Page 83 of Code Name: Reaper
“Killed in the line of duty.”
“When was this?” I wondered.
“Gosh, after I left active service, but I hadn’t started consulting again. You boys were still in high school, so fifteen years ago? Maybe twenty?”
Amaryllis pressed my mom more about her career while my dad and I packed up the remaining food and cleaned up the dishes.
“How much longer will you be in town?” he asked as he put the last plate in the cupboard.
I leaned against the counter and glanced over at the table. “Amaryllis’ grandparents passed away a few years ago, and she still owns the house. I’m not sure if she wants to go through more of the contents now or on another trip.”
“It appears the two of you were able to sort things out,” my dad commented.
“With a little help from Mom.”
He chuckled. “She’s dying for you or your brother to settle down and get married.”
“Uh, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here. Amaryllis and I…” God, what could I say? Hardly knew each other? Wanted to claw each other’s eyes out when we first met? That she was unlike any woman I’d ever known and I almost threw away my entire career to go rogue and find her when she went missing?
My father saved me from coming up with a response by squeezing my shoulder and chuckling as he returned to the table.
An hour later, we walked them to the door. As I closed it behind them, I felt the same way I did when Vera had left.
“James Bond-type agent code name Minerva, KIA?” I led Amaryllis over to the sofa.
She leaned against me. “To think I spent all those months searching for Mercury, following leads that went nowhere…”
“Nearly getting yourself killed.”
“I’ve learned more in the last twenty-four hours than in all those weeks combined. Who knew all the answers were waiting for me in Newport News?”
“My dad wanted to know how long we’d be here.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I wasn’t sure?—”
Her phone vibrated with an urgent alert.
“What is it?” I asked when she picked it up and studied the screen.
“Mercury’s made contact.”
19
AMARYLLIS
Lausanne. Coordinates to follow. Coalition compromised. Come alone. – Suzanne, the message read.
After seven months of silence, Mercury had finally reached out—using the alias I’d known her by since the day we met. Did she have any idea the ache the deception had caused?
My hand shook as I handed Reaper the phone, and his jaw tightened as he read what was on the screen.
“This has all the hallmarks of a setup,” he said, returning it to me.
Seven months of chasing ghosts across Europe, following leads that evaporated like smoke, wondering if she was breathing or buried somewhere. And now, mere hours after learning my parents’ accident was likely murder and that Mercury had been protecting me all along, she surfaced.
The timing felt too convenient. But I didn’t care.
