Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“It’s high tide right now. Later on we’ll go down and walk on the beach,” she continued.
He stepped out on the balcony and wondered why the world had distorted. His vision…he wiped a hand across his eyes, clearing the tears away.
The sun was just over the horizon and the sky was awash with pinks and reds and oranges, giving way to a stunning blue he’d never seen in his life. In the distance, he could see cliffs. Birds flew overhead and the ocean seemed to wash up under the house as though the whole thing was part of the great and grand water.
“Where are we?”
She stepped up but didn’t walk out with him, as though she understood he needed space. “It’s called Malibu. We’re in California and you, my young scamp, you are going to be a star.”
He didn’t know about that, but as he stared out over the ocean he realized he was the one thing he’d never been before.
He was safe.
Chapter One
Somewhere over America
13 years later
Kayla Summers looked out the private jet’s window at the perfect land below. They were flying over farm country and from here the world looked like an ordered place, parcels of land mapped out in squares and defined by the roads around them. From up here it all made sense.
But she knew damn well if someone dropped her in one of those seemingly perfect squares, she would be lost in the thicket.
Perception. It was all about perception and she would do well to remember that. Up here in the air she was a goddess who knew everything, saw everything. Once she hit the ground, she would be just another ant, trying desperately to not get stepped on.
Or tortured. Or any of the terrible things that could happen to a poor little ant.
“Another glass of champagne, miss?”
Kay turned to the flight attendant who’d been gone for quite a while. “Absolutely! Keep it coming. I never turn down champagne.”
Ezra Fain shifted in the seat across from her. He was acting as her CIA handler for this particular mission. “Are you sure you should be drinking? We land in a couple of hours.”
And he was turning out to be super prissy. She smiled at the flight attendant, who passed her another glass of some truly spectacular champagne. “You know, you are not as fun as I thought you would be.”
Fain frowned. “I’m fun. I’m loads of fun.”
He was not. He was super serious and had been the whole time. She’d given him some reasonable suggestions and he’d turned them all down. “You know all the subs at Sanctum used to call Tennessee Smith Master No. I’m thinking that title gets dropped on you now. That’s all you’ve said to me this whole trip. No, we can’t stop in New York and pick up a few things. No, we don’t have time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. No, you can’t decorate the plane with gummy bears. No, we can’t stop in Idaho and have a long talk with one of my favorite authors.”
His eyes narrowed. “You were going to Misery that poor woman.”
Kay shrugged because she probably was. “Zanetti needs to write faster if she doesn’t want to spend some time with me. My point is you’re very negative.”
Fain sat back in his chair, his handsome lips curling slightly. “And you are way more of a handful than Damon mentioned. I think there’s a reason he nearly cackled with glee when I asked to take you off his hands for a few months.”
“Is that any way to talk about a lady, Fain?” The second of her two CIA contacts joined them. She wasn’t sure where Levi Green had been for the past thirty minutes, but from the flight attendant’s slightly mussed hair and flushed skin, she would bet that Green had been vetting the staff. Well, vetting her vagina at least.
Though there had been that one time in Seoul where that counteragent had managed to stuff a small pistol up there, so maybe she should thank Green for making absolutely certain the flight attendant wasn’t packing.
The only thing she knew for sure was that Green appeared to be having way more fun than Fain. He sank into the chair beside hers, a glass of Scotch in his hand.
“It’s good of you to finally join us.” Yep. Fain sounded like an outraged Victorian spinster.
Green tipped his glass Fain’s way. “You know I love a good briefing. And don’t be hard on our Miss Kay. She’s getting into the role. She’ll be sipping champagne in Malibu in a few hours.”
“If she gets the job,” Fain pointed out. “You’re both acting like this is a done deal and it’s not. She’s got to interview for the part. We’re not in yet.”
“Audition,” Green corrected. “Get the lingo right, buddy. She’s got to audition for the part, but I have every faith in her that she’s going to get that callback. Chill, Ez. We’ve got this one. It’s all cool.”