by Lexi Blake
“Colorado,” Ezra replied. “A tiny town in the mountains called Bliss.”
Of all the places he could have told her Bishop had been hiding, small-town Colorado wasn’t one of them. If he’d turned, he should have been in a big city. “Is there a high-value target in the town? Like a nuclear plant?”
Ezra snorted. “There’s barely a grocery store. Although it does have an oddly high murder rate for such a tiny town. But all of those are easily explained by police reports. I don’t see how Bishop could have used any of those incidents, though I’m fairly certain he was responsible for a few of those bodies. He had a very specific technique he liked to use.”
John Bishop had been the one to teach her how to internally decapitate a person. Quiet. Easy. No blood. No muss. No fuss. “I think I know what you’re talking about. Is he killing people?”
A long sigh issued forth. “From what I can tell any killing he’s done has been in defense of others. At some point in time, the cartel he’d been investigating when he ‘died’ found out he was alive. I don’t know how, but they went after him and the operative who’s now working on them found out and told the Agency.”
“Levi,” she said, the word flat on her tongue. Levi, who probably would never have told her despite the fact that he knew her connections to Bishop. Complex, complicated connections.
“Yes, which is why I’m here early. He should be along in a few minutes and I would appreciate it if you don’t mention to him that I let you and Tennessee know,” he requested.
“Of course not.” She still had some questions. “Do we have any intel on what his cover has been?”
“Bishop has been living in Bliss for five years under the name Henry Flanders. As far as I can tell his only contact from his previous life there was a man named Bill Hartman. Bishop served under him in the military. We’re looking into him and his contacts as well to see if he’s the one who drew Bishop in.” Ezra looked down at his tablet, turning the pages of the report. “Bishop married a woman named Nell Finn. She’s a part of the problem. She’s an activist. Save the everythings. We’re looking into her to see if she’s got ties to left-winged terror groups.”
Somehow she couldn’t see Bishop going all communist or anarchist. He’d been a true believer, a real protector of his country.
“What has he been doing all these years?” She took the tablet out of his hands and stared down at the photos there. John Bishop. His face was the same but not. The eyes were the same, but they looked warm in the photo, his normally tense body relaxed as he smiled and wrapped his arms around a petite woman with brown hair and shining eyes. A couple. They were a real couple who leaned into each other.
John Bishop looked…happy.
Once you go into this, you’ll be your sister, possibly for life. Get in. Do your job. Get as much intel as you can. If you ever see even the glimpse of an off-ramp, take it. Take it as fast as you can and don’t look back. And Kay? I hope one day you can forgive me.
His last words to her before she’d gone into the belly of the beast.
“As far as we can tell, he’s been in deep cover, a possible sleeper agent. He’s lived and worked in Bliss, Colorado. He and his ‘wife’ sell products at traveling fairs. Things like handmade crafts and vegan bread or some shit. He takes his cover seriously. The dude’s wearing Birkenstocks and according to our operative, he’s living a vegan lifestyle.”
She flipped through some of the other photos, her eyes clouding over with tears as she realized what had happened. She didn’t try to hide these tears. They were good tears. She’d left out one scenario to explain Bishop faking his death. The best scenario. There was only one reason a man like Bishop ever left. He’d been cold, ruthless in his protection of his country. He’d finally found some warmth. “It’s not cover. He fell in love with her. He found his off-ramp and he took it. Holy shit. John Bishop in love. That must be something to see.”
The Ice Man had fallen. He’d melted for a woman and now he couldn’t even eat a burger. If he could find a life outside, if Ten could find his Faith…what did that mean for her? Could she do it, too? She’d taken her off-ramp, but trusting someone enough to hand over her heart still seemed so far away.
If only he would kiss her…
“Kay, you can’t know that,” Ezra admonished, taking the tablet back. “His reasons are his own. You can’t start prescribing some random romantic crap to them.”
“What did Ten say when you told him?”
