it. She’d trapped him, as perhaps she’d planned. He had to take action. “Aiden is my brother. I’ll search for him until he is either home safe or I know this is a lie.”
Relief rushed across her face. “Thank you, Connor. You won’t regret this.” She reached for his hand and he jerked away. He wasn’t agreeing to an alliance with Kate. He’d search alone. Having another person along would bungle the operation.
He stepped back from the door and gestured for her to come inside. “Stand here,” he said, pointing to a location next to the entryway.
Watching her in his peripheral vision, he pulled his travel pack out of the closet. “I work faster and better alone,” Connor said.
Kate’s eyes narrowed. “You can work faster with information. Information I have. I speak Portuguese—the most common language spoken in Tumara—plus Italian, Spanish and Arabic. I know the area and the culture. I know the political climate.”
She was bound and determined to search for Aiden. He’d accept it. For now. He opened his bag to check his supplies. “I speak a number of languages myself. I have boundaries. I have lots of them. Respect them or I’ll leave you wherever we are without notice and I won’t look back.” He glanced at her in the mirror.
Kate’s eyes widened. “That’s fair.” She seemed unsure. “Spell them out.”
He waited a beat and she stared at him. She was serious. She wanted him to give her a list of rules, the dos and don’ts of spending time with him. Most people who met him quickly understood he didn’t like idle prattle, he didn’t like people being close to him and he preferred to be alone. The most comfortable path was to give him as much leeway as possible. He could be harsh and direct and didn’t hesitate to be blunt. What was it about Kate that made him censor and soften his words? “You want boundaries? Don’t talk except when you have relevant information. I’m jumpy and don’t like surprises. Give me space.” He composed a mental list of supplies he’d need for the trip.
She was looking around his cabin, seemingly eager to snoop around. He didn’t keep sensitive information here, so there was nothing to find. Even so, she hadn’t moved from the spot in the room where he could watch her most closely. She wasn’t seeing any more of his place. He didn’t give tours. “Aiden mentioned you could be grumpy. But I’ll do my best to respect your boundaries so long as you understand that I’m a woman who likes to talk sometimes, I don’t mean to surprise you, but given the nature of this situation, we’ll be surprised at times, and if we’re traveling together, you won’t be alone.”
Connor suppressed a smile. She gave as good as she got. He liked that. It had taken courage for her to come to him. He liked that, too. But he didn’t trust her. Trust was hard-won and easily lost. She hadn’t given him the whole truth about why she was here and he didn’t care for that in the least. He would find out what she was hiding, and if she double-crossed him, she would regret it.
* * *
Kate had seen Connor West only once before in person when he’d attended his brother’s memorial service seven months before. Connor looked remarkably different today. His dark beard was scraggly and unkempt, his hair in disarray and his clothes in need of mending, stain treating, heavy-duty washing and ironing. Or maybe they were too far gone and should be scrapped for cleaning rags. She should be disgusted by his appearance, but stress and guilt were making her feel strange things. Kate was still attracted to Connor. Maybe it was his confidence or the stories Aiden had told her about him, but the crush she’d had on him took hold of her and morphed into something more potent. She felt a little dizzy and wanted to get closer to him.
Kate shouldn’t have feelings for a man she’d seen only twice, including today, and hadn’t spoken to the first time. Connor had slipped into the somber room and had blended with the other mourners. His dark suit had fit him well, the jacket sitting across his broad shoulders and the tailored pants showing off his athletic build. His short hair was neat and trim, giving him an almost schoolboy appearance. A slight arch in his nose indicated it had been broken in the past, marring what would otherwise be considered model good looks. Kate had fought the attraction that sprang up. She’d learned her lesson about getting involved with special-operations men. That he was Aiden’s brother made her attraction even more unfortunate.
Kate wouldn’t have seen him at all, except she’d been waiting for him at the service. She’d owed him an explanation, something to help give him closure. To her dismay, she hadn’t gotten the opportunity to speak to him. Connor had stridden directly to the front of the room where a portrait of Aiden in a golden frame sat on an easel among the floral arrangements. He’d looked at the picture and bowed his head, bringing his hand across his face.
She’d averted her eyes, feeling she was intruding on a deeply private moment. When she’d finally looked back, Connor was gone. She’d searched the crowd for him but she’d had no luck locating him. Kate wasn’t entirely sure why he’d come. Perhaps he’d felt a sense of obligation to make an appearance.
Outside his home, even when he’d had his hand poised near his gun, Kate wasn’t afraid of him. She knew too much from Aiden about his older brother. Connor might be abrasive on the outside, but he was a good man who wouldn’t hurt anyone without a compelling reason. Male special-operations agents were a different breed of man. They could be chillingly cold and insensitively direct. Kate had learned not to let their words and tone intimidate her when she worked with them.
Kate reached into her handbag and withdrew two plane tickets. “I’ll tell you more when we arrive. You ready?”
“Are we traveling as ourselves or have you made other arrangements?” Connor asked.
Other arrangements, of course. Members of Sphere never traveled under their real names for business or pleasure. It was easier to cover tracks when using pseudonyms and fake documents. “We’ll be traveling undercover.”
Connor shook his head. “If you’re using an identity Sphere provided you, they’ll know exactly where you are and what you’re doing.”
Kate knew how the system worked. The tickets she had purchased and the identifications she carried had been generated using her personal resources. “Give me a little credit. No one knows I came here to talk to you and no one knows what I’m planning.”
Connor folded his arms. It was an improvement on his waiting-to-pounce stance. “Don’t underestimate Sphere. They know everything. It’s their business to keep everyone on their payroll under their control.”
Kate shivered. She didn’t like to think about the privacy she’d given up when she went to work for Sphere. Her financials, her personal life and her business life were open and available to Sphere for review at their discretion. But she had been careful about approaching Connor and creating their covers. She hadn’t made her plans at work or on any Sphere network or device. “They don’t know about this.”
Connor shot her a look of disbelief. “I’ll provide our travel documents.”
Kate suppressed an eye roll. That was another trait of special-ops men. They always thought they were right. “If you think it’s safer, then fine.” He was willing to come to Tumara. She was willing to make compromises to get what she wanted.
She had to make amends for what she had done and for the mistake she had made. Her guilt was severe and she was willing to risk her life to see Aiden safe.