“Yeah,” Jalen drawled, grinning like a man who absolutely knew it was something.“Totally nothing.You’re vibrating at a frequency only dogs can hear, but sure.Nothing.”
Kayne didn’t trust himself to reply because the commercial finally ended.The gym lights were too bright, and the music was too loud.The world around him was too normal for what had just detonated inside his chest.
“Hey, Serruto, the bosses want to see you,” Dante Costa shouted across the gym.Dante, a fellow Navy SEAL, oversaw agent training and was one of the original COBRA Securities employees.He was up there among the elite on the totem pole.“They want to see you in their offices.Pronto.”
“Oooh, now someone’s in trouble,” Jalen singsonged.
“Yeah, Serruto, what did you do?”Kylie St.Clair wondered as she curled dumbbells.“I need to know so I don’t do it.”Kylie was one of the latest hires, and from what Kayne knew of her, she was a beast.
Normally, Kayne would’ve volleyed back effortlessly, but the commercial had left something unsettled in him, and his pulse hadn’t fully recalibrated.
He swaggered anyway.Survival mechanism.“They probably just want to thank me for existing.”
But even as he strolled to the locker room, his heartbeat was still thumping with an annoying, unfamiliar rhythm.The blonde.Her perfect smile.Those impossibly blue eyes.The way she moved.
He needed to get it together.
He shook it off, showered, and ran his fingers through hair that desperately needed cutting.The face in the mirror stared back at him with steady green eyes and zero indication he’d just been gut-punched by an advertisement.Good.He could work with that.
Once dressed, Kayne jogged to the headquarters building located inside the COBRA Securities complex.By the time he reached the conference room, he was steady, calm, and focused.Ish.
Luke Colton and Logan Bradley waited inside.He greeted them.
“We’ve got a new assignment,” Logan said.“We want you to take the lead.”
Kayne’s heart kicked.His first lead.Hell yes.“Great.I’m ready.”
Luke slid a folder over.“Everything’s in the dossier.We’re not sure there’s a case yet.The client, Leonardo De Luca, is worried about his sister.There have been a couple of incidents that might mean nothing or might not.He refuses to ignore them.”
“Head over there and get eyes on the situation,” Logan told him.“If you agree there’s a threat, we’ll send more agents.”
“Got it.”
“Look it over and let us know if you need anything else,” Luke added.
Kayne picked up the file.“Will do.”
“The drive to St.Louis is a little under four hours,” Logan said.“Load your Escalade with whatever supplies you think you’ll need.”
“Stop by Bebe’s office,” Luke called out as Kayne left.“She’ll have accommodations lined up.”
#
After visiting BeBeHale, the woman who kept COBRA Securities running like a well-oiled machine, Kayne went to his office to read the file.It seemed straightforward, though there wasn’t much to go on.
With assistance from BeBe’s husband, Tank, who was in charge of supplies, he loaded up his SUV with anything he might need before heading to his apartment to pack a bag.
A few hours later, as he drove into St.Louis, his focus was on the dossier and the mission.That lingering spark from the commercial?He’d burned it out by force.
When he spotted the Gateway Arch in the distance, he called Leonardo De Luca and introduced himself.De Luca gave him directions to a fitness club in the suburb of Clayton, west of St.Louis.Along the way, he passed Forest Park, where the St.Louis Zoo was located, rolled into the neighborhood, and then found the place.
Kayne parked and walked up to the building, which was undergoing massive renovations, judging by the scaffolding and the number of work vehicles with a construction company’s name on the sides.
The building itself was sleek and glass-heavy, overlooking a pond and a tree-lined patch behind it.There was no signage yet.
Whining saws and thudding hammers greeted Kayne as he stepped inside.He removed his sunglasses and tucked the earpiece into the collar of his shirt.Sawdust drifted through sunlight like glitter from hell, and a radio played classic rock somewhere in the belly of the building.It looked as if the entire interior was being gutted.
The first room on the right held a sandy-blond man finishing a phone call.Kayne waited until he hung up.
