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)
“Am not,” TJ said around a mouthful of muffin.
Kala’s lips curled up in one of those pure amusement grins she rarely shared. “Last night he ate all the lasagna we had left over. Kenz made an extra-large and thought we would eat it for a week. TJ managed to down it in an hour.”
“It was good,” TJ said apologetically. “And it was leg day. You know I get really hungry on leg day. I’ll get us takeout tonight.”
Lou’s head tilted the way it did when she was thinking. “Huh. That makes more sense.”
“When he starts bringing home every sad-sack homeless animal he can find, we’ll know his transition is complete. I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Kala replied, and then seemed to get serious. “Where’s the big guy, and do we have a babysitter today?”
The door to the conference room opened again, and the answer was clear. Drake Radcliffe walked in followed by the aforementioned big guy, Ian Taggart, and his wife, Charlotte. Drake was in his mid-forties and had once been a deadly operative, but he’d shifted into management, and he and his wife, Taylor, were the team’s liaisons with the Agency.
Kala had stiffened beside him, though her expression hadn’t changed.
She was worried Drake was here to shut them down. At one point he would have cheered the very idea, but two years of watching her work had made him understand how much she needed this. She’d been born for this work. He could have been happy in any number of jobs, but there was only one for Kala Taggart. Yes, he could have been happy in several jobs, but he could only be happy with one woman. Her.
“Hey, guys. Sorry I didn’t get out here earlier. I’m afraid I’ve been working on figuring out exactly how fucked we are when it comes to Captain Reed.” Drake took a seat opposite Big Tag and Charlotte. “Taylor is still in DC. She’s working the Dark Web, trying to figure out where he’s gone and what connections we missed.”
“Yeah, I’d like to know, too,” Big Tag said before looking over to Kala. His brows rose when he seemed to realize she’d forgone her usual place beside Lou. “Did you kill the doctor? Because I don’t think Phoebe is going to be cool with our normal body disposal methods. She in your trunk, daughter?”
Drake groaned. “Please tell me we didn’t screw with Dr. Gallagher. She’s new, and the director thinks she’s the shit. She was a top profiler with the FBI and recently took the job with us.”
“I didn’t kill the doctor,” Kala said with a long eye roll. “She’s okay. I told her what she wanted to know and then set up another session with her. See, I can take one for the team.”
It was his turn to stare at her, shocked. “You have a session with her?”
She turned slightly. “It’s not my first time with a shrink. Besides, I get the feeling she needs to spend time with me or she won’t give us the sterling review we so richly deserve.” She turned back to Drake. “Is this yet another ploy to break the team up? Since the Zach plan obviously didn’t work?”
Kenzie pointed her sister’s way. “What she said.”
“Zach didn’t want to break up the team,” Tris insisted. “There’s something more going on here.”
“I agree with Tris,” Lou said quietly, her gaze seemingly focused inward, like she was seeing something she couldn’t forget. “He didn’t want to leave us. I saw him that day. He saved me and Aidan. He didn’t have to. It would have been easy for him to walk right by, but he didn’t. He told me he had to go back to hell. Said he should have known he always belonged there.”
Drake’s tone went low, sympathetic. “I know Zach was good to the team, but he wasn’t who we thought he was.”
“He’s exactly who we thought he was, but apparently with a couple of extra layers,” Big Tag said. “Look, I’m with Lou and Tris on this one. I’m a fairly good judge of character and nothing set me off with Zach. There’s something we’re missing. He’s definitely not working for Huisman.”
“We can’t know that,” Drake replied.
Cooper was kind of team Zach. “It doesn’t make sense. Huisman was planning on torturing him for information. It’s obvious Zach has a connection to someone Huisman is looking for.”
“The bombmaker,” Kala concluded. “He knows who the bombmaker is, and he has all along. If he works for anyone, it’s that dude. I don’t know why. Maybe he’s a childhood friend and there’s some weird loyalty to him.”
“Have we considered Zach himself could be the bombmaker?” TJ asked.
Tasha laughed. Not a little giggle, a mad guffaw. Lou snorted along.
“Guys, don’t be mean,” Kenzie admonished. “Zach is not dumb.”
Kala smiled broadly. “He’s not, but you have to admit, the dude isn’t like an engineer or anything. He’s not even all that great with computers.” She sobered, seeming to think of something. “Unless he’s pretending. Playing dumb is always a good cover, but it’s hard when you work so closely with someone. I’ve read Tristan’s report. We know he’s the one who killed The Jester and set him up to be found by Tris.”