Page 34 of Avenging Jessie
Spence
Spence easedthe car off the shoulder, gravel crunching beneath the tires. There had been taillights—two red dots bouncing ahead of them—and then there was nothing.
No turnoff. No brake lights. No sign of the road ending.
Gone. Like vapor. The GPS signal with them.
He let the engine idle. The forest around them was thick, pressing in on all sides, limbs clawing toward the car like skeletal arms in silhouette. His fingers clenched the steering wheel as his brain ran through possibilities.
Jessie leaned forward, scanning the shadowed road ahead. “Where the hell did they go?”
Spence reached for the onboard sensor array and toggled thermal imaging. Nothing but the residual heat from the road. No tire tracks. No heat signature. No vehicle hiding behind the trees.
Ghosted.
Jessie broke the silence. “This doesn’t feel right.”
Spence grunted. “It’s a smart move, but I’ve seen better.”
Her tone sharpened. “No, I mean this feels like a setup.”
He stopped fiddling with the equipment. “You think Hastings knows we were watching?”
She didn’t answer.
“You know him,” Spence pressed. “Better than almost anyone. Could he have spotted our stakeout and led us here to pull us in?”
Jessie sat back in the seat, eyes still on the road like she was watching her own thoughts. “It’s exactly the kind of misdirection Brewer pulled with my faked death, and when he wanted to get to Tessa. Throw up a flare in one direction, strike somewhere else. He must know all about me and Hastings. What if he’s been using him to distract me?”
What he’d feared since the moment the truck disappeared. This was a psychological op. Brewer was gaming them. Yet, it didn’t feel like a trap. Only, like she said, a distraction.
Spence exhaled slowly, reworking his strategy. “Then we don’t get to make any more mistakes.”
Jessie was quiet for a long moment. “You’re right that we need to slow down and work this through. Maybe we should have stayed at the warehouse.” She dug out her phone. “I’ll call Langley and notify… Well, someone. We need to warn them about the impending attack.”
He touched her hand, stopping her. “We don’t know who to trust now, and we don’t want to hand them an invite to the party just yet. If they act and scare off Brewer or Hastings, we lose them both.”
“What about contacting someone in charge of the summit? They can call it off.”
His hand was still on hers. He didn’t move it. “We don’t have any proof, only hearsay. They might not believe it, especially if word has already spread about Flynn’s disappearance. We’re part of a group that most of the world knows nothing about. Our word means zilch right now. But call Tessa. Tell her what we know and what we think. She has contacts in high places who can reach out to those attending the summit and give them a heads-up. What they decide to do with the info is up to them.”
She grasped his hand, squeezing it. “You’re good at this.”
The compliment shot right to his gut. He returned the squeeze. “So are you, Agent Mendoza. I’m glad you’re my partner.”
They locked eyes. In the dim light, he saw her smile. Not a cocky smile, or a confident one. This was one he’d never seen before—a shy smile. She chuckled. It was breathy and sexy as hell. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“For the record, I’ve never said that to anyone.”
A pregnant silence fell. Her eyes dropped to his lips again. She leaned forward. “Well, I’m glad you’re my partner, too, Spence.”
Like a magnet drawn to steel, he found himself moving toward her. His wildest fantasy—not about being on an op with her, but the one about kissing her—flashed through his mind. The moment was here.Right now.
But they were partners on a mission. He was technically her boss. And they were deep in the shit of an op that was likely to blow up in their faces if he didn’t stop mooning over her and get his head on straight.
As if she sensed the myriad of reasons rolling on his internal screen like code, she did the one thing he didn’t expect—she reached up with her other hand, grabbed him by the back of the head, and pulled him toward her.
The distance closed so quickly, he didn’t have time to blink. One second, he was lost in her eyes, the next, her lips were on his.
