“Cole already did that,” Hadley pointed out.“Franklin didn’t seem too worried about it.Mutually assured destruction, he said.”
“So, we have to find something on him that hedoesn’thave on Cole.Something to cancel out that mutually assured destruction.”
Cole was silent and frowning, which Hadley knew meant he was deep in thought, the wheels in his brain spinning.She asked, “What if we can’t find anything?”
Tenley snorted.“He’s a CIA agent who has never moved up in the company.There’splentyof dirt on him out there.We just have to find the right pain point and press on it.Hard.”
“His ego,” Cole murmured.“He can’t stand to feel like he’s been made a fool of.”
Tenley’s smile could only be described as the Grinch about to steal Christmas from Whoville.“I can work with that.I’ll call Ren.Have him do some digging.”
Cole’s jaw tensed up as he shifted his gaze back down to hers.“Is this what you want?To make running plan B?”
Hadley straightened.Part of her wanted to say fuck it,no, she wanted to run away with him.But the petty part of her—and sadly, that petty part of her was freakin’ huge—didn’t want to leave town without screwing Franklin over the way he’d screwed her and Cole over.
Cole nodded stiffly.“I’ll have a talk with Eric, spy to spy.See if he’ll confirm our theories.”
“Yay, blackmail!”Tenley said, giving a happy little fist pump.“My favorite.”
Cole and Hadley wore matching brow furrows as they processedthatlittle bit of crazy.
Chapter30
Cole tried not to let it bother him that his run-away-with-Hadley plan had been replaced with a save-the-Russian-sleeper-agent plan.It shouldn’t bother him.After all, blowing up your life and starting up a new one was daunting, to say the least.
Still…it would’ve been easier.And it would’ve made it impossible for her to walk away from him when all this was over.He felt like a controlling asshole for even thinking of it that way.But here he was, nonetheless.
Time to compartmentalize.Again.
So, he was considering the best way to approach Eric so he didn’t get twitchy about any perceived threats to Stella when he noticed the spy in question dragging his trash can from the house to the curb.
The trash collector wasn’t due for another two days.And judging by the way the man’s eyes stayed locked on Cole and Hadley’s place, he wasn’t just being proactive about his garbage.So, Cole took it as the invitation he was pretty sure it was and started dragging his own trash can down the driveway.
When they were face to face with only a couple of garbage cans and some fairly intense eye contact between them, Cole raised a brow at Eric, waiting for him to say whatever was on his mind.He didn’t have to wait long.
“How long have you known?”he asked, jaw tense.
Cole slid his hands into his pockets and cocked his head to one side.“Known what exactly?”
Eric let out an exasperated breath.“I’m too tired for games.You know who andwhatI am.”
Under normal circumstances, Cole would’ve stuck with his cover and forced the guy to completely spell out what he was hinting at.But these weren’t normal circumstances and if he was being honest, fuck, he was tired, too.“I know you’re like me,” he admitted.
Eric nodded.“And I don’t believe in coincidence any more than you do.So, who sent you?”
Cole took a deep breath.He was about to admit something he’d never said directly toanyone.But his gut was telling him it was time.“I’m retired CIA black ops.I was blackmailed into infiltrating this neighborhood to find a suspected Russian sleeper agent.”
Eric’s jaw flexed.“And your wife?”
“Not a pro.But brought into this the same way I was.”
“And did you find what you were looking for?”Eric asked carefully.
Well, no need to start lying now, he supposed.“We did.”
Eric’s chin hit his chest.“I figured.And since no one has showed up yet to black bag me, can I assume you haven’t given this information to your boss?”
“I have not.”
