“Yes.”
“Andyou’re okay with it?”
Herlips purse slightly, the only tell that she gives away. “Iwouldn’t say that exactly.”Bythe way she says it,Iknow that now isn’t the time to talk about it, which is okay by me.Shenods at the door. “Gether home and make sure she’s okay.She’sbeen through a lot today.”
Inod.Experiencingyour first high-speed chase by threat actors is a lot, and there’s nothing more thatIwant right now than to get her home and make sure she’s okay.
CHAPTER31
CONFRONTATIONS AND CONFESSIONS
JACE
Ipull into the big driveway at my mom’s house— the house thatIlived in for the bulk of my childhood— for our weekly family dinner.Basedon the cars, at leastLedger,Miles, andEmersonare already here.Charlielives close enough that she usually walks over.Blakeoften does, too.
Iget out of the car, and asI’mwalking toward the front door,Itoss my keys into the air before catching them and sliding them into my pocket.Whichis weird, becauseI’mnot generally a key tosser.Maybeit’s becauseI’mfeeling such a strange mix of emotions in my gut right now.
Thestrongest emotion is elation becauseMackenzieis safe.Iwasn’t one hundred percent convinced that the threat was gone after we left her debriefing two days ago.Butour entire team has spent the past two days ensuring that it was, in fact, the leader thatIhad spotted at the café, and tracking down every one of his partners and lackeys.So,CryptexEndeavorno longer exists.Thekey is safe, the briefcase with the drive containing the weapon plans is safe, and all the threats related to the attempted selling of theEradicationProjecthave been neutralized.
Whichmeans all loose ends involving anything to do withMackenzieare tied up.Themission is closed, andMackenzieis safe.Anddespite crying during the debriefing, she has seemed remarkably unshaken from the whole ordeal.
Plus,Mackenzienow knows thatI’man intelligence operative.Shemay have been pretty angry thatIhad kept so much from her, but she didn’t run the other way whenItold her the truth.It’sincredible to have that kind of honesty with her.Itmakes me feel lighter thanIhave in years.
Butjust below the elation surface,Iworry that maybeImade the wrong choice in telling her.It’skind of a lot to place on a person.AlthoughMackenzieandIhave spent enough time together and have gotten close enough that it feels like we’ve known each other for months, we haven’t.AndIchose to tell her this soon into our relationship?
Maybetelling her was inevitable, and hadIset its eventuality into motion the momentIstood in theCSAoffices and presented to the director the plan for me to protectMackenzieso that we could figure out who the buyer is.Becauseif my plan was approved andIgot assigned to her,Iwas always going to fall for her, and it was always going to lead us here.Toher knowing about my real job and the real companyIwork for.
Whatwould’ve happened ifIhad followedCharlie’sandLedger’sadvice not to get involved withMackenziethat day at the outdoor mall when she’d accidentally received the brush pass?Whenshe’d accidentally become my asset?
MaybeIwould’ve only been able to heed their advice that day ifIhadn’t first metMackenzieduring her blind date when we’d pretended to know each other.Thenmaybe right nowIwouldn’t feel so conflicted about falling headfirst in love with a woman at a time in my life whenIsworeIwouldn’t get involved with anyone, while simultaneously being so happy thatIam involved withMackenzie.
IfIhad only talked to my asset,Carl, at that restaurant and notMackenzie, then right nowIwould be blissfully unaware of all thatIam missing out on by not knowing her.Although, “blissfully” isn’t the right word, becauseI’venever felt as blissful asI’vebeen sinceImet her.
DidIreally just use the word “blissful” to describe myself?Ishake my head but can’t get the smile off my face asIopen the front door.
WhatIexpect to see is some action in the direction of the kitchen and dining room area with a lot of voices overlapping.MaybeBlake’stwo-year-old daughter,Heidi, racing toward me to give me a hug and then dragging me by the hand toward everyone else.
WhatIactually see is all five of my siblings and my mom sitting in the living room, eyes on me, with less-than-happy expressions on their faces.Ipause for a moment, hand still on the open door, asIassess the situation.
ThenIslowly close the door and stand with my shoulders squared, my feet apart, ready for whatever they throw at me. “Itake it this is an intervention?”
Myoldest brother,Blake, crosses his arms and stares me down likeI’meleven and he’s thirteen and we each are one hundred percent convinced that we deserve the last slice of pizza, but since he is older, he prevails. “No,” he says. “Thisis an interrogation.”
Iget the sense that they might have a script or at least someone who is supposed to voice their issue— my money is onEmerson— butLedgerbursts out with, “Ican’t believe you toldMackenzieabout theCSA!”
“WhatwasIsupposed to do in a situation where everything was so exposed?”Momentsago,Iwas feeling guilty about this very thing, so it feels hypocritical to be so defensive about it right now.ButIam.
“Yourjobis to come up with cover stories,”Ledgersays.Youcouldn’t come up with one for that?”
“Okay, then tell me.HowwasIsupposed to explain away us getting an extraction onto a moving truck?”
Milesshrugs. “Youcould’ve told her that you have a friend who rents moving trucks and that you asked him for help.”
Ishake my head. “Shewould buy that for less than two seconds before noticing all of the equipment inside.”
“So,”Milessays, “instead of saying that your friend rents moving trucks, you say he’s a private detective and that the vehicle is how he can do his work without being detected.”
Actually, that’s pretty good.Butthere is so much more to it than that. “Andthe safe house?”
