“Mmmm.” Eliza tapped her bottom lip. “Nothing I have will fit you. But you’re about Becky’s height. What are you? A size four?”
Hannah blew Eliza a raspberry. “I love you for that. But these babies”—she patted her hips—“squeeze into a size six, if I’m lucky.”
“I think Becky should have something.”
“Like what?” Fisher blinked. “I’ve never seen the woman out of coveralls and Chuck Taylors.”
“I’m sure she has a dress or two that’ll work.” Eliza winced. “But that means someone has to call and wake her up.” She, Sam, and Fisher touched their noses and burst out simultaneously with, “Not it!”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake.” Samantha dug into her purse. Then she dug some more. When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, she dumped the entire contents onto the table. Loose change, a random M&M, and two mismatched buttons scattered, along with a tube of Chapstick, a wallet, a sunglasses case, various pens and pencils, and a couple colorful notepads. And, of course, a cell phone which she snagged with an, “Aha! There you are! Why are you always hiding from me?”
Waving a hand at the gathered group, she instructed, “You four go get cleaned up. And you?” She turned to her husband. “You get their IDs and badges made.”
“Already on it.” Ozzie nodded. “Just remotely switched on the 3D printer.”
“Wait.” Hannah lifted her hands, palm out, when everyone pushed up from the table. “What about Red Square and the pipeline? I still need to clear my name and—”
“I’ll work on that while you’re in Texas,” Ozzie interrupted. He wasn’t looking at her; he was focused hard on his screen. “Just leave your login information, passwords, security questions, etc.”
Samantha picked a notepad out of the pile on the table and slid it, along with a pen, toward Hannah.
Tearing out a page, Hannah clicked the pen and began writing the required information. She desperately wanted to insist they slow down and fill her in onexactlywhat they had in mind. But since she was the one imposing on their time and resources, she was in no position to make demands.
It went against everything she’d been taught, all the NDAs she’d signed, and her pledge to never misuse her security status, but she folded the piece of paper and slid it across the table toward Ozzie.
He didn’t even glance up from his laptop while slipping the note into the pocket of his jeans.
“Do me a favor and burn that after you’re finished with it,” she told him warily.
When he glanced up from his laptop and saw her troubled expression, his eyes softened. “You can trust me, Hannah. I’m good at what I do. I’ll figure this out for you. In the meantime, you go take care of Texas.”
She shook her head and laughed, but there was no real humor in it. “Go take care of Texas.Just that easy, huh? Son of a cockwaffling shitburger.” She dropped her head into her hands. “How did I end up here?”
Sam wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and donned an accent. “It’s a mess, ain’t it, Hannah?”
Where had she heard that before?
Oh, right.No Country for Old Men,one of her top three favorite Coen brothers’ movies.
She came back with the following quote, “If it ain’t, it’ll do till the mess gets here.”
His smile was soft and warm. The same smile he’d always given her when they’d bantered back and forth with movie quotes. But there was something more there now.
A heat. Ahunger.
They had two hours to prepare themselves for…well, whatever the Black Knights had in mind. But she could tell Sam didn’t believe it’d take him two hours to get ready. Which left them time to finish what they’d started down in that dark, dank tunnel.
“Whoa.” Fisher had moved to stand behind Eliza’s chair, but his eyes pinged from Sam to Hannah. “I guess this means ya won’t be wavin’ this here red flag”—he hooked a thumb toward his chest—“around for a few hours?”
“Oh, for the love of lemons.” Eliza rolled her eyes. “Read the room, Fish!”
“I was!” he exclaimed. “Which is how I found out I officially lost my chance with the lovely lady hacker.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Hannah. “Although if this one”—he pointed to Sam—“fails to satisfy, ya know where to find me.”
“Fish, the next time you’re down in Louisiana, do me a favor and make sure you get a kiss on the neck from an alligator,” Sam snarled.
“What?” Fisher blinked innocently. “I thought I was doin’ everyone a favor by offerin’ up my services to—”
“Close your mouth, Fish,” Eliza cut in, “before I give in to my baser impulses and hit you over the head with a phonebook.”
