“Shit.” Briar dragged a hand down her face then put her hands on her hips as she stared at Georgia. “You still don’t believe I’m Wardah, do you?”
The woman dragged her gaze up and down Briar once more, her eyes full of distrust. “I remember the name, vaguely remember what she looked like back then.”
Back then? When? Matt added those questions to the mental list he’d compiled, which he’d ask the first chance he was alone with Briar.
Briar shifted slightly, unzipped her jacket then raised the T-shirt he’d given her a few inches with one hand and pulled the waistband of the sweats down to expose her left hip. Matt followed her movements, his eyes settling on the small tattoo on the side of her hip.
Whatever it was, it was enough because Georgia sucked in a breath, her eyes flaring wide before they jerked up to Briar’s face. “Shit, I didn’t know.” She shook her head, horror on her face. “I didn’t know, I swear.” She suddenly looked pale, shaken. “Jesus, I’m so sorry.”
Matt had had about enough of the acting.
Briar let her clothing fall back into place. “You were three years ahead of me. I’ve changed a lot since then and it’s been a long time. I guess I’m not that surprised that you didn’t recognize me in the file.”
Three years ahead of her where? In the military? Matt eyed Briar, waiting for her to look at him and explain, or at least elaborate. She cast him a quick glance out of the corner of her eye but didn’t say anything. He shifted his stance, his patience running thin. He wanted some fucking answers, but not in front of the prisoner. Or old college pal, or whoever the hell Georgia was to Briar.
Georgia still seemed a little shaken by whatever the tat meant as she spoke to Briar. “There will be others coming.”
The ominous tone had Matt cranking his head around to stare at her, his body bristling at the knowing tone. “Did you lead them here? Are they tracking your location?”
“No and no. But they’ll be coming. If I found her, they will too.”
“How did you find her?” he demanded.
She shrugged. “Little detective work.”
He gave her a cold smile to remind her he could stop playing nice whenever he chose. And that could happen soon. “Elaborate.”
“Simple. I knew she’d been taken prisoner—”
“How?”
She slanted him a bland look. “How do you think?”
Through your scope. She’d been watching Briar the entire time. Briar had been damn lucky to get off that mountain alive. “And?”
“With her wounded and the highway shut down I knew she’d need help and wind up stuck in town for the night. I called around to local motels asking about a group of men staying together with one woman. Wasn’t hard.”
Matt’s jaw flexed. He and his team had been guarding Briar, but they’d actually helped lead Georgia right to her despite the precautions they’d taken. “Then what?”
“I followed the trackers on your vehicles.”
There was no fucking way. “We swept them for bugs.”
Her expression turned flat. “Apparently you missed them.”
Shit, so she must have tracked all three vehicles and followed his and Briar’s when the others had turned off the highway. He pulled in a deep breath, tamped down his rising anger. “So can it still transmit?” The SUV was a smoldering pile of metal and plastic right now, but he didn’t know what type of device she’d used or what it was made of.
“With a fire that hot? Please.”
He relaxed a fraction and did another visual sweep over her body. She had a compact build and was a few inches taller than Briar. Briar had patted her down but might have missed something critical. No way to tell if she had another transmitter somewhere unless they strip-searched her.
“Don’t even bother.”
He looked back up to find her giving him a warning glare. Before he could say anything she switched her attention back to Briar, staring at her with an odd kind of approval, as though she was a long lost relative Georgia had just been reunited with. “You need to contact your handler.”
“I was supposed to meet her here. This is her house. She should have arrived hours ago.” Briar drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders. “What are the charges against me?”
“You seriously don’t know?”
“No. So tell me.”
Georgia sat very still. “You’ve been disavowed.”
Christ. Matt looked at Briar, saw her shock and disbelief, the blood drain from her face as the ramifications hit home.
“The Director signed off on it?” she asked, her voice slightly husky.