Page 114 of Secret Mission

She shifts in the seat beside me again, making me want to grab her up caveman-style and drag her to the back of the plane where a very plush bedroom is ready and waiting.

If only to distract myself from the noise in my head. From all of this. The danger circling her like sharks.

It was just a dream.

Nothing else bad is going to happen. I won’t let it.

“I’ll be safe in the States,” she declares, observing the worry knotting my forehead, twisting my mouth into a grimace. “My father and his men are in Vandemora.”

“You said he’d have guards at his house,” I counter.

A little shrug is her reply. “A few, but not his best men. Don’t you, special forces guys, know how to take down guards? It’s still going to be dangerous.”

Shit.

“We’re not going in there guns blazing, there are laws.”

Justice hops into the conversation. “We have means.”

I glare at him. “Thanks for the help, chucklehead.”

“What?” He grins. “It’s true. I’m an expert at distraction. I’ll take care of the guards while you do your thing.”

Allison’s entire expression brightens. “See, he’s got that part figured out.”

I drag her to me, looping my arm around her neck, holding her to me. “You’re scaring the fuck out of me right now, Doc.”

With a little laugh, she hugs me. “Come on, tough guy. We’ve got this. It won’t be hard. I’ll just show you the files, you can use your little super spy camera and get the photos we need, then we can figure out what my father is really up to. Until we know that, I’m not sure we can stop him.”

“She does have a point. If there’s someone else, Allison won’t be safe until the total threat is understood.”

I consider popping Justice in the mouth for being logical.

The fact that he’s right—what he said about the continuing threat—simmers in my stomach like a flaming stone.

“Do you think he’s working alone on whatever it is?” Justice asks Allison as he taps his pen on the notepad in front of him.

I want to protest when her arms slide off my neck way too soon.

“I don’t know. But his company has never had an interest in this kind of thing before. Unless he’s expanding to something I don’t know about, then he could be partnering with someone.”

Unable to keep my hands off her, I rub my palm across her back as I think over the intel we have on her father. “Your dad’s company is in manufacturing.”

“That’s right, they make propellants and components for propulsion.”

“We knew that much.”

Justice perks up. “Like rockets and things like that?”

“Yes, but other things use propellants. Like airbags for cars for example.”

“Does he have an R and D department?”

She gives me a little grin. “Yes. What company doesn’t?”

When I pull her toward me with a growl, she giggles.

“I’m just teasing you. You’re so grumpy for a guy who?—”

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