Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Lou was confused. “He’s Special Forces. I’m Agency. I don’t see a whole lot of difference. He should know better. We don’t work the way other teams do.”
“But he’s a young meathead male. He hasn’t gotten the dumb out of his ass yet,” Big Tag explained.
“Really, brother?” Theo shook his head. “What he’s trying to say is TJ hasn’t learned he has to trust his partner yet. He’s young and untested when it comes to this. Probably because he’s too afraid to risk losing you.”
There was only one problem with that scenario. “I’m not his partner.”
“Aren’t you?” Theo asked. “I know the two of you haven’t gotten physical yet, but you are the constant in his life. You’re all he talks about. He’s never once brought home a woman to meet his family. He comes to holidays and birthdays with you. When he was first deployed, he made me promise to watch out for you.”
“He made us all promise that,” Cooper agreed.
A heaviness hit her, a weariness the adrenaline couldn’t wipe out. He loved her, just not the way she needed.
Were they both stuck? Was she holding him back every bit as much as he was holding her? They’d met and it had felt like her soul found its other half, but something had gone wrong because the attraction TJ needed wasn’t there. Something essential was missing, some spark that would have lit their lives together. It didn’t mean they had to live in this weird limbo forever.
She was taking a step, making dates and plans with people who weren’t TJ Taggart. She’d spent all this time desperately holding onto their friendship, but maybe she needed to step away from that, too. Maybe what they both needed was a clean break.
After one last sacrifice. One last mission.
“And that’s why I think we should come up with another plan. We know where they’re supposed to meet. We go and follow them back,” Cooper offered.
“I’m going.” She wasn’t about to let Captain America protect the women. She didn’t need protecting. “I didn’t join this team to be safe. Uncle Ian, Aunt Charlotte, what’s your assessment of my plan?”
“That your father’s going to snipe me,” Uncle Ian said.
“And that it’s the only way to go.” Aunt Charlotte looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve got some calls in, and my sister is working this from another angle. It’s obvious they want something from TJ, and they think pulling in one of the women in his life will make him give it to them. Chelsea is trying to figure out what he could possibly know. I’ve brought her in as a consultant, so she has clearance. She agrees that they’ve tried to cover his disappearance, which means they want him alive for now. If they don’t know who Lou is, we know we’re not dealing with the top-tier intelligence world.”
“No, we’re dealing with criminals of some kind, and criminals like to kill and torture people,” Zach countered, looking Lou’s way. “I will support you no matter what, but you need to know going in that you could get hurt. I know you’re trained and you’ve backed up field agents before, but this is different. You’re risking a lot for him.”
The sad truth was she would risk everything for him. “I know.”
Zach looked to Ian, his brow rising. Lou wondered if he realized how much like Ian he’d become over the time they’d worked together. “I’m going to recommend Lou’s plan.”
“I back Lou as well,” Tasha said.
“And me,” Kenzie agreed, giving her a thumbs-up.
“I don’t know why we have all this drama. I’m not going to let my best friend die.” Kala sat back like it was no big deal. Just another day at the office. “She’ll be fine because I won’t let it be any other way.”
All eyes went to Cooper. He took a long breath. “Yeah, I’ll back Lou.”
Big Tag looked his wife’s way.
“Lou is ready, and we have several advantages because we know things our opponents don’t know,” Charlotte pointed out. “Lou is smart, and she won’t be in there for one second longer than we need to confirm that TJ is there and how to attack the complex.”
Big Tag clapped his hands together. “All right. The decision is made. Lou is going in. Zach, I want you to figure out who we send in as her kidnapper. We’re going to hope they don’t know this guy personally.”
“They don’t.” They’d caught another break here. “They found him on the Dark Web. I’m pretty sure they picked him because he was located in Austin, and it wouldn’t take him long to get to Dallas. He also said he had access to a private plane and could get the target to Germany in forty-eight hours. They might have a picture of him, but he looks like every other white athletic dude in his twenties. He’s very basic. Blandly attractive.”