CHAPTER ONE
Rule #1. Never call your new boss in the middle of his sort of second honeymoon. To his credit, his new boss, Jared Westin, picked up at the first ring.
“You realize you’re calling in between baby time. Which means, you’re calling during my time with my wife. This better be good, Walker, or I’m docking your pay.”
Walker heard Sugar in the background, “And he has to do babysitting duties when he gets back. Rookie.”
He shuddered at the thought. He knew he shouldn’t have called. “Umm, Bossman, do scientists wear fuck-me tight white leather to work?”
He eyed his charge from the car. That couldnotbe Nadine Kincaid. The woman turned in his direction and he had a good look. Yup, that was definitely her, in a tight leather get-up burning a hole in his eyeballs, carrying her usual work briefcase.
“Is this a trick question?” Jared asked. “Because I’m not an expert in leather clothes. Sugar is, though....Baby Cakes, he wants to know whether scientists wear fuck-me tight white leather to work.”
Walker sighed. “Don’t give me a hard time, Bossman. Something’s wrong. She’s wearing leather.” He watched her walk past him, in her usual path, but holy hell, that walk. He muttered, “She’s wearing fuck-me high heels too.”
That sashay of a walk was a slow prowl. She bent to pick something up, her leather-encased ass in perfect view. That slow burn in his eyeballs was making a direct heat blast down to lower regions.
“Fuck-me high heels,” his boss repeated. He sounded amused.
“Did we hire you for fashion analysis, Rookie?” Sugar’s voice came through loud and clear now. Either Jared handed her the phone or she snatched it from him. “What do you have against fuck-me leather, anyway? I wear leather.”
He did not want to get into a fight with Sugar Westin, especially about leather outfits. That woman wore it like armor. Rule #2. Never discuss the clothes a woman wears with her. He cleared his throat.
“Nothing, but the target is wearing something she hasn’t worn to work in the last five days I’ve had her under surveillance,” Walker replied. “I called to tell Jared that something’s up.”
He gritted his teeth.Wait for it. Wait for it.
“Jared, our boy here said, while looking at our scientist in fuck-me leather, something’s up.”
He knew they were punishing him for interrupting their little getaway-from-it-all weekend. He knew he shouldn’t have called. But something was up, and this was his first Titan gig where he was given permission to call the shots and he didn’t want to fuck up. Everything was still kind of new and he didn’t want to be like his old self, stepping on everyone’s toes. This was the new Walker, a more kinder and gentler Walker.
His boss must have taken pity on him. “What do you want to do, Walker? It’s your call, remember? You were supposed to just update me,while I’m away with my girls, on the situation this evening unless there’s an emergency. Is this one?”
Walker watched Nadine Kincaid fishing out her phone from her purse to answer a call after looking around.
“I have a feeling, Bossman, that something’s up,” he repeated.
“And?”
“Is your FBI contact sure she’s clean? She’s been acting suspicious.”
“What do you think our DARPA scientist is up to?”
“Usually she walks to the subway station to meet with her ride. Today, she’s just...standing there. So far, from studying her, she’s a very to-the-minute kind of lady, but not today. Besides the...” Walker paused, trying to find another description. “...can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it leather outfit.”
Sugar’s chuckle let him know he’d been right. He was on speaker phone.
“Also,” he continued, “she’s scanning the road and making calls.”
“Maybe she’s talking to her ride. Maybe today, she’s being picked up at a different spot,” Jared suggested.
Those reasons had gone through his mind but something still didn’t add up. He discreetly and quickly looked through his mini binoculars. Suddenly, it dawned on him.
“She isn’t just talking on the phone. She’s arguing with someone. She looks pissed-off. Jared, the FBI might just be asking you to keep an eye on the scientist while they round up particular Russians for an interview, but I’m thinking they forgot a few people. Two men are heading toward the target from opposite directions. Our scientist is totally absorbed in her phone conversation and doesn’t even notice. Gotta go, Bossman. I needed to give you the heads-up to track me because I might not be updating this evening as planned.”
“Will do.”
Walker slipped the phone in his pocket as he weighed his options. Those two thugs were easy to spot to the trained eye. Split second decisions in the field were easier—to shoot or not to shoot, shoot to kill or not, one body or many bodies. But this was not in the field, this was outside DC and those over-the-top options would make a lot of noise here in this neighborhood, as well as in the Red Tape department. Those options became moot when he spotted a black sedan sliding quietly toward the target, and no doubt would be coming to a stop conveniently in front of her.
