Lila looked at Conner for an explanation. “We hired Miko for situations like this. She can look at the crimes and help us work out the motivations.”
“They want me dead.”
“Yes, but if I can look at their actions, I can help you whittle down the list.”
Lila liked doing things on her own. That way she knew they were done the right way and there were no leaks. But, at the moment, she would take all the help she could get before she went back out on her own.
“Then, I guess we should start.”
Twelve
Ian had wanted to rush right out to the safe house, but he knew that would have been a mistake. Emily had texted him and told him that she would pick him up to make it look like he was working on another case. He thought they might be overthinking it, but he would rather be safe than sorry. He knew that his friends would keep Lila safe.
He rolled his shoulders. There was an itch between his shoulder blades. He always got that feeling when something was going to blow up in his face. He knew it wasn’t that. He knew it had everything to do with Lila.
He did trust his friends, but he wanted to be there. The need to stand between Lila and the danger that seemed to be closing in on her.
There was a knock at his door, so he went to answer it. The apartment was where he spent most of his time when he was on Oahu. He had spent a lot of time at the house his sister had bought for their father, but it got a little crowded when his dad’s girlfriend had started staying over more and more. He adored Mari, but he wanted to give them privacy. The penthouse apartment gave him an amazing view of Honolulu, and the bonus was that it was only five minutes from the office.
So, anyone who got up to this level was known to him. Still, he checked the peephole and frowned. Instead of Emily, Vivian Dubois waited. What the fuck was an MI-6 agent doing in Honolulu?
He had trained the younger woman for the Elite Eight. She had only been the second woman who had ever made the team. He hadn’t seen her since he’d left the service, so the idea that she was here in Honolulu made absolutely no bloody sense.
Still, he needed to get rid of her so he could get to Lila’s side once again. Opening the door, he frowned at her.
“Vivian.”
He didn’t invite her in. They had parted on a weird note. She was young, in her mid-twenties, and had apparently developed a crush on him. He hadn’t seen it, but his sister had. That last night, she had made a pass at him. With as much tact as he could muster, he had turned her down. She was attractive, if a bit on the cold side. Ice blue-grey eyes, short blonde hair, with a curvy body, he knew she had her pick of other agents but had requested him to train her.
“Ian.”
They stood there for a beat in uncomfortable silence.
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
Obviously. “About what?”
“Can we do this in your flat?”
Last time he did that, she had thrown herself at him, then gotten upset when he turned her down.
She must have read his thoughts.
“I promise hands off. This is about job prospects.”
That caught his attention, so he stepped back and allowed her to pass. After shutting the door, he turned to face her.
“Did you leave the service?”
She nodded. “You were right when you told me some of those bastards would never accept me.”
She was an excellent shot, almost as good as he was. Vivian had actually been a damned sight better than many of the men who had been on the team. But there were a lot of misogynists in the upper ranks.
“Sorry.”
“I am too. It got to be a pain dealing with that, so I decided to leave.”
