Spy Games (Tarnished Heroes #1)(31)

Being with her, it felt as though he hadn’t missed a moment. Falling into their old ways, picking at each other, arguing, that was easy, but it wasn’t what he wanted. It’d never been his goal.

Did she remember their Lincoln Log promise?

Matt had been grounded and Rand had come over to play. He’d been on the cusp of puberty. Sarah was still a gregarious child. They’d played with the cabin pieces, building a house using all the available parts they could fit together.

He’d promised to build them a real house some day, one where they could live together. After they got married, of course, because back then that was where his childish logic took him. For a long time after that, probably into high school, he’d always looked at Sarah as a piece of his life, now and forever. She fit him in a way no one else ever had, maybe because they’d grown up together, or maybe because he wanted to believe it.

“Is it time for a nap yet?” Sarah asked. She’d curled up in the chair, knees tucked up against her chest.

“You can sleep. I’m going to go over the surveillance setup.”

“That’s not fair.” She cracked an eye open, glaring at him. “When’s the last time you slept?”

“I napped this morning.”

“Napping is not sleeping. I can’t let you do everything.”

“And like I said, you’re no good to me dead on your feet. Sleep. Besides, you’re the one that knows Mandarin, so I need you awake and ready for when Wei gets here. If he’s coming here at all.” He stood and held out his hand.

She peered at his palm for a moment before stretching out her arm. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and hauled her to her feet and straight into his arms. She flattened her other hand against his chest but didn’t shove him away.

They were supposed to play at being whirlwind lovers, right?

He stared down at her, the woman from his past and his dreams, and knew this was going to be the easiest role he’d ever played. The question was, was he faking it? Or was it real?

“Are we going to talk about us later, too?” she asked.

“You’ve never been on a surveillance mission, have you?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll tell you this—we’ll have all the time in the world to talk. Sleep. We’ll get everything figured out later.”

Rand sorted their bags, what stayed here and what he needed to take over to their other room. H e’d scored them a room here, allowing them to move around the Chinese delegation freely. It was a weak lead, but right now it was all they had. Sarah had rolled her eyes at the concept of their cover, but that was the only protest she’d made.

Once he had her tucked in bed, Rand exchanged his jacket for a blue workman’s coat with a patch for a made-up electrician company. He put on a matching hat, sunglasses up on his brow, and headed out to where they’d really be staying. The honeymoon suite was just a front, part of their cover story.

Hector had organized all of this through third-party channels he could trust. There was, hopefully, no chance that Mitch’s or Irene’s people were involved in their sting. If all went well, they’d catch word of the briefcase and call in the real law enforcement to put the stolen property back in American custody. From there they’d have to sort out who was behind burning Sarah. As long as the case was locked, she was reasonably safe.

And then what? When all of this was over—what then? Was there an us to think about?

He’d have to finally face Matt. Ask his forgiveness for what’d happened. And then…his permission. Because if Sarah was the least bit interested, Rand was going after her.

“Okay, let’s see what you’ve got going on…”

It was time to focus his thoughts. Sarah was right. Whatever would happen between them came after this.

He plugged the laptop in the surveillance kit into the Ethernet cord sticking out of the wall the set-up team had been kind enough to locate for him. The big chunk of drywall missing would be hard to explain, but that wasn’t his job.

Once he was hardwired into the system, Rand had access to all of the security cameras in the hotel. Recent upgrades and renovations meant that each and every room was outfitted with voice activated valets, or consoles, which could do a number of things from ordering new towels to changing the TV channel. They were also easy to hack into, turning every single valet system in the rooms into a listening device.

Rand wouldn’t need to plant a bug.

The hotel had done it for him already.

Man, he loved technology.

Back in the old days, he’d be waiting around for the suite to empty so he could get in and try to leave something that wouldn’t be noticed. Now, his biggest concern was where were the damn snacks, and when would something worth watching happen?

…

Zhang Wei strolled through the entrance of the Carlyle Hotel, scanning the people loitering in the lobby, the guests at the coffee bar. It was still early, but he’d already received confirmation that the Chinese delegation had arrived and wanted to inspect the briefcase. The upcoming festivities were the perfect cover for bringing together potential buyers for the information held within the case, should they chose to auction off what they didn’t need. If they could get the case open. That was currently their biggest hurdle, one he hoped to solve in the near future.

No one would like what Wei had to say about the package. The Americans had been thorough this time.