He and Teddy strode out, cleared the back of the property.No one was lurking in the bushes, so they took off toward the SUV parked at the corner. The living room light of the house next door was on, and some of the neighbors were peering through their front windows.
“Faster,” Greystone said.
Keeping their heads down, they ran back to the car. Seconds later, they were driving out of the neighborhood and high-tailing it back to the airport.
“What a cluster,” Greystone bit out.
“We don’t know if we got ID’d,” Teddy said.
“We probably did by a neighbor or a camera,” Greystone said., “I think that’s the least of our problems.”
“Not if they think we killed all those people,” Teddy replied.
Teddy was right, but until they were brought in for questioning, he’d refocus his efforts on the mission. Find Sajid and Muhammad Haqazzii before May thirty-first.
The Day of Destruction loomed like a mountain they could never make it over in time. His internal clock started ticking off the seconds. Every second that passed was a second closer to death. A second closer to failure.
No way am I gonna let that happen. No fuckin’ way.
CAROLINE
At just before eight-thirtyin the morning, Caroline walked into the lobby at Langley, held her ID against the scanner. The light turned green, she set her bags on the conveyer, and made her way through security. On the other side, she collected her things and headed toward the elevator.
While relieved to be back at HQ, managing a group of handlers wasn’t her first choice.
Don’t complain. It’s better than being in Karakistan.
When she’d gotten home from the club, she told Sydney how much fun she was havingbeforeTank showed up and Greystone had bolted. They then spent way too long theorizing what was up with those two, until she crashed on the sofa after three in the morning.
In her cubicle, she logged in, and hurried to the break room. She shoved her lunch into the already crowded fridge, filled her water bottle, said hello to a few coworkers.
Back to blah normal.
As she wove her way to her desk, she thought of Grey, his rock-hard body on hers, the striations of his bulging muscles, the talented way he took care of her. A tremble of excitement skirted through her.
While checking email, she was surprised to find one from her division chief directing her to attend an eleven o’clock meeting with her. Caroline had never been called to her chief’s office before but, rather than overthink it, she headed to the conference room for her weekly meeting with her own team.
An hour later, she was back at her desk, replying to emails. Then, she had another meeting with her immediate boss and his handlers. At two minutes ‘til eleven, she made her way to the chief’s office. The door was closed.
Knock-knock.
“Come in.”
Caroline walked in, pasted on a polite smile. “Ma’am, you wanted to see me.”
“Caroline, sit down.” Chief Maria Konya was a well-respected leader in the Counterterrorism Division. She’d started her career there years earlier, worked her way into this executive position.
“How’ve you been since returning?” Maria asked.
Caroline set her bottle of water on the floor beside her. “Good, thank you. It’s great to be back.”
“How’s the new job going?”
“Fine, ma’am.”
Maria smiled. “It’s not the right fit, I know, but I wanted to put a buffer between your last assignment and your next one.”
Caroline scooted to the edge of the chair. “Next assignment?” Before she could filter herself, she murmured, “Please don’t send me back.”
