Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 723(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 482(@300wpm)
“Then why don’t you come back in?” Big Tag offered.
“I’m going to pretend like I see nothing.” Drake kept his head down. Probably because he was supposed to arrest Zach on sight. “I know nothing. You were never here.”
“I appreciate that,” Zach replied before looking to Ian. “And you know why I don’t come in. Until I have something solid the Agency wants, they’ll toss me in a cell somewhere. Or worse. They’ll get rid of the problem. The problem being me. I’m close. When I have some leverage, you’ll be the first to know. Hey, Lou.”
Lou gave him a wave. “Hey. Do you know anything that could help us save Kala?”
“I might have a plan,” Zach said mysteriously.
“How do you know she’s here?” TJ asked.
Cooper rather thought he knew. “He had someone watching Devi. He told Kala he was worried about her. I didn’t actually hear that convo because he shot me, but it’s in Kala’s report.”
Zach had the grace to wince. “I’m sorry, but you were a little heated, and I was worried we were going to throw down.”
Yeah, he was working on it. He was willing to do anything if he could get Kala and Devi out of that house alive. “What’s your plan and I’ll tell you if I’m going to talk to you the next time I see you or take your head off.”
A ghost of a smile played at Zach’s lips. “Good to know.” He got serious. “I do have someone watching Devi, but he’s one guy, and he didn’t realize what was going on until they were taking her and Kala out. He’s a friend of mine. A mercenary who’s worked with my mother from time to time.”
“And he followed her here?” Big Tag asked. “Because I’m unsure of how you figured out where she is. Unless someone on this team is talking.”
Well, that wasn’t even vaguely disguised as non-threatening. “No one on the team is talking to him behind your back. Kala talked to him and immediately reported what happened. You’re pissed Charlotte hugged him and is acting like she’s twelve kinds of fine with him showing up, but I’m pretty sure she was checking him for weapons.”
“He doesn’t have any,” Charlotte agreed. “But he is carrying something. I don’t know what it is, but it’s taped to his waist. Small. It might be a detonator. If they don’t carefully inspect him, he might get in with it.”
Yep, Kala had come by her suspicion honestly.
“It is a detonator, and it’s taped to my body with specifically colored adhesive that blends with my skin,” Zach admitted.
Ian’s lips curled up. “I should have known, but don’t tell me you weren’t worried about him.”
“I was. I am. And so are you. Let Drake be the angry boss right now,” Charlotte advised. “Zach should understand we’re ready to talk when he is, and we’ll withhold judgment until we know the full story.”
“What she said, but none of that explains how he knew where we were,” Ian agreed. “If he’s got eyes on us, we have to know.”
“No eyes.” Cooper knew what happened. “Zach didn’t know the tracker didn’t work last time. He was on the run before we figured it out. He would have looked for her tracker. Now, I don’t know how he got the new login, but that’s how he wasn’t confused.”
“I couldn’t get into Tris or Lou’s system, but all operatives are also tracked by the Agency.” Zach put his hands on his hips, staring out over the road that led to the house. “I know some people who still let me in, and no, I won’t give them up. But I will give myself up when it’s safe to. I promise. Everything I’ve done since the day Tristan found out I was involved with the bombmaker has been about protecting the people I love and hunting down Huisman. Now the person I love the most is in his hands, and I’m not going to leave her there. He wants me, he can have me.”
Cooper didn’t want the well of feeling that rose inside him. He wanted to stay pissed at Zach so he didn’t have to examine all the shit between them. He got the feeling that wasn’t going to happen. “You can’t go in alone.”
“Fuck, yes I can.” Zach’s shoulders went back, his spine lengthening. “I’m not handing him someone else I care about. I’ll put you out again if I have to, little brother. You’re not bait. You’re going to focus on getting Kala to safety. You get your girl and I’ll get mine.”
“Or you can do the bait thing and I’ll get my sister,” TJ countered.
“I would if I thought for a second that you can handle her.” Zach stared down TJ. “You’ve all proven you can’t. She’s been in danger, and no one has tried once to rein her in.”