Page 113 of Hidden

He kissed her gently. “I should go rinse off. Meet you in the living room?”

She nodded and stared after him as he turned and walked out. He hadn’t said he loved her too. Telling herself she was reading too much into it, she made a few notes on her phone then went to the living room. Peter was already back and dressed in jeans and a button up. He pulled her into his arms when she stepped into the room and turned her so her back was against his chest and his chin rested on her head.

“Which one of you oafs are taking me to work?”

Gage stared in mock offense. “Oafs? Did she just call us oafs? After all we’re doing to keep her skinny ass alive?”

Peter chuckled, the vibrations of his laugher rippling through her. She tilted her head back to look up at him. “I mean it in the best possible way, Sir.”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m sure you do, baby. Did you work something out with Gina?”

Carrie nodded.

“Then Gage can take you to work. I have no desire to see that cu… woman.”

Ouch, Carrie thought.

“I’m supposed to have lunch with her. Does Gage need to come in with me?”

The cowboy looked at Peter who contemplated the question. “That’s up to you, Gage.”

“I’ll pick a place for the two of you and come in and sit alone, just to keep an eye on things,” he decided.

Carrie turned in Peter’s arms and kissed him deeply. “I should get going soon.”

He cupped her face and kissed her again. “Have a good day, baby. I’m not going in to work today so let me know if you need me.”

She as growing to need him more than he knew.

She picked up her bag and followed Gage to the door.

“Hey, Carrie.” Peter’s voice stopped her at the threshold and she turned to look at him.

“I love you.”

At a little after noon, Carrie climbed into a private car with Gina Whitman and headed to the restaurant Gage had picked out. They waited until they were seated to talk shop.

“What the hell are you digging into Carrie? I put some feelers out to see if my source was willing to chat with me. Boy did I ever get a ton out of them. Get this,” Gina said as she slid into the booth and picked up a menu. “The NSA might be doing some intelligence gathering on another intelligence agency. Specifically, a certain director who keeps narrowly escaping bombs.”

Carrie did her best to keep her expression neutral as she waited for Gina to finish. But she felt the rush of adrenaline that came from knowing you were on the right track.

“Turns out though, the main operative gathering the intel has gone dark. He’s missed his last two check ins with his handler.”

That would be Ripley, or Boomer. The name thing still confused her. What Gina said was matching what Gage had told them this morning though.”

Carrie leaned across the table. “Do you know what they’re looking for from Upwood?”

Gina looked around and whispered. “Everything is hush hush, but they think he’s funneling parts of his budget illegally to bring some Colombian intelligence officers into the country and fast track citizen ship for them.”

Carrie suspected that wasn’t exactly what was happening, but that could be what Dino Carranza was—a foreign intelligence officer.

“What’s the money being used for, exactly? It doesn’t seem like it would take much to bring someone in and fast track citizenship.”

Gina frowned. “I can’t tell you all my secrets girl. I have to save a little something for myself. You might be my EP, but we both know you’re chasing your own story.” Carrie tried not to show her frustration. It was important to get this information, not only to figure out exactly what Gina knew, but to figure out why Ripley had gone dark and whether or not he was in danger. Sure, Carrie had a pretty good idea what the money was being used for, but she needed to convince Gina to tell her what she knew.

Carrie wasn’t sure exactly how much of her hand to show, but Peter’s admonition that Gina couldn’t be trusted told her to reveal as little as possible.

Gina picked up her water and took a sip. “What do you need me to ask my source? What kind of story is this, and how soon can we run it on the show?”

---