Disavowed(34)

The other female’s expression turned shocked, then wary. But she didn’t answer.

Briar tried again. “Georgia, it’s me. Wardah.”

Wardah? Arabic for rose. Was that Briar’s real name?

Georgia seemed to blanch slightly at the announcement. She frowned in apparent confusion and peered harder up at Briar, shaking her head in adamant denial.

“Yes,” Briar insisted.

“No. No fucking way.”

Briar’s hands curled into fists. “Are there others? Here with you?”

The woman glared at Briar. “You know how we operate,” she muttered.

Briar leaned closer and grabbed the woman by the nape, forcing her to hold her gaze. “Who sent you here? How did you find me?”

Georgia darted a distrustful look at Matt before her gaze flicked back to Briar. “You know who.”

Briar’s face tightened. “Why? Tell me why, dammit!” The pain in her voice was real and it set off a jagged twinge in Matt’s chest. She was strong and tough, and seeing her hurting made him want to gather her up in his arms so he could make it better.

Georgia’s lips thinned, her nostrils flaring. “It was a contract job.”

“You’re an independent contractor now?”

She nodded.

“What was the contract? Just me? Or him, too?” Briar gestured to him.

“You.” She glanced his way. “Him if he got in the way.”

Briar shook her once, her expression a mix of fury and determination. “Why?” she demanded.

The woman’s jaw flexed and she was silent a long moment before she finally answered, her willingness to say anything surprising Matt. “Why the hell do you think? You think you could just go rogue and no one would notice?”

Oh, fuuuuuck.

At that Briar’s face went slack with shock. She recovered fast, methodically searched the various pockets on the woman’s utilities and patted her down. “She’s clean.”

Slowly, she climbed off Georgia and pushed to her feet. “Help me get her inside,” she mumbled to him, the haunted look on her face making him want to hold her and somehow fix all this. Unfortunately that was impossible and they didn’t even know who the hell they were dealing with, except his gut said it had to be someone in the CIA behind everything.

Holstering the pistol, he reached down and hauled Georgia to her feet. Briar tied a scarf around Georgia’s eyes to act as a blindfold. He was ready for a fight, expected it, but the woman surprised him again by walking beside him without resistance back toward the house. He didn’t relax his grip and didn’t let his guard down. If she was anything like Briar she’d be able to do significant damage even without a weapon, given the chance.

Snow continued to fall around them like a thick veil, the wind swirling it in every direction. In the carport the SUV was still burning but the flames were dying out now and luckily hadn’t spread to the house. Out in front Briar trudged through the snow and stopped in the carport to grab a fire extinguisher from the wall. She aimed the nozzle at the vehicle and shot retardant into the interior. Within a minute the fire was out.

“Let’s go,” she snapped, then stomped up the back steps and entered the combination on the keypad, putting her palm to the biometric scanner.

Matt escorted Georgia up the stairs into the kitchen, following Briar into the great room. “Sit her down here,” she said, indicating one of the leather couches before the fireplace.

What, she was their guest all of a sudden, because Briar thought she knew her?

Not liking it but sensing Briar must have her reasons for this, Matt forcibly pushed Georgia down on the couch. He stepped back to keep watch, folding his arms across his chest as Briar removed the blindfold and faced her. Georgia blinked and looked around, her expression unreadable. Definitely unafraid, when Matt would have preferred she was the exact opposite.

Briar pulled off her knit cap and ran a hand through her hair. “So when did you get your orders?” Her voice and expression devoid of emotion.

Georgia studied the room more thoroughly, then Matt for a few seconds before answering. “Two days ago. I was given a file on a rogue agent named Rosa Massoud. You.” She turned her eyes on Briar.

An alias she used?

Briar’s face tightened. “My name is Briar now. Who authorized it?”

Those cool blue eyes measured her. “The usual people. I don’t have names. You know how it works.”

“Yeah, and so I know it’s different for contract agents.” Briar exhaled and shook her head slowly in denial, jaw set. “You’re the one who shot me last night?”

A nod, but there was a slight twinge of remorse in the woman’s expression. Matt assumed her acting abilities were every bit as good as the lethal skills she possessed, so it was probably fake.