“Are we going into Russia?” Moose asks.
“No. Belarus. Harding has the location details. She’s the lead on this one, and you two are there to support her.”
Cara Harding is a CIA agent and someone we work with frequently. I like working with her because she’s a no-bullshit kind of person who gets things done.
I rub my temple. “Harding speaks Russian, so what exactly is my role?”
Reed smiles. “Everyone involved will be aware of that because Harding will be the main point of contact. But you two will have time alone with the HVT. We suspect he’s not being truthful with us. Harding will help to ensure no one suspects you understand anything.”
This guy definitely knows something for him to be labeled a high-value target or HVT.
“Even though it should be a straightforward operation, Harding has asked that you have a couple of days to go over all the details of the plan. Which means you head out in the morning.”
Tomorrow? “So soon?” I ask.
Reed clasps his hands together. “Like I said, I think you’ll be fine for this. By the time you get boots on the ground, you will only be a couple of days early from when I had you slated for another assignment.”
“Does this mean I’ll have back-to-back assignments?”
Reed shakes his head. “No, I’m assigning someone else to that one. Now, Harding will message each of you with the details of where to meet her tomorrow.”
As I head back to my office, I should be happy to be back at work. This is what I’ve been wanting these past few months as I’ve been recuperating. But all I can think about is that I have to cancel my date with Willow. A date I’ve been waiting even longer for. Hopefully, she’ll understand. And if she doesn’t, it’s better that I learn that now. Because this will likely happen again—canceled plans due to my job.
Piper walks past my office door, then backs up and steps in.
“What happened? Your smile is gone? Did Reed give you bad news?”
I lean back in my chair. “I head out on an assignment tomorrow. Which means I need to postpone my date with Willow.”
Piper sits on the edge of my desk. “She’ll understand.”
“I hope so.”
“I’ll talk to her and tell her how it is with you guys and your assignments.”
My cousin wants me with Willow as much as I do, which surprises me sometimes because they didn’t get along when they first met. “Thank you. I really appreciate that.”
“What?” she asks. “You’re staring at me and frowning. Is there something else?” Piper has become really good at reading me.
I chuckle. “There is. When Willow first came around, you two didn’t get along.”
They really didn’t, not until Piper got fed up when we were all out to lunch, and she asked Willow to go to the bathroom with her. I’m not sure what happened in there, but they’ve been close ever since.
“That’s true. She was rude to me until I called her on it. But once I found out why and she realized what she was doing, we’ve been fine since.” She stands up and takes a step to the door.
“Piper.”
She turns back.
“Why was she rude to you?”
She crosses her arms. “She told me that she told you everything, so I guess it’s all right for me to share.” Piper sits in a chair across from my desk. “That woman that Tyler brought home, Sasha, she told you about her?”
I nod.
“Did she tell you that Sasha was barely out of high school?”
“What?” I go over everything she told me. “No, she never mentioned that.”
