Page 36 of Steel Vengeance
“Still too risky. His guards had you in their sights. If you’d opened fire, they would’ve taken you out before you could get away. Plus, there were too many civilians around. You don’t want collateral damage.”
He gave a small nod, acknowledging her point.
“My way’s better,” she added.
He sank into the chair across from her. “Tell me about this graveyard.”
“It’s in the foothills, west of here. About a thirty-minute drive. I’ve followed him there for the past three Thursdays. Every week, same time.”
“That’s tomorrow,” he said.
Their eyes met again. “Yeah.”
“Thank you,” he said softly, and then did something he’d never done before. He reached out and touched her hand across the table. Her heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t the touchy-feely type. “I mean it. You didn’t have to…”
“No, I didn’t.” She pulled her hand away, feeling too much in that brief touch. If he left it there, she might like it a little too much. “But it’s better than the alternative.”
He tilted his head, studying her. She couldn’t meet his gaze, so she stared at his hand. Big, rough, scarred. Not the hands of a doctor, but a fighter. A tattoo snaked out from under his sleeve, and she couldn’t wondered how far up it went.
“What are you gonna tell your handler?”
She shrugged. “No clue. Maybe nothing. I never hear from him. He doesn’t reply to my emails. Honestly, I’m not even sure if he reads them. I assume he does. Otherwise, why am I here?”
“He never replies?”
“Nope, not a word.”
“What about your boss? Matthew?”
She frowned. “I haven’t heard from him either.”
Stitch raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you want my advice…”
She frowned. “Who says I do?”
He grinned. That rare, fleeting grin that almost made her forget what they were talking about. “Doesn’t matter. I’m giving it to you anyway.” His blue eyes sparkled for a second, and her stomach did a little flip. “Don’t mention this. There’s no benefit to you. Just act like you don’t know anything.”
“You mean don’t tell them I handed Omari to you on a silver platter? That I’m complicit in a murder?”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. That was exactly what she’d be doing.
Just to keephimfrom getting himself killed.
She sighed. No point getting worked up about it now. It was done. She couldn’t take it back. “I wasn’t planning on mentioning it anyway.”
He drummed his fingers on the table. “I know you’re risking your whole assignment for me, and I get how hard that is.”
“It’s not just my assignment,” she said. “It’s the drug deal. Will it even go ahead without Omari?”
“Probably. There’s too much money at stake to cancel it now. Omari’s got people in his organization who can handle it. He’s not a one-man show.”
“So, the CIA can still intercept the shipment?”
“If that’s their plan, yeah.”
She felt a flicker of hope. “Then we need to figure out the details.”
Silence hung between them as his fingers kept tapping. His face gave nothing away, but she saw warmth in his gaze. “Sloane, let’s make a deal.”