Page 29 of Fox in Plain Sight

“Nick! Don’t!”

Shock charged through his bones, paralyzing him for an instant. But then his training kicked in.

“Michelle!” he ground out. He hadn’t expected her, though he should have.

“Oh God, thank you,” she let out, seemingly relieved. “Please, take that gun away. You’re scaring me.”

“Am I?” It could all be a ploy to get him to lower his gun so she could take him out. He moved closer. “Are you armed?”

“Armed? No!”

He used his free hand to frisk her, first her front, then he reached behind her to check if she’d tucked a gun into the back of her jeans. She hadn’t.

“What are you doing?” Panic laced her voice. “Nick, tell me what’s going on!”

“I was gonna ask you the same question.” He moved closer now, close enough so he could make out her facial features.

Yeah, it was definitely Michelle, dressed all in black like a ninja, her dark blond hair hidden under a scarf she’d tied at her nape. At least she hadn’t blackened her cheeks with shoe polish.

“I was just, uh, you know, going for a walk,” she mumbled.

He pressed her harder against the tree trunk. “Try again, honey!”

She pulled her shoulders down, puffing up her chest. “I swear! I was just minding my own business, and then I heard something, so I figured, I’d hide. You know, there are muggers in the park at night.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, right. Then why the fuck would you take a walk in a dark park at night when it’s so dangerous, huh? Care to explain that?”

“Well, then what are you doing here? Spying on me?”

“Don’t try to turn the tables on me. We both know what’s going on here. You set me up to come to the park.”

“To do what?” she spat, defiance spewing from those lips he’d devoured the night before.

“To kill me,” he ground out, shoving his face practically into hers. Her blue eyes sparkled now, picking up light from somewhere in the vicinity as she glared at him.

Michelle gnashed her teeth. “With what, you idiot? Maybe with the gun you’re still pointing at my head?”

He had to give her that: she wasn’t caving easily, more proof that she was smart and out to trick him.

“Now get off me!” She tried to push him, but he was heavier and stronger, and had no intention of relinquishing his superior position just because she was a woman.

“Not until you tell me what you’re doing here. Were you the one setting up the meet?”

“What meet?”

The way her eyes shifted at her words, he knew she was covering, buying herself some time to get out of her predicament.

“You know what meet.” He looked her up and down. “Of course it was you, wasn’t it? Who else would know how to navigate the Deep Web but a former member of Anonymous?”

Her chin dropped and air rushed from her lungs. She tried to catch herself, but it was too late; she’d already given herself away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?” With his free hand, he reached for her necklace and pulled on it, until the pendant emerged from underneath her black long-sleeved T-shirt. “Odd choice for a piece of jewelry, don’t you think?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I can wear what I like.”

“Sure you can. And I can draw whatever conclusions from it that I like. And that, my sweet, is a Guy Fawkes mask, the symbol of Anonymous. Which you were a member of. What happened? The authorities catch you when you were a hacker?”