Page 91 of Agent's Integrity

Sosa was quiet for a long moment, my words seeming to have hit home with him. “She’s got integrity.”

“Yes. I have a lot of respect for her.”

“So, it’s more than her beauty.”

I gave him a derisive look. “I’m not that shallow anymore. I may not have known her for long, but I care about her. A lot. I suggest you get used to the fact that she isn’t going anywhere.”

“Okay.” Sosa was quiet, but he sounded sincere. I relaxed a little. He shook his head at me. “I support you, Ethan. No matter what. If she’s who you want, then I hope things work out.”

Having him say that took some of the weight off my chest. Even if I hadn’t admitted it to myself, I had been worried my feelings for Julia would cause a huge rift between my brothers and me, and I wasn’t sure I could stand that.

Before I could say anything, the panel on the wall beeped, and Emerson’s voice came through the speaker. “Goliath?”

Sosa answered. “Yes. And Ethan and Asher.”

“Ah, good. Steel got a time and place set up for tomorrow. Two in the afternoon.”

“Excellent.” Sosa smiled. “That’s good news. Thank you.”

“Have a good night.”

The communication cut, and I tried to relax. “I can’t wait until this is over.”

“Remind you of the old days?”

“Yeah. It reminds me of all the things I wanted to leave behind.”

Sosa gave me an understanding look. “Some things we could all do without. But I have a feeling tomorrow will end well for us.”

I hope you’re right.

“We could use a break.” I decided that thinking about tomorrow wasn’t going to help us. “So, tell me, what else has been happening back on Fairfax?”

Sosa grinned slyly. “Oh, there’s a ton to catch you up on.”

I settled back with a smile, happy to be around people I loved, and ready to hear all the gossip from back home. Sosa would talk my ear off all night, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Julia

I hung my borrowed laser on my belt and then double-checked that my knives were in my boot and the small of my back. There was nothing worse than going into a battle unprepared. I had given Ethan’s weapons back to him, and Emerson had been nice enough to loan some new ones to me.

“The area is fairly secluded.” Emerson had a satellite image of the meeting point up on the screen. He sat in his captain’s chair, studying it intensely. “That bodes well for us.”

I peered at the shell of a building. It looked like it was once a warehouse of some kind, but now it was just walls barely standing upright and covered in spray paint. The windows were broken and there was a huge chunk missing from the roof as well.

“Is it even safe to set foot inside?” I pointed to one of the walls, which looked like it was bowing. “That doesn’t look good.”

Emerson shrugged. “Steel and some of the crew have been staking it out since last night. Steel did a walk through. Says it looks bad, but the structure is still intact. There’s a whole section of offices along the west side, and that’s what’s keeping the building up. Just don’t lean on the opposite wall and you’ll be fine.”

Ethan snorted. “How encouraging.”

“The building isn’t what I’m worried about.” He pointed to the area around the building. “There isn’t much in the way of cover. There are some trees over here,” he gestured to the east part of the screen, “and some abandoned machinery opposite, but that’s not a lot of cover for us. We’ll have to leave the ship far enough away not to be noticed, and we need to get in position before our thief shows up. If he comes by air, we are more likely to be spotted.”

“Maybe he’ll come by ground.” I shrugged, knowing the chances of that were slim.

Gabby was sitting at her station, and she glanced over her shoulder. “It’s not like we’re expecting an army, right? These are just a few guys who pulled one over on their boss. I doubt they’ll have a spacecraft. Probably a hover vehicle of some kind. Big enough to transport the guns, but not spaceship big.”

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