Page 72 of Near Miss

A disbelieving laugh tumbled from her lips. “What about you? You’re dead, remember? And it won’t be long before the police discover it wasn’t you in the car. They’ll be looking for you.”

“Don’t worry. I know how to blend.”

She eyed him up and down. “Yeah, like no one will notice you.” She turned away, mumbling, “Especially if they have two X chromosomes.”

He couldn’t help the grin. Leaning close, he let himself pretend they had the kind of relationship filled with lighthearted banter. “Do you think women find me attractive?”

She whirled on him with a huff. “At least your ego is still intact. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to use the ladies’ room.” Her lips thinned. “Then I’m leaving.”

Lachlan’s amusement vanished. He gazed warily at the rigid set of her back as she marched away, her heels striking so hard he half expected to find dents in the wood.

Nathan reemerged and poured himself a cup of coffee. “How did she take your telling her to stay here, out of sight, for a while?”

He scowled, telling his friend without words how well the conversation had gone.

Nathan saluted with his mug. “Ah, redheads. They’re something, aren’t they?”

“They’re stubborn and willful.” He shouldered Nathan aside for the glass carafe and a clean cup.

“You’re doomed, amigo.” Nathan’s grin was unrepentant. He slapped Lachlan on the shoulder and strolled back to his office.

Lachlan took a bracing sip of hot liquid and glared down the hall where Sophia had disappeared. A needle of pain stabbed his right eye, making it twitch.

He had a bad feeling Nathan was right.

“Hey, Lach,” Nathan’s voice from the war room carried a note of tension. “Heads up. We’ve got company.”

Lachlan stalked into Nathan’s office. The SEAL’s big hands danced over his computer keyboard. A few keystrokes later, all three monitors displayed live camera feeds from around Nathan’s property.

The center monitor showed the front gate, and the sporty red Lexus convertible parked at the entrance. A blonde in a khaki trench coat stabbed repeatedly at the intercom button as she peered at the camera above her head.

Nathan looked at him. “Any idea who our guest is? She looks vaguely familiar.”

“Yes. Sophia’s friend. Get rid of her.” He didn’t need anyone else knowing he was alive. Not yet. He’d have to convince Sophia to keep the fact that he was still breathing from her friend.

“Ah, the blonde who drove Sophia to work after her run-in with Roshan Haider.” Nathan opened the connection on the intercom. “Yes?” His curt tone carried a distinct lack of welcome.

The blonde seemed undeterred. “Nathan Long? I need to speak to you. It’s urgent.”

“Ma’am, do you see all those ‘No Trespassing’ signs? Whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying.”

“I’m not selling anything, but let me tell you what I know.” Emily inched closer to the intercom and lowered her voice. “Iknowyou contacted Sophia Russo with information about Lachlan Mackay. Iknowshe met you here this morning, and Iknowshe hasn’t been seen or heard from since.”

Nathan unmuted the intercom. “Sorry, but IknowI can’t help you.”

“Oh, this is ridiculous,” Emily sputtered. She folded her arms across her chest and glared into the lens. “Sophia was supposed to contact me”—she made a show of raising her arm to check the elegant watch on her wrist—“an hour ago. Which she hasn’t.” Her light blue gaze swung back to the camera. “I swear to God, if you don’t let me in, I will climb over this gate, march down your driveway, and pound on your door.”

Lachlan bent over so he could whisper in his friend’s ear. “Her name is Emily. She’s a college friend of Sophia’s. See if you can find out anything more about her.”

“Easily done.” Nathan’s fingers danced over the computer keyboard. “Let’s backdoor our way into a few government databases and see what pops up. Running a facial recognition scan—what the fuck?”

Nathan’s exclamation drew Lachlan’s gaze back to the center monitor. Emily was scaling Nathan’s gate. She dropped to the other side and began to march up the driveway.

Nathan frantically disabled his security then stood and grabbed his Sig Sauer. He gestured Lachlan toward one of the monitors. “See if the computer spits out her details. I’ll go welcome our guest.”

Lachlan took Nathan’s seat and scanned the information on the screen.Emily Dane, political officer. Current station, US Embassy, Paris. Daughter of Admiral Porter Dane, former head of US Special Operations Command.

He let the details the facial recognition software provided sink in.Christ.Emily Dane’s father was none other than the former commander of Joint Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. The same bloody commander Lachlan had stood before and tried to explain how he’d been forced to kill the two people he’d been tasked to bring in alive.

---