Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66515 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
We exit the train, and by the time we head to 88th, I’m in a hat, glasses, and a scarf, and Aaron is wearing a baseball hat and scarf. We approach the pizzeria from the opposite side of the street and take a spot inside a coffee shop to watch the pizzeria. We’re by a window in the corner, waiting for Smith or whoever else might appear. My back is to the door, my gaze on the pizza joint, that is until I feel Aaron’s eyes lift sharply to the door. He grabs my hand. “Don’t turn,” he orders.
Chapter twenty
Ashley
“He’s here?” I question in a low whisper, the smell of coffee and baked goods lifting in the air, while fear settles in my belly. In hindsight, I’m not sure how good of an idea it was to bring Smith to Aaron when Aaron hates him.
“Yes,” Aaron says, “he’s here. I want to watch him for a few minutes.”
“He won’t give you anything to question,” I say. “He’s a good man. I can’t say that enough. Even if he was going to betray you, he wouldn’t make it obvious.”
“There are tells,” Aaron says. “Things I’ll teach you to read. Things you need to know to survive.”
“What is he doing?”
“Looking around. Looking for you.” But Aaron doesn’t look at me. He watches Smith. “Go talk to him,” he finally says. “He’s probably wearing a wire. He’ll lie and say he’s not if you ask him. Assume he is. Always assume the person you’re dealing with is wired. In other words, don’t tell him who I am.”
“Then what do I say?”
“Tell him you want him to meet a friend.”
“But he’ll still be wired. What good will that do?”
“Just do it, baby.”
I inhale and let out my breath before standing up. I turn, and right as I do, Smith steps in front of me. He’s found us and now he’s assessing me and me him. He’s tall, with sandy brown hair and warm brown eyes, just the way I remember him. Today, he’s in a T-shirt and jeans with a leather jacket that I’m sure hides a gun. “Hi, stranger,” I say. “Thanks for coming.”
“Who’s the man?”
“Someone who needs your help. I need your help. I told him we could trust you, which is why I need you to take off the wire I know you’re wearing.”
His eyes narrow. “Tell me you’re not in trouble.”
“I’ve been in trouble. That’s how we met. He’s not my problem. Please, Smith. Pull the wire and show him you did it. Then we’ll tell you everything.”
“Are you afraid for your safety?”
“I’m afraid for both of our safety. That’s why we came to you. Please do this for me.”
He inhales and looks skyward before he yanks out the earpiece he’s wearing. “That’s all I’m wearing. Let’s sit down.”
I nod, and the minute I turn, Aaron is on his feet, taking my hand and pulling me around to his side of the table. He and Smith step to the table, facing each other. “Who are you?” Smith demands, “and why should I trust you?”
“You know who I am, and I stayed away until I got word that they were trying to kill her to get to me. I saved her. And now, I’ve lost the only person outside of her I trusted in the process.”
“Who is they? Who is trying to kill her, if not you?”
“Let’s sit,” Aaron says.
“Yes, please,” I plead. “Let’s sit.”
The two men stare at each other several more beats and then as if they’d agreed when I see no signs that they did so, they sit. Then I sit. “He’s telling the truth,” I say. “He was setup and then his mentor tried to kill me. If Aaron hadn’t come for me—I’d be dead.”
Smith looks at me, eyeing me for several long beats before he looks at Aaron. “What the hell is this?”
“I don’t know. I exposed my real name to Ashley, but that’s not enough to put me on a hit list. All I can think is that this is about a case I was working on before I was setup. I got close to something that hit high levels of the CIA. I needed to be out of the picture.”
“You’re saying the CIA is dirty?”
“Oh, come on,” Aaron says. “Like it’s hard to believe. Our level of dirty is filthy. And you have to know that. I can’t trust anyone. Hell, I don’t want to trust you.”
“Then why are you?”
“I have the money and resources to disappear and live well, but I want more for Ashley. I want to know that we aren’t living as hunted animals. She doesn’t deserve that and that’s why I stayed away. I needed to make this go away before I went after her.”
“And yet, here we are,” Smith says dryly. “And here she is.”