Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“Because he didn’t need their money to keep the place going like Tag did in the beginning.”
It was good to know Kyle was quick to defend his uncle.
“I’m only saying that almost all of the club members either work for or are close to people who work for Damon.” He’d decided he felt comfortable talking in the space after Damon had shown him his protocols. “If we can’t talk here, we shouldn’t use it as our base.”
The bartender passed Kyle a couple of fingers of whiskey and looked Drake’s way. He shook his head and started for one of the tables overlooking the dungeon.
Kyle settled in. “Is there a reason you didn’t kill her on sight?”
Drake’s gut tightened. There were a lot of reasons. He wanted to hate her, and there was a part of him that did. But she was still his sister, still his childhood playmate. “She brought along muscle. I’m fairly certain it was John, though I didn’t get a great look at him because he had a gun to my spine.”
“In the middle of a DC country club frequented by politicians?” Kyle asked, a bit of horror creeping into his tone.
“We have to assume they’ve infiltrated that particular club. Julia inferred they’ve infiltrated a lot of places.” He’d gotten on a plane for London the day after his meeting with Julia. His mother had offered to give him and Lydia a ride, and it would have looked odd if he’d turned down a private plane in favor of flying back to Wyoming. His mother would have questioned the move, and so would Lydia.
Lydia was already asking why he wasn’t staying at the hotel with her. As far as Lydia knew, they were there to meet with a couple of assets who had information they needed to pass on. They were meeting tomorrow, and Lydia had already explained that she’d set up a cover for them. He wasn’t sure why they needed a cover, but there it was. It was all nice and normal, an easy job and one she could help facilitate.
Lydia had been all over his mother during the trip, asking her about Drake’s childhood and her career.
His mother might be right, and that was going to be a problem.
“I told you if Julia got recruited, there were probably others.” Kyle picked up on his line of thought quickly. “It would explain a lot. Including how your asset got identified in Kraków. I know at first you thought it might be Taylor’s father, but The Consortium would be the better bet. By then Julia was out of the loop on a personal level. She wasn’t working for the Agency at the time. It had to be someone else.”
“Or it could have been bad luck.” He didn’t like to think about how many Julias there were looking at classified information every single day.
Kyle took a long drink, obviously fortifying himself. “So what did my nightmare woman have to say?”
Drake glanced over to the path that led to the women’s locker room hoping for the sight of Taylor coming toward him. Nothing. “You were right to leave MaeBe. She told me flat out she would have kept coming after her if you hadn’t. She definitely doesn’t think you’re dead. I didn’t tell her anything, but she knows.”
Kyle sighed. “Well, I didn’t expect it to work entirely, but I did buy Mae some time. I wish my uncle would listen to me about getting her into hiding.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen. He seems determined to help her get ready for the fight.” He didn’t have to worry about that with Taylor. According to Brad, she was well trained and in excellent physical shape. Drake had spent an hour going over Brad’s evaluations, looking for any way to talk Taylor out of the op. Despite his earlier announcement, he didn’t want her to go through with this.
There had been nothing but praise for her ability to defend herself with or without weapons. According to those evaluations, Taylor could likely take him down.
“Has she tried to call you?” Julia had specifically told him to warn Kyle.
“She can try but I’m supposed to be dead. I left my phone behind. The number isn’t mine anymore,” Kyle said. “I’m running on burners.”
“She said you better pick up if she calls you.” Drake didn’t want to say the words, but he couldn’t keep the warning from Kyle. “She suggested if you don’t talk to her soon, she’ll go after Mae.”
There was the sound of glass crushing, and Drake looked down to see blood on Kyle’s fist.
Drake had to keep him calm or he would be on a plane back to the States. “I’ve already talked to Tag. MaeBe’s got a shadow detail she doesn’t know about. For now she’s got West with her, and someone else is watching them twenty-four seven. If anything changes, Tag promised he’ll shove her in a safe house.”