Page 103 of Every Which Way

She shifted in the seat again, trying not to punch him. “What happened?”

This seemed far more than just a mission. In fact, it almost seemed as if it might be personal to him. Because of Amara? Like maybe they’d had some kind of…moment in the woods. One chance meeting.

When he said nothing, she said, “If I can’t trust you, I’m not working with you. I don’t care how helpful you’ll be.” He’d already burned far too much of her goodwill tonight by leaving Jax behind.

“I’m doing my job. It isn’t about trust. It’s about finishing the mission while there’s time. Waiting around only lessens the chance of success.” Bruce leaned heavier on the gas pedal. “Strike while the iron is hot.”

“Because you know…what?”

He pushed out a heavy breath. “Fine. Maizie ran my old handler against the company, Jax’s dad, Woodford, and all of it.”

“He’s connected.”

Bruce nodded.

“So instead of some altruistic, get the job done, helpmeout, it’s actually about you getting revenge against the guy who burned you.”

“Just a bonus.”

“And my mother?”

“Can I help it?” He wrung the steering wheel in his grasp. “She got to me.”

Kenna gritted her teeth. “Good to know that even though you’re a trained spy, you’re still a man who isn’t immune to a woman’s charms.”

His phone rang once, then stopped.

Bruce lifted it from his jacket pocket, making her remember putting the earpiece in Jax’s coat. While he looked at the screen, his wrists braced on the steering wheel, she ducked her hand in the inside coat pocket and then slid the earpiece in her ear. Hopefully, while he was too distracted to see. “What was that?”

“Address for the meet.” He put the phone away. “It’s far enough away that we’ve got to pick it up. No more delays.”

She eased over to the door. “Who are we meeting and what for?”

“Depends how much you want them back.”

“Can you just explain it?”

Bruce sighed. “I’d rather you didn’t flip out.”

“So, I’m going to think this is a terrible idea? There’s a huge surprise.” She shook her head, trying to figure out where they could possibly be going. “Tell me what we’re doing.”

He knew she wasn’t going to kill him, even if she wanted to. This wasn’t the world of international covert ops where people routinely disappeared—assassinated or kidnapped, then tortured and killed. Not between the two of them, at least.

“You said you want them back.”

She didn’t respond. It was far more complicated with her family than Jax getting his mom and sister back. Their relationship was nothing like that. He’d been raised by loving parents. His sister was amazing, a wife and mom in her own right.

Her mother had played dead for decades.

Her father had lied to her and had another child.

Her sister, cousin, whatever, she was nothing more than a stranger.

“Means you need to trade yourself for them.”

Just like that? An exchange.

“Didn’t you say Amara tried that? It didn’t work.” They wanted her mom and Zeyla, so why would they trade the two of them and lose what they’d finally gained after all these years? “They’re valuable assets. If my mom is to be believed, they’ve been hiding from the company for years. Staying under the radar. There’s no way these people are going to let Amara and Zeyla go.”

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