Page 70 of Spy With Me
Devi’s hand found his. “Your mom is here?”
“No, she’s in South America, but she’s coming here,” Lucyexplained. “That’s what I was working on this afternoon. My mom made contactwith her. She’s been living with an underground group in Argentina. They callthemselves climate warriors. They do things like make it hard and costly forcompanies to log in certain places, and I don’t like to think about whatthey’ve done to convince certain governments to change their policies. Prettysure they know how to blackmail a politician.”
“Your mom is involved?” How far was the Agency taking thiswhole familial thing?
“Yes, but not the way you would think. Some of theseunderground groups are focused on the environment. They’re activists. Some,over time, turn to more criminal pursuits, and that’s when my mom starts askingquestions,” Lucy explained. “She’s got a lot of pull in that community. A fewyears ago, one of my parents’ friends had a daughter who got involved in a badgroup. My mom pushed my dad to help her find the kid and he talked to Big Tag,and we’ve been working with the CIA ever since.”
Kala put a hand to her heart as though it was strained. “Myown father betrayed me.”
Lucy ignored her. “My dad said he thought someone was intown. He worried it was the Agency looking for Zach. He was going to do areview of all the CCTVs coming in and out of the village.”
Devi moved in front of him. “My uncle won’t let them takeZach.”
They all looked at her like she was naïve. Damn, if he’dknown how one session would change Devi’s mind, he would have convinced her toplay with him that first night. It felt good to have her on his side.
It was dangerous for her. If the Canadians were here, therewas a chance they would want to get on the Agency’s good side, and an excellentway of doing that was turning him in.
“Your uncle will do what’s best for the op,” Lucy replied,though not unkindly. “I mean I don’t think he’ll leave Zach there to rot, butif it comes to it and we have to choose saving the world and saving Zach Reedin the short term, his ass is sitting in a prison for a while.”
“I’m going to turn myself in when this is all over,” Zachsaid. “That was always the plan. I made a deal with Kala.”
Devi turned, and she was staring at him like she’d neverseen him before. “Turn yourself in?”
Oh, he fucked up again. He reached for her hands. “Yes. I’vedone some things I need to make right, and turning myself in is what I have todo.”
Kala’s eyes rolled. “Like I’m going to keep you to that, butwe do have to deal with the Canadians, and that means I have a role to play.”She looked to Lucy. “Are you going to fuck me over?”
“I’ll fuck you up, but I won’t fuck you over,” Lucyadmitted. “Are you going to pretend to be your better half and make Parkerthink you’re not all weakhearted girl for Coop? I take it he wasn’t invited tothe wedding.”
“You can’t turn yourself in,” Devi said quietly.
He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, notquite sure what to say.
“No, he wasn’t, and how the hell do you know all that?” Kalaasked. “Not the wedding. The whole Kenz and Parker thing. We’ve kept that outof the reports.”
“Oh, I know how she knows.” Lou slipped the water bottleback into her pack. “Big Tag feels the need to gossip. Henry is the only one inhis life besides Aunt Charlotte who has the clearance to actually hear hisstories, so he talks to Henry.”
Lucy nodded. “Dad gets sad and lonely when Mom’s not around,so he gets chatty with me. I looked Parker up. He’s hot. Way to go, Kenz.”
“He’s a douchebag,” Kala complained.
“You think everyone is a douchebag,” Lucy countered.
“Are they going to take me home?” Devi asked.
It would be for the best, and he was a selfish bastard tonot turn her over right this second. Instead, he breathed in her scent. “Notunless you want to go.”
“I think I’d like to stay a while if only to make sure youdon’t do something dumb.”
And to explore this thing between them. Thing. What a stupidword. This miracle that seemed to be going on between them. He called it thatbecause he never expected to feel this way.
TJ strode back in, a big piece of beef jerky in hand. And acouple of kittens clinging to his pants. He wasn’t sure TJ even knew they werethere. “Thanks, Zach. I was dying. So what’s happening? Are we bunking downhere?”
Lucy’s eyes had gone almost comically wide. “Is that meatyou’re eating in my home, TJ Taggart?”
TJ shoved it down his throat so fast. He was still trying tochew when he shook his head. “Nope. All plant based. Yup.”
The kittens were climbing TJ like a tree.
