He’d just tucked his phone into his pants pocket when it vibrated with another incoming message. Pulling it out, he was annoyed to see yet another e-mail from Jones’s handler. This one was the angriest yet, the accusation clear.
This is wrong and you know it.
Will almost snorted. Did she seriously think he was afraid of her, or that anyone would believe her if she tried something so stupid as to accuse him of hanging Jones out to dry? He had solid proof about Jones’s actions and the handler had nothing. His fingers tightened around the phone as a jolt of anger surged through him. She would never find anything to prove he was linked to all this, least of all directly responsible for setting up this situation with Jones.
No one would ever trace this back to him, least of all a female Clandestine Services officer who somehow still didn’t understand shit about the way things really worked in the intelligence world. Maybe what he’d done over the past fourteen months was on the wrong side of the law, technically speaking, and about to get uglier, but it was all in the interest of the greater good. The funds from his side ops would allow him to take charge and turn the country around. No one was going to get in his way now.
Will didn’t reply to the message. He deleted it and used a custom-made encryption program in his phone to make it disappear forever, then blocked both her e-mail and phone accounts. He wasn’t too worried about her.
She wouldn’t be a concern much longer anyway.
Slipping his wallet and room key into his other pants pocket, Will whistled the first few bars of his favorite tune as he walked to the door, excitement bubbling in his veins. He’d been looking forward to this for so long and was finally about to live his dream, free and clear of all the sins of his past.
Chapter Six
Twenty minutes into the drive, Briar was kicking herself for not getting more sleep last night. The rhythmic motion of the tires on the snowy road and the steady swish of the wipers were already making her drowsy.
Maybe she shouldn’t have insisted she drive, but she was flying her control freak flag high and proud and refused to apologize for it. She was surprised that DeLuca hadn’t argued though. Most men in his position would have flat out refused or at least put up a fight before relinquishing their spot in the driver’s seat. Or at least they did in her experience. She had a feeling he was just picking his battles with her.
She tightened her grip on the steering wheel and kept glancing in the side and rearview mirror every so often but as far as she could tell the only vehicles behind them were the two carrying DeLuca’s team. They’d checked all the vehicles for tracking beacons before leaving the motel as a precaution. “I think we’re clear.”
“Yep.” Seated beside her in the passenger seat, DeLuca reached up and tapped his earpiece. The gold wedding band on his left hand caught the dashboard lights. She had to admit she was curious about that. She knew he’d lost his wife four years ago and nothing in his file had said anything about him remarrying, so the ring must be from his first marriage. If he still wore it, he must have loved his wife very much. Maybe he still did.
“Okay, Tuck, I think we’re good. You guys can turn back any time now. I’ll call you when I get to Quantico, probably in a few days.” After ending communication with his team he took the earpiece out and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
Briar watched in the mirrors as the tailing vehicles turned off at the next junction. She couldn’t see any headlights behind them.
They were on their own and totally dark, as ordered.
Breathing a little easier now that they didn’t have an entourage to announce her presence, she shifted her grip on the wheel and settled back against the seat. It felt strange to be making this trip with DeLuca, knowing they’d be staying alone at the house together. The pre-dawn sky was still dark and heavy with clouds unleashing the predicted flurries but the eastern horizon behind them was getting brighter by the minute. No matter how good she was, she didn’t like moving out in the open in broad daylight in an area she’d just operated in. It made her feel too exposed.
“Roads aren’t too bad,” DeLuca commented, holding his coffee cup in one hand. She’d finished hers half an hour ago and the jolt of caffeine was already waning. “At this pace we should be there within a couple hours.”
“Yeah,” she answered, mostly to avoid being rude, but also hoping the one word response was a clear indicator that she wasn’t interested in having a conversation. Problem was, she couldn’t shut off her awareness of him and it irritated her.
Considering the kinds of jobs she usually performed, a few hours’ drive with him should be easy, but it wasn’t. They had at least two more hours alone in the vehicle together with nothing but the radio to break the subtle tension simmering between them. Briar found his calm, decisive and confident manner hot as hell. Knowing he was a good guy on top of all that and adding in his looks, just being in the same room with him pinged her internal radar.