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"Did it work?"
She thought about it, really thought about it. Not a quick deflection, but genuine consideration.
"It did. It really did... For a while."
Something in her voice suggested it hadn't ended well. But she wasn't offering more, and I wasn't going to push. Twenty years in intelligence taught you when to wait for information to come to you.
We finished eating in comfortable silence. I gathered the empty containers and tossed them in the trash, aware of her eyes following my movements.
"Did Angelica send you to get a phone?" I asked.
"And to make sure you ate." She gestured at the empty containers. "Mission accomplished on the first count."
I almost smiled. Angelica had been managing the Drakos men since she was three years old. Some things never changed.
"Let me get that phone set up for you, then mission number two will be accomplished."
I led her to the small office where I'd prepped the burner phone. Simple setup, clean number, no traceable connection to her real identity. Standard operational security for someone in her situation.
When I handed her the phone, our fingers brushed. The contact lasted half a second, but electricity shot through my hand. I pulled back fast. Too fast.
She noticed. Those blue eyes tracked the movement, saw more than I wanted her to see.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
"I’ve logged mine and Jase’s numbers into the phone. Call Angelica first. Let her know you're safe. She'll worry all night otherwise."
Katherine made the call while I pretended to organize papers on the desk. I wasn't eavesdropping, exactly. More like maintaining situational awareness.
She reassured Angelica she was fine, promised not to disappear again, then hung up.
"All set?" I asked.
"Yeah. Angelica says I should stay here and let you do your thing."
"My thing?"
"Her words, not mine."
This time I did smile, just slightly. “She likes it when you’re protected. She likes to think she’s subtle."
"She’s not."
"None of them are."
We stood there in the small office. Too close for comfort, not close enough for what some part of me wanted. I shoved that thought down hard.
"You want to see what I'm working on?" The words came out before I could stop them.
Katherine's expression shifted. Interest, genuine interest, not polite engagement.
"Yeah."
We moved back to the conference room. She stood beside me, close enough that I could smell her shampoo. Something citrusy, expensive. But it wasn't the scent that distracted me. It was the way she leaned forward, actually trying to understand the screens.
"This is the malware from your laptop." I pointed to the relevant display. "Custom built, not off the shelf. Whoever made this knew what they were doing."
"Can you trace it?"