There was a moment of quiet. “That if John Bishop walked away he did it because he found something he loved even more than his country.”
“Has anyone talked to him? Can I call him?” She wanted to suddenly. It had been a long time and she’d missed him. She wanted to hear his story, find out what the hell had happened to put that smile on a face that had so rarely smiled before. She wanted his advice. No one knew the job like Bishop did. He’d sent her in. Maybe he could help her truly find her way out.
“Absolutely not.” Ezra stared at her. “You’re involved in your own op and you’re nothing more than a contractor now. I could get in trouble for telling you any of this. I’m sorry. I mentioned it because I know you worked for him. I thought you should know he could be arrested, and I didn’t want you to hear it through back channels. I don’t know what’s going to happen with him. Right now the Agency is deciding how to handle the situation.”
Arrested wasn’t the term. Renditioned. Dropped into prison with no thoughts to his human rights. Those were the kinds of things that happened to an agent who did what Bishop had. Would his wife mourn him? Would he be happy he’d had those five years with her?
What could she do to ensure that he had more? Fuck it all. She liked a damn happily ever after.
“And what’s the second issue?” Kayla began because she was fairly certain this was one of those lines of questioning Ezra would shut down and quick. She would have to ponder it alone. Or perhaps talk to Big Tag. Big Tag had worked with Bishop, too. She’d heard Bishop was one of the only men in the world Big Tag shut the sarcasm down for.
Maybe the team would take a little ski vacay in Colorado.
Ezra tensed, his shoulders going straight. Without turning, he clicked off the tablet. “Nice of you to join us, Levi.”
She glanced behind Ezra and sure enough Levi Green was walking up. He was dressed in So Cal chic—skinny jeans and a V-necked T-shirt, a pork pie hat on his head and loafers on his feet. Unlike Ezra’s masculine slacks and plain black T and sneakers without a single designer name on anything. It seemed to her like one was playing a role and the other merely wanted to blend into the background, his clothes another function of his daily life and nothing more. She would bet Ezra had a whole closet of basic, while there would be some flamingo in Green’s. He could stand out like a preening peacock when he wanted to.
“Well, since I’m here on time, I have to suspect you and Ms. Summers wanted some time to yourselves.” Green smiled, but the words came out like an accusation.
She merely sat back and let her face find the sun. “I arrived a little early. It’s too gorgeous a day to waste it inside. It’s the first time I’ve been alone in weeks. And Ezra’s already yelled at me for the tabloid fuck up. You want to yell, too?”
Anything to make him not wonder about what they truly had been discussing. The last thing she wanted was to get Ezra in the doghouse when he was trying to help her out.
“Absolutely not.” Levi winked her way. “You looked stunning in that dress. I take it Hunt hooked you up? Because the Agency didn’t pay for that.”
“We did the Pretty Woman thing up and down Rodeo.” She had a closet full of designer wear that per her contract was all hers. Dresses and shoes and lingerie and jewelry. All of it bought by Josh and heading home with her when their contract was voided.
“So he dressed you like a pretty doll?” Levi asked. “Or did he toss you to a glam squad?”
“A what?” Ezra proved he wasn’t up on all the hip lingo.
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“Oddly enough, no,” she replied, ignoring Ezra. “I kind of thought he would drop me off or hand me over to a stylist, but he went with me the whole day. Not that he was up in my business or anything. He let me buy what I liked, but he was sweet about it. He wanted to see it and give me his opinion.”
And he’d fucked her in the dressing room about halfway through the day. He’d fucked her hard, his hunger so evident she hadn’t even had a moment’s qualm about accepting him.
But apparently she wasn’t supposed to talk about that. If her CIA handlers were anything like Shane they would get all prissy and prudish. Maybe it was time to move on. “You two called me here to ask about my new clothes? Because I can talk about that all day. I bought the most gorgeous Prada sheath.”
Levi sat forward, his elbows on the little table. “Did anything odd happen yesterday? Did he get any phone calls or talk to anyone you noticed?”
