Jewell let out a breath. Her brother was a freaking genius. She wouldn’t have thought of that.
Jason sighed. “Anything else?”
“Wasn’t that enough?” Jewell quipped.
“It was,” Jason agreed. “I’m late for my PT.”
“Ah, that’s why you're grumpy.” Jewell slapped her hand over her mouth and stared wide-eyed at the computer screen.
All her brothers laughed. “Go do your exercises, grumpy pants. The Rose is clear.”
“Alpha out.”
“Dom Ops out.”
“Annex Out.”
“Love you, Jace,” Jewell said to her brother when they were the last ones on the line.
“Love you, too, Button. Archangel out.” Jason hung up.
“Well, that’s a hell of a way to wake up,” Zane said and leaned over to kiss her. “Breakfast?”
“I’ve got my juice.”
“That’s not breakfast.” He stood up and walked the short distance to the kitchen. “What’s burning a hole in our pocket today?”
Jewell glanced at the computerized to-do list and rolled her shoulders. “Five thousand and ten items.” She groaned inwardly. That was the scaled-down version of things that needed to be handled.
“And where do we start?” Zane asked as he took a frying pan from the cabinet.
“With the first one.” She nodded. She was overwhelmed a lot lately. Thank God for Zane and Ethan’s help. Zane took each new request from the field and prioritized them, so she didn’t have to worry about what came next. What she wouldn’t give for her entire section to be back. She batted away that sorrow and clicked on the top folder. Time to make as much of a dent as she could.
9
Smith winced and closed his eyes. Riding in a car in London was not a pleasant experience. In his personal opinion, the knee-jerk reaction to being on the wrong side of the road was akin to nails on a chalkboard. He placed the sunglasses Val had purchased and packed for him on even though it wasn’t sunny. They gave him plausible deniability. He closed his eyes when they entered a traffic circle.
Val must have looked over at him because she laughed. “You’ll get used to it. I remember my first time driving in London. I almost hyperventilated, but thankfully, I learned in the villages and progressed to more and more congested roadways. I still make the occasional foible, but nothing that has killed anyone yet.”
“Thank God,” he mumbled, and Val’s laughter again filled the car. “We’re almost out of the worst traffic.”
He opened one eye as she turned … into the wrong lane … and snapped it shut. His head dropped back to the headrest. They hadn’t slept much last night, which was two nights of inadequate sleep for him. He smiled. He’d lose sleep any time if it involved her in his bed.
“What are you smiling about?”
He spoke without opening his eyes. “Remembering last night and the fact that I’m tired, but I can’t say I’m sorry about my current situation.”
“I’m not sorry about it either.” She purred the response. “See, open road. You can look now.”
Smith lifted his head and looked around. “This cottage is a what? A safe house?”
“Exactly. I have them in several major cities. Rent is paid through a shell company not associated with me. I stock them with arms, ammunition, clothes, food, and, most importantly, new identification. Guardian wipes me from transportation facial recs as a matter of routine. When I travel, I let management know, and they input the information to our computer specialists. Since we’re a hidden resource, we’re a priority. Guardian is very careful to wipe out any information about us that they don’t want to be made public.”
“Which is why there was such emphasis on keeping you out of anyone’s focus when we landed.” Smith nodded before he asked, “Are you supposed to be telling me this?” He'd made himself scarce during her call that morning and the subsequent return conversation. It was the longest shower he’d taken in years, but the five showerheads helped him forget his status was still in question with Guardian.
Val glanced over at him. Once again, she’d transformed into a brunette with brown eyes and the lifts in her shoes that made her almost six feet tall. “I thought you’d never ask about what they said on the call.”
He drew back a bit. “I didn’t. I asked if you were authorized to tell me what you have.”