“One million dollars.” Drew’s gaze was guarded. “For you.”
One million— “Didn’t realize I was worth so much.” She had to ask because morbid curiosity compelled her. “Is that alive...or dead?”
His pupils widened, the dark spreading into the gold as he stared at her. “Alive.” The word seemed to drip ice. “I guess, after what happened before, he wants to kill you personally. To make sure the job gets done.”
The man who stood in front of her— I feel like I don’t know him. With his careful words, his dark gaze and his expressionless face...this wasn’t the man who’d made love to her so passionately. As if he couldn’t get enough of her.
This was the tough agent. The one with ice in his veins.
She hadn’t...expected to see this agent return. Not after what had happened between them. She hadn’t wanted to see him again.
Tina squared her shoulders. So much for not going back. He seemed to have flipped their relationship right back to the starting point on her. All thanks to one phone call. “Then I guess this is our chance.”
“Are you sure?” Dylan asked. “Before we go too far, we can—”
“We’ve already gone too far.” Every time she shut her eyes, she saw the plane exploding around her. I’m so sorry, Pierce. She kept thinking about the pilot. Was his family waiting for him to come home? Had they already learned of his death?
Her eyes stung, but Tina blinked quickly, refusing to let any tears fall. She could be strong now. She had to be. Tina lifted her hand and adjusted her glasses. Rachel had brought them to her. She’d even given Tina a backup pair in case these got smashed.
The backup glasses were in her bag. Right next to Tina’s inhaler. I won’t be going anywhere without it.
When the HAVOC group had taken her from the hotel, they sure hadn’t stopped long enough for her to get her medicine. But she would not be that vulnerable with them again.
Can’t be vulnerable. Won’t. “I need a gun.”
The breath expelled from Drew in a hard rush. “You need to think about this. We can get to Devast another way.”
“What way?” She rose from the chair and paced around the room. The familiar weight of her glasses strangely reassured her. “How long has the EOD been trying to get Devast?”
“Years,” was the mutter from Dylan. “We got lucky when Drew was able to infiltrate the grou
p. Their main pilot was caught in an explosion a few months back—one of their own bombs—and they were desperate for another pilot.”
And in stepped Drew.
“You’re not going to get so ‘lucky’ again,” Tina said. “Devast will be even more suspicious of new faces now.” She wasn’t saying anything they didn’t already know. “If we want to take him down, I’m the ticket that you can use. I’m the one who will get up-close access to the man.” She forced a smile even as she wiped her damp palms on her jeans. “So how does this work? He calls Drew again—”
“He already told me when and where to make the exchange.”
She blinked. “Well, then, you just have to tell Mercer. His men will be there, and the trap will be sprung.” A relieved smile spread over her lips. This agent business wasn’t as hard as she’d thought. “He’s caught himself.”
Drew shook his head. Then he walked slowly toward her. He stopped less than a foot away. She could feel the warmth of his body surrounding her. “It’s not that simple, Doc.”
When he said “Doc,” the word dripped and rolled. It sent a shiver over her.
He called her doc the way some men might call their girlfriends sweetheart or baby.
Emotion was breaking through his mask once more, and she sure was glad to see the real Drew. “Then tell me how it’s harder.”
“If he picks the location, if we go by what he says, then we could walk right into a place that Devast has already got wired. He’ll blow it up and kill every agent there.”
“All while he stays back, nice and protected,” Rachel added. She’d taken a seat on the old couch.
Dylan stood close to her. He always seemed to be close to Rachel. “We don’t go by Devast’s rules. We make him come to us.”
“So...what? You’re saying that if we go by his orders, the guy probably wouldn’t even be at the exchange?” She’d just have a bomb waiting for her?
Drew shook his head. “I’m saying we aren’t ready for the meeting yet. I have to guarantee that Devast will be there. To do that, I have to make the trade personal.”