A faint smile crossed her lips. “Maybe? I’ve never seen the east wing’s subbasement at our estate in Romania. If it glows and hums, I stay away.”
That had to be a joke that time.
Right?
“So, what you’re saying is you’re a little Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Lara Croft all mixed up into one?” No wonder Reed said it’d be better to have her explain this herself.
“Well, they’re fictional characters, unlike me. Rumors and legends of our family may have inspired their stories, though.” She stood and rested her back against the partition wall, crossing one combat boot over the other. Shoes I’d never have pictured my alleged Birkin-bag-buying friend wearing.
“How’d Reed even figure this out?”
“I’ve helped out the government before. I actually helped gather intel to locate Trevor back when he was taken.”
What?
She continued as if she hadn’t just rocked my world with that comment. “So that’s why it was easy to get Secretary Chandler to green-light my coming with you all.”
“Hollis ...” My chest constricted. “Thank you for helping him.”
“Of course.” She lifted one shoulder, then moved on. “My twin brother’s also helped out Falcon Falls Security, whether they realized it was him helping or not.”
“Why’d you tell me you were an only child?”
“Because I didn’t want to lie about who they were and make it even more complex, I guess?”
I suppose that actually makes sense.I tossed the bottle in the trash, the champagne heating my veins and emboldening me a bit more.
“I was used to being offered weapons of war, not banana bread. Then you came along, being all nice and kind. Chatty. Annoying, at first, with the whole innocent thing.” She laughed. “You grew on me; then I didn’t want to give you up.”
“It’s the banana bread, right? It’s damn good.” I couldn’t believe I’d just tossed in a joke after allthat.“What were you doing living in my building in the first place? Looks like you could have bought the whole street instead.”
“I was renting the penthouse to run surveillance on a double-agent politician with ties to a rogue intelligence cabal.” She shrugged. “Anyway.”
Yeah, if that word was ever needed, now would be the time.
“So, this other you I’m just now meeting, tell me more about her. Not about your family, but about you.” I slid my legs around, sneakers to the floor. “Give me a few details so I can merge the twoyou’s I know in my head.”
She lifted her eyes to the ceiling, thinking. “Well, I actually can’t stand that bagged-tea garbage you always offer me, but I drink it anyway. My favorite car that I own is a 1967 Jag I keep in London.” She dropped her chin, finding my eyes. “I was trained by Gurkhas whilein Nepal, and that was a life-changing experience. I’ve never been a shouter, and yet people still seem to listen. And, let’s see, I don’t actually give a shit about designer handbags or sipping cocktails on beaches. I bet you guessed that by now.”
“And relationships?”
“I really do have a thing for bad boys and have commitment issues. Now you might have a better idea of the reason behind that.”
“Still processing, but yeah.” The ping from my phone served like an intermission for her big reveal. “It’s Trevor,” I shared, relieved. “They’re safe at the base.” I clutched the phone to my chest.
Before Hollis could respond, my brother joined us. “Gwen decrypted the flash drive.”
Hollis checked her watch. “In record time. Knew she could do it. She find anything that might help us?”
“Yeah,” Ryder said with a nod. “There were files on the identities of every operative from Stratos, and she also confirmed Mitch and Rhett were definitely part of the unit. Mitch was a pilot. Just not a ‘dead’ one like Rhett. She’s sending us photos of the rest of the operatives now to see if we recognize any of them.”
There went my stomach again, free-falling at that confirmation.
“Meet us out in the cabin,” he said while taking off.
I gently squeezed Hollis’s arm. “I’m still upset, but you’re also still not on my hate list.”
“I’ll take that,” she said with a tentative smile before we went out to find the others.
