Chapter 1
The last quiet calls of birdsong seeped through the windows. Leafy branches swayed in the warm summer breeze and speared the evening sky with evergreen. Their soft rustle did nothing to soothe my heavy heart. I watched the night roll in from my bed.
A clattering next to me interrupted my thoughts. Twisting toward my bedside table, an old twinge zinged up my chest and made me pause. Rubbing along my breastbone reflexively, I sighed and grabbed the buzzing phone. No caller ID.
“Hello?”
“A-721 requesting checkin code.”
Dammit.
“Forest is go- checkin code 8634279.”
A soft click on the line let me know I’d been connected on an encrypted channel.
“Kara.”
His warm voice stated my name in a whisper. I could feel his fear… and his quiet fury. It ripped through me. Ethan’s hands had traced the curve of my spine not 24 hours ago. Thinking of his breath warming the long planes of my tall body made me flush, skin hot and tingling. My hand twitched involuntarily wanting to trace the golden edges of his chest down to his belt. The memory of leather on my fingertips as I’d frantically removed the obstacle made me bite my lip. Fire licked up my belly. Focus.
“Ethan.” My voice sounded neutral, despite my pulse hammering through my veins.
“You abandoned the mission. In-person checkin is required in less than 2 hours from now, as you full well fucking know. Jesus, Kara- A quick pit stop at home? A car will be sent to escort you in,” his voice growled down the line.
“You know goddamn well why the mission had to be aborted. Immediate extraction was required,” I spat, anger rising. “Besides my fairy princess bandages were at home,” bit my icy sarcasm. “Whatever else would I use to patch up my side getting ripped open by an explosion. Where were you?”
“Well there are a lot of questions. I have the pleasure of explaining this to management. This looks very bad. Get in here. Now.”
The line cut off. My screen went black while I stared at it, seething. What story had been told, and did they now think I was the traitor?
Throwing the covers off, I stood, and the world spun. They’ll have even more questions when seeing a senior operative limping in seriously injured on a politically sensitive mission, particularly when they learned it was a setup. Someone spilled about tonight.
I’d known they’d have surveillance on my place but didn’t care. It was worth it for 20 minutes to myself. The investigation would comb through every minute leading up to this messy failure, and every minute since. Did they already know I’d fucked my boss on his desk before going in the field or was this going to be a fun show and tell situation to walk into? The bruise on my hip had nothing to do with slamming into a wall that the blueprints didn’t show. This got worse by the minute
Clearly bad intel had been planted… or there was a leak. Wincing, I yanked on a black tank and black skinny jeans. My sewing kit had done the job, but makeshift stitches hurt like hell. Scraping my long blonde hair into a ponytail, I surveyed the remnants of my first aid kit strewn across the bathroom. Bandages and blood weren’t really my style. Usually, I’d be in and out like a shadow.
I’d needed the time to catch my breath and figure out who betrayed me. Sitting in bed, watching the trees, it became clear that despite the searing heat of his mouth on mine, Ethan’s loyalty couldn’t be trusted. Though the fear in his voice seemed real, who else could have the mission details needed for sabotage?
We’d lost contact on comms when the explosion went off and threw me into a solid brick wall. Coming to and scrambling to get out of there while alarms blared meant I’d not been in contact. I had no idea where he was or what had happened. It took hours to get back to a town, and even longer to make sure I’d not been followed, before stumbling into my own city and apartment, bleeding. So after patching myself up, I’d crawled into bed knowing the call would come.
Facing down a bunch of angry senators from the intelligence committee, I could do. Being face-to-face with Ethan not knowing if he was to blame for an attempt on my life would be excruciating at best.
