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)
“Oh, that’s…he’s… He’s in the locker room. He could be in there for a while. Something he had for dinner didn’t sit well on his stomach.” Jared shook his head as though finally picking the story he was going to stick to. “You do not want to go in there, if you know what I mean.”
Nice. He was going with the old irritable bowel syndrome fake out. “That’s terrible. Maybe I should go get something to help him with that.”
Jared shook his head. “Nah, he’s good. He’ll be out in a bit. Wouldn’t want to miss the ice cream.”
Yeah, Jared needed to rethink his story, but she didn’t have time to needle him. Something was happening and it wasn’t innocent. Luckily for her, she wasn’t as terrible a liar as Jared was. She was quite good. “All right, then. I’ll go put my computer up. I need to call my dad, but that shouldn’t take long. I’ll see you at the party.”
He practically sighed in relief. “Awesome. And don’t worry about Josh. Happens all the time.”
She heard him curse under his breath as she walked into the locker room.
As quickly as she could, she slammed the laptop into her backpack, checking to make sure she had everything she needed. SIG, check. Cell phone, check. Nasty knives, check.
Lucky for her she was already in street clothes, but then it was lucky for Josh, too.
He’d planned this. What was he doing? Why had he brought Jared in on it?
God, if Levi was right she would never live it down. Hell, if Levi was right…she didn’t want to think about a world where Joshua Hunt was involved with drug dealers and aiding a man who took out US operatives as fast as he could.
She took a deep breath and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She was taking a chance. She needed to follow Josh and get back here without him knowing she’d been gone. Fuck. Jared would be waiting for her.
She quickly dialed the one number she could think of that might help.
“This is Ferguson,” a deep voice said.
“Kai, it’s Kayla. I need you to call your brother,” she said quickly.
“Fuck. You know I don’t like to get involved in the business side of this crap, Kay,” he replied. “He just started talking to me again. We keep it light. I don’t want to risk him blowing me off.”
She didn’t have time for his family issues. “A CIA operative’s life is at stake and if your brother is involved in this, he’s going to get in trouble. I need you to distract him so I can figure out what we’re dealing with. Please, Kai. He’ll answer your call. I’m running out of time.”
“I’ll do it. Damn it.” He hung up.
She glanced from behind the curtains. Sure enough, Jared’s phone went off and a smile came over his face. He brushed a finger across the screen.
“Hey, Kai. What’s going on?” he said as he walked back into the men’s locker room.
Jared liked to pace while he talked on the phone. He would also do numerous squats and lunges. No moment wasted for that boy.
Kayla ran out the back, taking advantage of the quiet. She eased out the door. At least she was going with someone who could get her back in. If she could have sent Declan or Shane…
She had to be honest. She wouldn’t have. Josh was hers. Her lover. Her Master. Her target.
Wheels crunched against the pavement as Riley’s Jeep pulled up. “Get in. We need to go.”
She hauled herself up, closing the door behind her. Riley took off, turning out of the private drive. “How far ahead is he?”
“Five minutes, but I know where he’s going. If Levi asks you saw me leaving and jumped in.”
Damn it. “He wanted to cut me out?”
“He pretty much ordered me to, but I think he’s a dick and I take orders from Big Tag. Big Tag thought you might like to come along.”
Thank god for Big Tag. “In that case, yes, I jumped in the back of the Jeep and you couldn’t get rid of me. What the fuck game is Levi playing? And how do you know where Josh is going? Never mind. You have the phone I duped from his. You’re listening to his calls. Is there a reason you haven’t given me an update? And where exactly are we going?”
He turned on PCH. “You know why. I can’t exactly call you. The house is wired so Levi would know I was talking to you. You can’t call me when you’re outside the house because Josh is already suspicious. I was hoping to talk to you before the play tonight but he never gave you a second alone. I’m worried about him. I think he could be dangerous.”
“So you’ve been listening in. How’d you like the phone sex?”