“Fuck. Really?”
I nod.
“I seem to remember you saying something to me about lack of sleep being dangerous on a mission.” Ford releases me and steps back with a small shake of his head. “Bottom line this for me, Trev. When are you going, how bad is it going to be, and what do you need?”
“Tomorrow morning. How bad? No fucking clue. I never wanted to step foot on Venezuelan soil again. But I don’t have a choice. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Dani.”
Ford stares at me like he knows I’m still holding back. I’m not going just because I owe Dani for what I did to her brother, but because I’d do anything to make up for the hurt I caused her years before that terrible day.
“And what do you need from Second Sight?”
“Nothing. Just back-up should things go sideways. I’ll take a couple of Wren’s toys. Two of the GPS trackers Royce designed, an encrypted tablet. It’s a simple in-and-out with a one-night stay. Recon of the area the first night, then she’ll interview Luis Rojas and take a tour of The Crypt the next day, and we’re back on the plane to the States.”
Ford sinks down into his chair. “Back-up comes standard with the job, Trev. You know that. Just watch your six and be safe. Because when you get back, I think you, me, and Dax need to have a serious talk about keeping secrets from your family.”
Chapter Five
Dani
My kitchen tableis full of checklists and supplies. Bug spray, water purification tablets, and antibiotics for travelers’ sickness. I once spent an entire week in the hospital in Malaysia after accepting tea from a contact and not asking if it had been made with purified water.
One of my little black notebooks has pages and pages of my research on Luis Rojas and his history fighting the Farías government. Marcos Farías took the country in a coup seven years ago, and for a while, the world thought his leadership would bring an end to the Loma Collectivo’s atrocities against the Venezuelan people.
But the world was wrong.
As I set my electric kettle to boil, there’s a knock at my apartment door. Shit. My neighbor wasn’t supposed to come by for another couple of hours. Where did I put that damn spare key?
I throw the door open without even checking the peephole and lose my words. Trevor stands in the hallway dressed in a pair of dark jeans, a light blue t-shirt that stretches over his sculpted muscles, and a gray and black flannel shirt, unbuttoned. A duffel bag hangs off his shoulder.
“What are you doing here?”
He arches a brow. “Is that any way to greet the guy who’s taking you to one of the most dangerous countries in the world?”
Dammit. Get it together, Dani.
Flustered, I press my lips together to stop a very unladylike sound—and a few inventive curses—from tumbling out of my mouth. “Well, excuse me,” I say as I step back so he can come in. “I thought we were going to meet at the airport in the morning.”
“I caught an early flight,” he says. “And since our only plan is ‘don’t let Dani get kidnapped or murdered while she’s interviewing one of the country’s most famous political prisoners,’ I thought we should get on that.”
“Thatisthe only plan.” I huff out a breath and go back to my lists. “I only asked you to go with me because Lincoln wouldn’t approve my travel if I didn’t have a bodyguard.”
“Way to make a guy feel…wanted.” He drops his duffel bag and scans the various pieces of paper on the table. After a minute, he nods. “Not a bad packing list. The rest of what we need we can pick up when we get there.”
I stop with a pack of anti-nausea pills clutched in my hand. “What else do we need?”
“Weapons.”
Staring at him like he’s grown a second head, I wait for him to explain. When he doesn’t, I march over to him and poke him in the chest. “Listen to me, Trevor James Moana, I’ve known you more than twenty years. You can’t just give me one-word answers when we’re heading…where we’re heading.”
His gaze lands on my finger. “Did you just…?”
“Yes.”
“Daniella—“
My heart squeezes, and I back up a step. “No.No. You don’t call me that. Gil was the only one who called me Daniella, and after what you did…”
Trevor curses under his breath, grabs his duffel, and strides for the door. “I’ll see you at 0500 tomorrow.” Pausing with one foot in the hall, he narrows his eyes at me. “The moment we get on that plane,Dani,you do what I say, when I say, and how I say.That’sthe plan. That’s the only way I can keep you safe.”
