End of Days (Pike Logan #16)(11)

Veep was the junior member of my team, and he was dating the niece of Kurt Hale, the commander of the Taskforce who had been killed. In the past, before he had died, I’d paid her to act as Amena’s nanny after she’d first arrived from Syria, so it was a good fit. Giving the two of them the room solved my Amena problem for the week. She could definitely take care of herself, but she loved Kylie and would think twice about pushing my buttons with her in the house.

The first to arrive at my office was Knuckles, and when he’d walked through the door I’d realized why he’d wanted his own hotel room. Behind him was a woman named Willow Radcliffe, someone we’d saved in Brazil from a horrendous death. Jennifer’s mouth had dropped open, and Willow had seemed a little bit self-conscious. I’d said, “Willow! I didn’t know you were here.”

She’d glared at Knuckles, saying, “Knuckles said this was just a vacation to Charleston. He didn’t mention the wedding. I’m sorry if I’m intruding.”

Sensing her hesitance, Jennifer jumped up and said, “Not at all. Pike, get them some drinks.”

I said, “Beers on the back deck. Knuckles, want to give me a hand?”

He nodded and we left the office to a small balcony that fronted Shem Creek. I went to a mini fridge I’d built into the wall for the sole purpose of sitting and watching the sun set, pulled out four beers, handed him two, and said, “What the hell is that about?”

He shrugged and said, “What? She’s a hammer, and she seemed to like me after Brazil, so I gave her a call.”

Knuckles was a man whore of the first order. He stood a little over six feet, with ropy muscles like a swimmer, which stood to reason, because he was a Navy SEAL, but somewhere he’d lost any semblance of being in the military. His hair was long and shaggy, and he perpetually dressed in tight T-shirts with some eclectic saying that was bound to offend someone, like some hippie from the seventies.

Women swooned over him, and he obliged more times than not, which made me a little sick. Not that he did it, but because he could.

I said, “What happened to the SECSTATE?”

Last I’d heard, Knuckles had been dating the secretary of state, another woman who had fallen for his charms, which had caused no small amount of consternation with me due to her position.

He opened his beer and said, “She’s good, but that shit is just too complicated. Too much hiding and political bullshit. I broke it off.”

Which concerned me, because she was also an Oversight Council member. I didn’t want them making any decisions about my team based on some lovers’ quarrel. He saw my face and raised his hands, each holding a beer, looking like he was directing a Delta flight to a gate.

“Hey, I see where this is going. Don’t worry about it. We’re good. It was a mutual decision. She saw the problems just like I did.”

I’d nodded and said, “Okay. If you say so.”

We’d reentered the office only to find that everyone else from the team had shown up. After a round of beers, I’d taken them to a place across Coleman Boulevard called Saltwater Cowboys. Also on Shem Creek, it was a great location to watch the dolphins and the sunset.

We’d ended up staying there for hours telling war stories and just reconnecting, and then, while everyone else Uber’d to their hotel, I’d offered to take Aaron and Shoshana back in my vehicle. It was the least I could do since they’d come from Israel.

Something I was now regretting with Shoshana staring at me.





Chapter 8




Shoshana said, “Come on up. It’s just one drink. You’ll still be able to drive.”

My internal radar starting to fire, I said, “Can’t we do this tomorrow? It’s really late and we’re having breakfast together.”

I saw her scowl and said, “Usually, you’re trying to kill me, and now you can’t get enough of me?”

Which was true. When we’d first collided, we’d both tried mightily to slaughter each other. Luckily, we’d both failed. Since then, she’d threatened to kill me on a number of occasions, but she’d also saved my life just as many times.

Jennifer misread the situation, thinking that Shoshana was just trying to be a normal person, trying to fit in and show how she had an ordinary relationship with Aaron, which, given the person, was impossible. Jennifer thought of herself as a mentor, and honestly probably was.

She touched my arm and said, “One drink. I’ll drive home.”

I shook my head and said, “Okay, okay. Let’s get this over with.”

Shoshana said, “That’s how you feel? This is something to get over with?”

“No. I mean whatever it is you’re about to tell me.”

She gave me her weird glow, her face splitting into a smile that looked like a wolf, full of teeth without any joy. She said, “You are like me. You can see into someone’s heart.”

I rolled my eyes, opened the door, and said, “Okay, Carrie, let’s go.”

She scowled at that, exiting on the far side. Carrie was the callsign Knuckles had given her on an operation, because she really did act a lot like the Stephen King character. Aaron exited on my side and said, “Careful. She doesn’t like being toyed with.”

I closed the door, watched Jennifer and Shoshana walk out to the street, and said, “I thought she liked that callsign?”