“Thinking putty. It helps me concentrate. Something about the motion and the feel of it between my fingers helps me see patterns and options I wouldn’t normally see. And it helps me when I have to say something…I’m not ready to say.”
“Like…?” I don’t want to know. Or…maybe I do.
Dani levels me with her brown eyes. “I know what happened, Trevor. The truth. You fired the shot that killed my brother.”
“Dani—“
“Don’t ‘Dani’ me.” She gets up and starts to pace, her fingers working the putty nonstop. “Austin told me everything. He didn’t want to. Hell, it took three years and a lot of cursing. Mostly mine.”
I’m so taken aback, I almost laugh. “You cursed out the head of JSOC and got him to spill classified information? He’s had so much SERE training, he’s unbreakable.”
“I cursed out mybrotherand got him to tell me the truth about Gil’s death. Aboutwhyhe died.” Dani’s voice cracks. “I know Gil tortured Austin. I know he almost killed both of you. I know his birth father convinced him to turn against the CIA, against the United States, against everything we’d ever known.”
“Dammit, Austin,” I say under my breath as I stand so we’re on the same level. I don’t want to look her in the eyes, but I have to own my shit. “Gil was my best friend. Second only to Austin.”
And you, once.The thought nearly escapes out loud, but I swallow hard before I continue.
“I think about him every fucking day. I didn’t want it to end the way it did, but it was either kill him or let him end up in a CIA black site.”
Dani stops, her back to my office door. “I know. Look, Trevor…I won’t deny that a part of me hates you for killing him. The part that spent years bouncing from foster home to foster home where the only constant was Gil. But the rest of me…” She squeezes the putty hard enough it makes little popping noises—or maybe that’s her knuckles. “I don’t blame you for his death. I blame Gil. And right now, I’m staring at a story that could make my entire career and…more. But it just happens to be in the most dangerous city in the world. I need your help.”
The vulnerability in her tone only lasts for those four little words, but they play on a loop in my head as I hold her gaze.
I need your help.
This is a mistake. A big fucking mistake. Going back to the place that ended my CIA career with the woman whose brother I killed there? I can’t believe I’m even considering it.
I need your help.
I gesture to the chair as I round my desk. “Give me the details. All of them. My boss is on his honeymoon, and I need to run this by Second Sight’s co-owner. But even if they expressly forbid me from leaving—I’m in. You’re not going to Venezuela alone.”
Dani’s eyes light up, the relief in them impossible to ignore. “Thank God,” she says. “If I had to give up on this now, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”
“So, who are you interviewing?”
Her gaze shifts down to the putty in her hands. “Luis Rojas. He’s a freedom fighter for the Democrática Resistencia. The Farías government locked him up in The Crypt for his ‘crimes’ and the rumors are that he’s being tortured until—”
“If he’s in The Crypt, he’s definitely being tortured.”
“Don’t interrupt,” she says sharply, and I snap my jaw shut. “He’s being tortured until he agrees to recant all of his claims that the government is oppressing its citizens and give up information on the resistance movement, so Farías can put an end to them for good.”
After a beat to make sure she’s done, I arch a brow. “And the Farías regimeagreedto let you interview him? Why?”
“Because I’m very persuasive.” She offers me a challenging gaze, and I shake my head.
Leaning forward, I told my hands on my desk. “Not good enough, Dani. Venezuela is a shit-show. Has been for years. I can protect you from anyone after a quick ransom or a pretty woman to sell into the sex trade. But the entirety of the Farías military complex? We wouldn’t stand a chance. No matter how lethal I am.”
The words are meant to intimidate her. To frighten her so she won’t do anything stupid. Like putting herself in harm’s way for a story no one wants told but her.
If she were anyone other than Dani Monroe, I might have been successful. Instead, she mirrors my position and lowers her voice. “I want this story, Trev. Ineedthis story. I’ve worked fifteen hours a day all week making calls, promising favors, and paying sources to secure this interview. Marcos Farías wants to prove to the world that he’s not a monster, and I’m going to expose him for what he truly is.”
There’s more. Something in Dani’s tone tells me she’s only giving memostof the truth. I should push her. Hell, I should refuse to accompany her completely. Except, she’s desperate. Thatemotion is hidden behind her words and the way she’s stopped playing with that sparkling putty and is now squeezing it in a death grip. Dammit. I’m going to regret this.
“When do we leave?”
Chapter Four
Dani
