Page 119 of Coff

I get in the back with Logan and Axel. Ozzie, Durango, and Brian go in the car with Harding.

“Who is she?” I ask once we are on the road.

Logan squeezes my hand. “I’ll tell you once we’re out of here.”

“Can I use your phone to call Duke?” The sun is rising, and when they wake up and find I’m gone and my cell phone is on the front deck, they’ll worry. Plus, they need to know that Ruiz is aware of where I was staying, so he likely knows Duke is there, too. Although if he wanted Duke, he would have grabbed him.

He hands it to me, and I call, but it goes to voicemail. I leave him a message, explaining what happened as briefly as I can.

The driver takes us across town and pulls into a parking garage, where he parks next to the other SUV. We all get out and follow the woman into an elevator. No one says a word.

The air is thick, and I’m so uncomfortable that I have to stifle a giggle. It’s not an appropriate reaction, but sometimes I laugh when I’m nervous. I manage to control myself for the rest of the way as she leads us to a conference room.

Once the door is closed, Brian turns to Harding. “What the hell is going on, and who the hell are you?”

Durango steps forward. “Easy tiger.”

Harding puts her hand on Durango’s arm. “It’s fine.” She moves her gaze to Brian. “I’m CIA. Agent Harding. Please, everyone, take a seat.”

CIA? What the hell? It’s bad enough the FBI is involved. Why would the CIA be involved, too? We all sit in the chairs surrounding the table.

“Why the hell does the CIA care about anything involving Ruiz?” Brian asks.

The conference door opens, and the man with tattoos who injected me with a needle walks in. Axel stands and draws his gun, but Harding steps in between them.

“He’s with me,” she says.

“He was about to kill us before Axel and Durango showed up,” Ozzie says.

“Agent Walker,” he grins and waves at all of us. “No, I had been tipped off that someone was coming. I had to make it look like that was what I was going to do. That’s why I was slow about it.” The man’s persona has completely changed from when we were in that room. He’s grinning and seems way too excited to be here.

“That’s why you didn’t take our phones,” Logan says.

Walker nods. “I knew it was going to get ugly quick, and I hoped you had someone tracking you who would arrive before Harding.”

“Two CIA agents were going after Ruiz?” Brian asks. Despite the fact he’s clearly angry, he sits in one of the chairs. Based on his heavy breathing, I wonder how badly he’s injured.

“Are you all right?” Logan asks.

Brian leans back. “Yeah, pretty sure I have a broken rib, though.”

“Okay, what’s going on?” Durango asks. “Why are the FBI and CIA going after the same target? Don’t you communicate with each other?”

“Apparently not,” Brian says.

Harding sits at the head of the table. “We do. We were aware of your involvement, Agent Folger.”

Brian glances up. “You were?”

Harding nods. “And what I’m going to tell you will be hard to hear. I’m sorry. Your superior brought us on board because he’s concerned you’ve flipped.”

Brian stands up and throws his hands in the air. “My assignment was to play a dirty agent, not actually be one.”

Harding shakes her head. “No, he says his concerns started years ago. Apparently, your brother, Coff, had a relationship with your target’s daughter, and there was concern that you pushed them together.”

I laugh, and all eyes are on me. “Sorry, it’s just this is all so ridiculous.”

Harding’s brow furrows. “Please explain.”

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