“He’s always on his phone.” Though lately he’d started turning it off when they were together physically. He claimed he wouldn’t let anyone interrupt their play time.
It was starting to feel like something more than play. He’d stopped knocking on her door. He slid into bed beside her each day, the early morning light barely kissing the room as he put his hands on her and brought her to life.
“So there was nothing that seemed off to you?” Ezra stared at her like he was waiting for something.
“He disappeared for about twenty minutes, but Declan had an eye on him. He walked out of the shop, took a phone call, got into it with a photog, and then came back in.”
And that was when he’d come into her dressing room, filled with demands, a rough edge to his voice and that “won’t take no for an answer” gleam in his eyes. The paparazzi must have been unpleasant, to say the least. The police, however, had been quite pleasant.
Levi’s eyes narrowed as though he was sizing her up. “According to records, at two thirty-three p.m. yesterday your boy got a call from a phone number that had recently been activated and had never been used.”
“So someone called him from a burner,” she prompted.
“That number is now out of service,” Levi continued.
The man was good at stating the obvious. “Hence me calling it a burner.”
Levi frowned her way as if she was taking all his fun away. “We can’t trace who bought the phone. It was paid for with cash and there were no cameras close, but we do know the date and time of the call. Every year on this date at close to two thirty, Joshua Hunt receives a phone call. A day later, Hunt transfers funds from his own account to an offshore one, and that’s where we lose track. This happens four times a year. Like clockwork.”
What was Josh hiding? He hadn’t mentioned what the phone call had been about and now that she thought about it, she should have been surprised that he’d gotten violent with a photographer. Still, she’d gotten to know the man. “You honestly believe that Josh is…doing what? Funding a cartel? I’ve lived with the man for weeks. I can promise you he’s not doing drugs himself, so he’s not buying. He’s the single healthiest man I’ve ever met. He’s certainly not selling. Shane and Dec vet absolutely everyone who stops by. They’re all Hollywood types or his housekeeper or people from the club, and Riley has vetted those.”
“Then where is all that money going?” Levi asked. “We’re talking millions over the last few years. I know you like the guy, but you can’t be naïve about this. He’s spent time with the Commander. He’s met the Commander several times over the years and he’s planning on staying at his house while he’s in Mexico.”
“Wouldn’t that be a better time to make a transaction? Look, as far as I can tell, Josh honestly believes this guy is a businessman and a philanthropist,” she replied. “He’s donated generously to Josh’s children’s charity. That’s kind of the way things work out here. You pay and Josh entertains. I don’t think it’s more than that. I think Josh would be horrified if he found out who his ‘friend’ really is.”
Levi slid Ezra a look. It was subtle but she caught it. Ezra’s lips flattened out and she knew she was in trouble.
They thought she was getting too close. This was something they’d obviously talked about, worried about. If she pushed it too hard, they might even have backup plans. That was how these men worked.
She sat back, letting her expression go bland. “I’m playing devil’s advocate, guys. We have to look at this from every angle, and one of those angles is that Josh is innocent in all of this.”
“I’ve got twenty million dollars wired to accounts in the Caymans and Switzerland that tell me otherwise.” Levi sat back.
“And we have reason to believe that his next drop is coming up some time this week. We’d like to be there to see who picks it up,” Ezra explained.
“I’m scheduled to meet with Mr. Blade next,” Levi said. “I’ll take it from there. We need Hunt’s schedule for the next few days and we would like to put listening devices in the house and his car.”
She wanted to argue. God, she wanted to quit and tell them to leave her Josh alone. This was a man who had so little privacy and they were invading the last of it. All that would do is get her ass canned from both jobs and they would still get their way. And Josh wouldn’t have anyone on his side when the time came.
Was she really thinking about sides? Because she was supposed to be firmly planted on one and she was wavering. Two weeks of gauzy Malibu mornings and late nights in his playroom had her rethinking her whole damn life.
