Spy Games (Tarnished Heroes #1)(68)

“Irene said Hector was dangerous, that he gets his people killed.” Sarah peered up at him, the halogen lights washing all the color from her face. “Are we doing the right thing?”

“What we do is dangerous. Sometimes we die.” He couldn’t begin second-guessing himself now. That would lead to more problems. He knew Hector was on their side, end of story.

“I’m scared Rand. I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can.” He handed her the metro card from earlier. They pushed past the turnstiles and headed to the platforms.

“What’d you find out?” She hunched her shoulders and let him guide her to one platform, then another without protest or explanation.

“Andy confirmed there’s going to be an auction. Noah’s looking into it. His cover gives him some access to events like this. He thinks he can get us in, but not Andy.”

“It’s stupid—suicide—to go in. They know who we are.”

“Yeah, well, you’re the only one who can open the case, so I figure we have a better chance of getting the contents of the case out instead of the case. Therefore, you have to go in. And if you go, I go.”

“I hate all of this.”

“Me, too.”

They stopped finally on a crowded platform. He pulled her toward him, kissing her widow’s peak.

“Why would they sell the briefcase? They paid for it. That doesn’t make sense.”

“If they can’t get into it, they don’t want to be caught with it. And the information inside is time-sensitive. If those protocols aren’t initiated in another week or two, all the assets are dead in the water. The informants we don’t have identities for will disappear. Then our agents in the field will be left without instructions. It’s over. That’s why they have to shit or get off the pot. I mean, look at me. If I hadn’t gotten the package from you when I did, my informant would have turned around and told the MSS about me, effectively scrapping years of work because of one missed deadline.”

“It could be a trap,” Sarah said. “They know we need it, so they offer it up.”

“This isn’t a movie. Things like that don’t happen very often in real life. They’ll never expect us.”

“I just…have a bad feeling about all of this.”

So did he, but he couldn’t tell her that.

…

Sarah wasn’t so sure Rand had much of a plan, but she appreciated his resolve in claiming he did. It went a long way in calming her nerves. One of them had to know what was going on, and it sure as hell wasn’t her.

“Zip your jacket up and give me your hand.” Rand’s steady voice was a comfort in an otherwise hellish day.

They walked down the street from where their cab had dropped them, the late afternoon sunlight bathing the budding trees in light. Soon everything would be green and growing. New life.

Would Irene be around to see it? What about her sister?

Her fingers fumbled with the zipper pull on Irene’s coat. They’d never traded back. This one fit her a little big in the shoulders. She shoved her hands in the pockets and stared ahead.

There was a Grand Cherokee parked in front of Julie’s house that…wasn’t right. Julie drove an older model sedan. This vehicle was new. Did she have company? Should they wait? Could they slip in without alerting Julie?

“You know the car?” Rand asked.

“No. It’s not Julie’s.”

“Figured. Come on, we’ll be in and out quick.”

Then where? What were they going to do? Going to that auction still seemed like suicide. But what else could they do?

The pseudo-lip balm pressed against her thigh with each step, reminding her of the job Irene wanted her to do. Didn’t photographing the protocols go against the concept of keeping the information ultra secretive? And what if Rand was right? What if Irene was really in on it all and this was an act?

Sarah wanted to be done with all of it. She wasn’t cut out for covert work. She’d been playing in the kiddie pool this whole time, thinking she was some kind of patriotic badass.

“Sarah! Rand!”

“Oh, shit,” he muttered.

Sarah flinched and glanced across the yard at Julie, flanked by Emily…and Matt.

Fuckity-fuck, fuck, fuck.

Sarah stopped in her tracks, Rand’s tight grip on her hand rocking her forward. Her gaze bounced from Emily’s shocked face to the deep, angry lines of Matt’s.

They stood frozen at the curb in this tableau, the divide seeming to grow with every passing second.

“See, I told you she was fine.” Julie laughed and waved at them. “Come in, I’m making tacos.”

Bless Julie. She had no idea what kind of shitstorm she’d just created.

Rand and Matt? In the same room? How the hell were they going to explain this? She might be able to lie to Julie, but her brother? Matt would see through it all. And if he was blinded, Emily was there to figure out what he couldn’t. Besides, Emily knew about her crush on Rand, just like Sarah had always known Emily liked her brother.

She glanced at Rand, catching his gaze. He lifted a shoulder and tugged her forward.

The last place she wanted to be was in that house. She’d take a cold room in hell with Wei over this.

How was she going to explain being with Rand to her brother? Matt wouldn’t even say his name on the rare occasion someone brought him up.