Lies(36)

“You okay?” Thom rubs my shoulder. I kind of want to lean into him, increase the contact. But I don’t. It’s too soon. Of course, if we die it’ll be too late. Like I said, complicated.

“Um, yeah. Fine.”

“Remind me to teach you how to lie convincingly sometime,” he says. “Now go get dressed before you get cold. And don’t worry about my work; I’m good at what I do.”

“He’s one of the best,” confirms Bear, his gaze still set on the TV. “After me, of course.”

“Of course.” I paste on a smile before heading to the bathroom. My life really only has room for one meltdown at a time. First, get this target off our backs. Then figure out the next fifty or so years.

Excellent. I have a plan.

Once I’m dressed, I come out to find Thom squatting in the hallway sliding money underneath the front door. Weird and mysterious. Then, on a small security camera screen embedded in the wall at around eye level, he watches the pizza delivery guy pick up the money and leave a box on the floor in the hallway before walking away. Thom waits for a while longer, monitoring the empty space. Finally, he turns the dead bolt, opens the door, and collects the food.

Nothing in our life is simple anymore. Not even pizza.

“You never open the door for anyone but me, okay?” he says. “Slide the money underneath and make sure they’re gone before you undo the locks.”

“Got it.”

The pizza is deposited on the kitchen counter and yes, pepperoni it is. Awesome.

Something beeps and Thom pulls out his cell, reading the screen. “Shit.”

“What?” Bear sits upright.

“They got Badger. Looks like his house exploded. They’re calling it a gas leak. Body found on site.” His fingers tap against the screen. “Hawk is down too. Caught in the crossfire of a robbery at a liquor store, apparently.”

“Like hell she was.”

“Got a copy of the crime scene pics from a reliable source. It’s the same detective who’s slowing down the case looking into your disappearance.” Thom gives me a look. “Having the ambulance you were riding in disappear did not make our lives easy.”

I shake my head in frustration. “They must be so worried and frustrated. Let me call Jen and Mom and tell them I’m okay. Explain to them that I just needed some me time or something.”

“A couple more days, babe,” says Thom. “Just let me talk to Sinclair and get a better feel for the situation.”

I am not convinced.

“Their phones and computers are being monitored; I can guarantee it. We cannot afford to be traced again. You know what happened last time. If anything, you’d just be putting them in danger by making contact with them.”

The man has a point. Doesn’t mean I like it. “All right. But only a couple more days.”

“Thank you.” His gaze returns to the cell in his hands. “Jesus. Half of Hawk’s face is missing, but it’s definitely her.”

Bear swears up a storm.

“That leaves you, Bear, Crow, and Fox,” I say. “Crow is the only one who hasn’t been cleared.”

Thom stares out the window into the dark. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. We don’t know anything for sure yet. That might not even have been Badger’s body in that house. Until we have DNA or dental confirmation on the corpse, we wait and see.”

“True,” grumbles Bear. “Has Crow reported in?”

“No, he hasn’t.” Thom tips his head back and stares at the ceiling. “He could be our leak. It makes a certain sense. He was the one who organized supplies for Betty. Could have easily placed some tracers among all that stuff.”

I frown. “Really? But he seemed so nice. He said he was your friend.”

“Like I said, there are no friends in this business, babe.”

“If it is him, I’m going to kill the fucker,” growls Bear.

“We need to locate him first,” says Thom, heading into the kitchen. He opens several cupboards and starts pulling out glasses and mugs, bowls and plates. They’re all set aside on the counter, out of the way. “Find evidence we can take to command. Something definite. In the meantime, our hacker says the target is apparently holed up in the penthouse suite at The Thornbrook. She’s got meetings with a variety of business and political types for the next two days along with attending a charity event at the Met tomorrow night.”

“What are you doing?” I ask, curious about him carrying on with the crockery.

“We need supplies.”

Once the cupboards are empty, he fiddles with something inside one of them. A false back rises to reveal a selection of shiny knives embedded in a black foamlike surface. The next cupboard has several handguns with extra magazines. The third contains yet more lethal toys.

“Help yourself,” he tells Bear, slipping a magazine into a pistol. The two of them get busy secreting various weapons on themselves. Getting ready to go to war. “Rifles and bigger stuff are in a hidden safe in the walk-in closet, but I’m thinking we stick with more compact gear for this.”

“Agreed,” says Bear.

I square my shoulders. “So what’s next?”

“We’re going to go check out the setup of the place, see if there’s been any increases or changes in security since the last time I visited. Then we’ll figure out our approach.” Thom rattles off the details, ignoring the slight look of surprise on Bear’s face. Guess for an operative, my fiancé is being super open with the facts. “There’s a couple of events happening at the hotel tonight, so it shouldn’t be too hard to blend in with the crowd.”