“Of course.” She had a job to do and if she was right, Josh likely would never know the Agency had been listening to him, watching his every move. If she was wrong, then Josh Hunt was in way worse trouble than losing his precious privacy.
“Excellent.” Levi’s deep voice held a wealth of satisfaction. “I’m glad you agree since it’s being done as we speak.”
“What?”
Ezra sighed. “We’ve got eyes on Hunt. Shane’s his shadow today. Declan stayed behind so we have access to the house. Hunt was driven into LA, and that means we also have access to his vehicles. I thought it would be better to have a team do it than you.”
“He thought it would be easier,” Levi corrected. “The truth is we’re both concerned about your level of…friendliness with the target.”
“You knew I was going to sleep with him. I believe that was exactly why you picked me.” Although who the hell else were they going to get? If they wanted a McKay-Taggart operative, there was a dearth of single females. Since Des died, she was the only female agent on the London team, and the Dallas team had a bunch of married women. She doubted Theo Taggart would have allowed his wife to sacrifice her body for her country.
Not that it was a sacrifice.
“I’m not stupid, Kay. I see the way you look at the guy. I get it. If I swung that way, I’d probably be all over his bad boy hot ass, too,” Levi admitted.
A brow climbed over Ezra’s eyes. “I wouldn’t put it like that, but the man obviously is attractive and has some charm. The bodyguards might have mentioned something about you getting hurt.”
Damn the boys. “It was nothing. Josh has some issues with PTSD. Not sure what the incident was about, but he’s got some triggers. I can handle them. I was about to handle them. Unfortunately, Dec walked in while we were having a little altercation.”
“Shane mentioned something about you talking about how good Hunt is in bed,” Ezra mentioned.
Tattletale. “I’m a talker, Ezra. You know that. I talk about everything. It doesn’t mean I’m ready to throw my career to the wind over a couple of nice orgasms. They were spectacular. He does this thing with his tongue.”
Ezra blanched. “Stop. I don’t need to hear that.”
Levi grinned lasciviously. “I don’t know. Sounds like an interesting story. What exactly does he do with his tongue?”
“No. We’re not going there.” Ezra leaned forward. “All we’re saying is try to keep some professional distance. I know how hard
this is. I’ve worked some intimate operations and it’s tough on a person who has any kind of soul. If you find yourself getting in trouble, call me and I’ll pull you out.”
Levi’s eyes narrowed. “Not your call, man. This is my op.”
“And she’s my operative, so we’ll have to agree to disagree. I promised I would watch out for her. I promised Knight and I promised Big Tag. I assure you, I will pull her if I think she’s in trouble,” Ezra vowed.
That was a whole lot of testosterone flying around. She needed some popcorn to go with all the boy drama. If she was lucky, they might throw down right here in front of the Starbucks.
Her money was on Ezra in a physical fight, though she was certain Levi would be sneaky.
Levi chuckled, a humorless sound. “Wow. I thought the rumors about you were all jealousy and gossip. Turns out they’re true. You are on thin ice, my man. The Agency likes its employees to be loyal to the Agency. Not some security firm whose leader couldn’t hack it. There’s a reason you’re playing second team. One more bad move and you know what’s going to happen.”
“I don’t need advice from you on what a bad move would do to me.” The words came out of Ezra’s mouth, low and dangerous. “I’ve been doing this job a lot longer than you.”
Levi’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, a whole four years.”
“In the field,” Ezra shot back. “I’m a field agent. You’re a glorified paper pusher. You’ve never had to do the job she’s doing. You sit back in your cushy office and make decisions that affect the rest of her life and you’ve never even done the job.”
“Just because I work with my brains and not my hands doesn’t mean there’s not blood on them, brother. Remember that.” Levi stretched as he stood up, his big body moving with ease. “I’m only trying to watch out for you, buddy. You know the brass can get an itchy trigger finger when it comes to burning an agent. Your friend knows all about that.”
