He closed his eyes. “August. Not last summer. Summer before.”
“Filed how?” KC already had a laptop open.
“We have a secure channel.”
“File drop?”
Miller nodded. KC typed furiously. She spun the laptop around and showed the screen to Miller. “This is the channel you use?”
“Yes.”
Yardley crossed to put her hand on KC’s shoulder. Her skin was as hot as a brick oven. “KC, you made this file drop channel for Dr. Brown?”
“That I did.” KC had finished typing what looked like credentials into a login box. The display changed, and now Yardley was looking at long lists of encrypted file names. KC kept typing, then stopped and pointed. “Those are Miller’s. Brown’s been blocking them.”
“I told you, I’ve done everything according to protocol,” Agent Miller said smugly.
“If you don’t stop lying, I’m going to unlock your handcuffs andsmackyou and have these two film me so I can share the video with your children.” Julia said this in her poshest accent, with a smile.
KC was clicking through the files, skimming each one quickly, looking for something. When she found it, she spoke directly to Yardley. “No one else but Dr. Brown knows about this supposed black op headquarters in Leesburg.”
Yardley felt the information snap into place as her hands curled into fists. “That’s because Dr. Brownisthe headquarters.”
KC’s self-satisfied smile boosted Yardley’s confidence that they had this op in the bag. “Dr. Brown liked to reward me with little bits of personal information about himself, like treats,” KC said. “He talked about the real estate market a lot. How he was trying to find the perfect place to relocate where he could entice his daughter to move, but her husband was tight-fisted with money. Leesburg came up a few times.”
It was clear Dr. Brown had never imagined KC had thoughts of her own.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Julia said. “Can I just say? Sometimes I get extremely weary that my enemies can’t be arsed. Where’s my Moriarty? I didn’t think espionage would be so much about catching men with their hands plunged into the biscuit tin.”
Yardley and KC both laughed.
“Most of the men I have been around these last years,” Miller said, in an irritatingly defeated voice, “are only looking to find meaning.”
“Well, can’t these men take up woodworking?” Julia asked.“My dad has really gotten into fermenting vegetables. Won a ribbon at his local fair. He was chuffed.”
Yardley watched KC return her attention to the laptop, her hands flying over the keys. “You’ve got this to the team?” Yardley asked KC. “I can grab a comm set.”
“No, we’re good. Atlas just sent through that we’re wheels up from RAF Northolt in ninety minutes.” KC looked at Julia. “Give us a ride?”
“Oh.” Julia put her hand on her chest. “Barely a day, and we’re on ride-to-the-airbase terms. Come here.”
Yardley laughed as KC smiled and stood up, grabbing Julia for a hug. “Thanks for everything.”
Julia looked over KC’s shoulder at Yardley. “This one has you locked down, I take it?”
Yardley smiled. “We’ve finally figured that out. Mostly. It’s a long story. We moved in together, but—”
Julia gasped. “Fuck me, Yards! You didn’t tell me all day that you’re engaged?”
Yardley’s neck went hot as she watched KC’s posture stiffen. “But, I was about to say, we’re not engaged.” Yardley’s voice choked over the final word.
Julia’s brows furrowed. “Youdidtell me, didn’t you, that you would never move in without a ring. That’s right?”
Now KC waslookingat her, arms crossed, eyebrows raised.
Yardley swallowed. “Yes, I did say that, but what I imagined was I would likely be retired. Or at least out of the field. But then there was KC, but I was still in the field, and she gave me a key and her mother’s watch, which was incredibly romantic, so it just happened.” Yardley would die of this blush. “It’s a gold watch. It was her mother’s.”
“Yes, but is it an engagement watch?” Julia’s nose wrinkled. “Maybe a watch is a queer thing, then. Or an inside kind of gift between you? Like you had to be there. But also, you can trade the watch for a ring.”
