Page 58 of Code Name: Reaper
A sob tore from my throat. Not for him. Foreverything. I tossed my phone on the counter and wrapped my arms around my waist, wishing I was alone, wishing Kingston wasn’t watching me lose my shit. Wishing he’d ignore me saying I needed space and wrap me in his arms.
The last wish, I got.
Not only did he put his arms around me, but he lifted me in them and carried me over to the sofa, then sat, holding me on his lap.
“I’m sorry.” He kissed my temple as his hands ran up and down my back, soothing me.
“I can’t keep doing this. Why am I doing this?” I buried my face in his shoulder.
“Because you care too much to let people like Vasiliev and Briggs and maybe even Aldrich win.”
“It happens every time. I think maybe I’ll finally get the lead that will tell me where she is. And then, moments later, it’s gone.”
“We aren’t giving up, Charity. We’re going to find her.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want me to. Maybe that’s why she lied for so long. She never…” I couldn’t finish, couldn’t say the words that would feel like the last nail in the coffin of one of the most important relationships of my life.
I heard my phone ring again, but I didn’t care. Whoever it was, whatever it was about, no longer mattered.
14
REAPER
Ihated to let go of Amaryllis, but when our phones vibrated for the second time, I knew I had to check mine. I shifted, reached into my pocket, and pulled it out.
Briggs meeting confirmed by Pentagon source. Fifteen hundred.Following were location coordinates.
From where we were in downtown Newport News, it would take three hours to get to Old Alexandria, which was where we were scheduled to meet. And that meant we needed to leave now.
“What is it?” Amaryllis asked.
“Briggs meeting confirmed.”
She shifted, sat up, and wiped away her tears. “Sorry, I don’t usually fall apart so dramatically.”
When she half smiled, I did too. “I’d call it spectacularly.”
“Ha, ha. So, when and where?”
I held out my phone so she could see the address.
She rested against the sofa, shut her eyes, and groaned. I’d offer to handle it alone, only to save her from making the trek, but one, she needed to be there. And two, I doubted it would come across in the way I intended it to.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.
“Yes, you do.”
She opened one eye. “I thought we agreed to give up.”
I chuckled. “As if you really could.”
“I’m pathetic.”
“You’re tenacious.” I stroked her cheek with my index finger. “And beautiful.”
“Don’t patronize me. I got no sleep last night—your fault, by the way—and I’ve just had an ugly-cry fest.”
“Still beautiful.”
