Page 60 of Iron Willed Warrior

My original plan had been to rely on deception to get close to Westwick and then sneak away, leaving him none the wiser that his devices had been compromised. But after whathad happened with Ryker last night? This was a very good idea.

“Nice work.” I turned to face him. “Have you had your cigarette for the day?”

His gaze turned heated, and he sauntered closer. “I wanted to save it for later. Thought I might have a better occasion to enjoy a smoke.”

“Is that so?”

“Not making any assumptions.”

I smiled. “Of course not.” Later sounded good. Something to look forward to. Our main focus had to be on the mission. Neither of us could forget that. But in between, a little relaxation and pleasure wouldn’t hurt. All part of our cover story.

Cole dropped his mouth to mine, sucking gently on my lower lip, before stepping back again. “I learned a few more things. Another bodyguard arrived early this morning. Randall O’Hanlon.”

O’Hanlon had been on our list of Ryker’s security personnel. Another ex-cop. We’d seen his photo among those provided by the task force. I remembered bright red hair, a long nose, a hard scowl.

Cole opened his mouth to say something else. But then we heard loud voices below. Including a familiar one.Westwick. He was down in the parking lot.

Cole’s eyes flew to mine. He signaled in the direction of the voices. We both crossed the distance in a crouch and hid behind the short wall bordering the roof.

“—a pleasure to see you again,” Westwick was saying below. “Are you sure you don’t want to join me for breakfast? It must’ve been a long drive.”

I peeked over the side. Westwick was there, his ash-blond hair slicked back as it had been yesterday. This time he wore a pair of tailored pants and a sport coat, like he’d just stepped out of a country club. The man with him was around thesame age as Westwick, but even more movie-star handsome. His broad shoulders filled out a red golf polo, and his leather loafers looked expensive. I felt a jolt of recognition, though I couldn’t say for sure where I had seen this man before. Not in person. On TV, maybe?

Slowly, I took my phone from my pocket and lifted it to snap a few photos.

The man clapped Westwick on the shoulder in a friendly but commanding way, like the two were vying for the alpha position while remaining collegial on the surface. “I’d rather see the facility before anything else.”

“Of course. Let’s do it.”

The two men walked toward an SUV with tinted windows. Ryker was already there, holding open the back door, and Westwick and his friend got in. Ryker slid into the driver’s seat, and I spotted Manning in the passenger side.

The SUV reversed. Cole and I ducked down, staying there until we heard the noise of the engine receding. “Last night, when Westwick was on the phone, he said something about an arrival this morning. Did you recognize his friend?”

Cole shook his head. “Never seen the guy before. Have you?”

“I don’t know. I thought so, but I’m not sure from when or where. I got some photos. I’ll send them to River. See if he can identify the man.”

Cole got up, then stretched out his hand to help me stand. We brushed off our clothes. “Makes me wonder if this is the reason Westwick moved up his schedule,” he said.

“I was thinking the same thing. This meeting was important.” Maybe the seminar at this resort had been an excuse all along. A convenient cover so the trip wouldn’t draw as much attention.

“Too bad I didn’t put a GPS tracker on Westwick’s car,” Cole said. “I’d love to know where they’re headed.”

“Same here, but they’ll be back. We’ll just have to be ready.”

If I could get River’s virus planted, then we wouldn’t need to track him through the desert. We could crack open all his secrets and find out just what the head of Stillwater was hiding.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Cole

Brynnand I took the quicker route on our way back. But we stopped short in front of our guest room door.

A massive bouquet of flowers sat there, all bright and tropical, blooms spilling over the sides.

“What have we here?” I bent to pluck the note from the arrangement and unfolded it to show Brynn. I had a bet who it might be from.

Dear Brianna and Cameron,

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