Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 558(@250wpm)___ 465(@300wpm)
“I don’t know.” Lou shook her head as she stared down at her tablet. “I don’t like it. Something feels off.”
Tasha had learned to trust Lou’s instincts. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know yet,” Lou admitted.
“Nothing is wrong.” Kala’s jaw tightened. “It’s a minor problem. Look, I made it clear to Brian that I wasn’t interested. I didn’t tell him Kara has a boyfriend. I didn’t go to my usual ‘I like chicks’ excuse. As far as he knows, Kara is one more professional woman working in Sydney, and it shouldn’t be a surprise when Kara flirts with someone at a conference.”
“Except Lance Middleton is way less hot than Brian,” Kenzie pointed out. “Lance Middleton is forty-five and has a pot belly going. Don’t you think that’s going to raise suspicions when Kara is all over him?”
“Lance Middleton is dead, so that’s a moot point, Kenz,” a deep voice said.
Tasha turned and Cooper McKay stood in the doorway. He was six foot four and all lean muscle. Where Tristan’s lethality was masked, Coop’s was on full display. He had a rugged masculinity that let a person know he could probably kill a man thirty different ways. Right now, he had a fierce frown on his face.
“What do you mean the target’s dead?” Kala asked.
Lou flipped open her laptop, her fingers starting to fly across the keys.
Cooper moved into the room, taking a seat at the head of the table, across from Kala, who had the other end. “I mean, I’ve been in conference with Drake and Taylor, and the target didn’t make it to Sydney. His flight was supposed to come in yesterday. When he didn’t show up at Toronto Airport, they checked on him and discovered he was pronounced dead three hours before his flight was set to leave. Car accident. According to friends, he was on his way to the airport. The police reports state he lost control and died in a single vehicle accident. The roads were slick, and he was traveling at a high rate of speed.”
“Shit.” Zach moved his seat next to Lou’s so he could look over her shoulder. “Did Drake send us the report?”
Tristan was already on his laptop, looking for information.
“Of course. It should be in our cloud, so you can all pull it down,” Cooper said.
“All right.” Tasha took a deep breath. “Why was he talking to you and not me?”
This was her team. Cooper and Kala might like to pretend they made decisions, but ultimately it was up to her. She ran this team, and she wasn’t going to take a back seat. She’d learned early on she had to be firm about her place or the large personalities she was surrounded by would take over.
“I was already on the line talking to Taylor about the plane. They’re nickel and diming me on the upgrades.” Cooper was in charge of the sleek, high-tech Bond Aeronautics jet assigned to their team. He and Tristan split the logistics work. “Drake walked in with the new intel, and I was there. Trust me. You’ll get a whole lecture sometime this evening, but it’s late in the States so he talked to me. Apparently one of the boys is sick and they’re working from home, so it’s a whole thing.”
Kala hadn’t bothered to look at the new intel. “It’s a setback but it doesn’t mean the op is off.”
Tasha wasn’t sure she agreed. “The op is all about figuring out if Auggie Oakley is a bioweapons dealer, and why he’s trying to get close to Dr. Emmanuel Huisman. Lance already had an invitation to that party. The other men we could have targeted are married.”
“I can get into the party,” Kenzie assured her. “I’ll find a way.”
“Security is going to be tight. We’ve already looked into getting one of the guys on Oakley’s security team.” Lou talked even as her eyes moved across the screen. “That’s been a no go so far. He only works with Aussie ex-military, and I don’t think Coop can pass. His accent is terrible.”
It was awful. Coop spoke three different languages and sounded Texan in all of them.
“Hey, mate. I’m right here.” Tris held up a hand.
His accent was perfect. Tristan and the twins had zero problems mimicking almost anyone they listened to for a brief amount of time. But there was a roadblock.
“Won’t work,” Zach pointed out. “You still have an identity in the US. I know you could fake SAS credentials, but if someone even skims the surface, they’ll find the real you.”
“Fine,” Tris conceded. “We need a way in.”
Zach had been trying to find that path. “I’m still working on the catering team. It might be our best way in, but we’ll have limited access. Lance was perfect because his profile stated plainly he’s looking for a long-term relationship and likely will accept moving slow physically. You know how your dad feels about honey pots.”