Ishrug.
“Whatis it?”
“Aspicy but somewhat sweet sausage with oatmeal.Thatone’s ‘black’ because it also contains pig’s blood.”
Foras big, tough, and commanding asLedger’spresence is, he’s looking awfully green right now, and those eyes are comically wide.
“Youknew it wasn’t just chocolate and vanilla pudding together in a bowl?Thanksfor the warning.”
“IfIwarned you,Iwould’ve missed out on seeing that look on your face.”
Heblinks a few times like he’s simultaneously feeling deceived and like he absolutely should’ve expected it.Ismile asItake a sip of my tea.
Ledgereyes me as he cuts into an egg. “Ithought you hadn’t been toIrelandbefore.”
“Ihaven’t, butIhave been toEngland.”
“Theyeat it there, too?”
“Yep,”Isay, and pull my phone from my backpack soIcan go over the details in the briefing again.Sincewe aren’t checking into a hotel, we left our bags in a storage locker.Thereare plenty of things that no covert operative would leave behind, and all of those are in the backpack at my feet.Butour clothes, shoes, and non-sensitive equipment?Wereally didn’t want to lug them around with us.
Irub my finger on the locket of my necklace asIread through the part again about what security measures thegallery owner said that the tapestry has, the dossier about the employees who will be working, and the details about the tracker.Icheck my backpack to make sure the tiny piece of technology is right whereIexpect it to be.Thereason most of my missions go off without a hitch is because of my preparedness.
Ofcourse, my partner here is theKingofImprovisation.Theguy who likes to go in with a half-baked plan and just “figure it out” as he goes along.Ifwe were both metaphorically on a high cliff and someone came along and dropped two bags with paragliding equipment, one at my feet and the other atLedger’s, and then told us we have ten minutes to jump off the cliff and get to a specific point in the distance, we would act very differently.
Iwould strap on my harness, making sure it’s secure, and put on my gloves and helmet.ThenI’dsurvey all the areasIcould see between the cliff and the target location, check the wind speed and direction, and determine the best spot to land in order to make it to the target.SinceIwouldn’t be able to find out the wind information closer to the target,I’dalso make contingency plans.I’dlay out my canopy perfectly, connect it to my harness, and be ready and waiting to go at the sound of the whistle.
Ledger, on the other hand, would spend the entire ten minutes talking with whoever was also up on that cliff, about stuff that wasn’t even mission-related, until the very moment the whistle blew.Thenhe would whoop loud enough to echo off the surrounding cliffs as he ran toward the edge, paragliding equipment bag in hand,and leap off the cliff with nothing more than a hope that he could get strapped into his harness as he fell, put on his helmet and gloves, and open and attach his paragliding canopy in time for the wind to catch it before he plummeted to his death.
Sometimes,Iadmire his adaptability.IwishIcould just go with the flow more easily.Butmost of the time?Let’sjust say that this job requires planning to be successful.
Iglance over at the man— he is already three-fourths of the way through scarfing down his breakfast. “Thisblack ‘pudding’ isn’t half bad.Wanta bite?”
“I’mnot really a breakfast eater.”
“Nota breakfast eater, or just afraid to try it?”
Imeet his eyes, take his fork from his hand, cut off a big piece, put it in my mouth, and chew, all without taking my eyes off him.Heactually looks a little impressed, whichItake to mean one more tally mark for me.DoIlike black pudding?No.AmIgoing to letLedgerknow thatIdon’t?Absolutelynot.
“Bythe way,”Isay afterIswallow, “before we head back to the airport, we are stopping at a restaurant that serves cheese.”
“Cheese?”
Inod.
“Whycheese?”
“It’sjust somethingIdo whenI’min another country, andI’mnot going to skip the cheese just because you’re on this mission, too.”
“Butwhycheese?Imean,Ilike cheese as much as the next guy, but—”
“Butnot as much as the next girl,”Isay, pointing to myself. “AndIwon’t be leaving this country without trying its cheese.”
Iam skilled enough at reading body language thatIcan tell when someone’s checking me out, even discretely, and if they like what they see.I’vecaught it from enough people to feel fairly confident about my looks.There’ssomething aboutLedgerchecking me out and liking what he sees, though, that feels different.Idon’t know why, butIdo like it.
Ijust really hope that my skill in hiding any of my own body language is greater thanLedger’sskill in reading body language, becauseIreally don’t want him picking up on how oftenI’vechecked him out.TryasImight,I’venever been able to control my pupil’s dilation.AndifLedgeris paying attention,I’msure he can see plain as day that my pupils widen every time my eyes glide over his shoulders or take in how beautiful his face is.
Peoplehave started walking into the gallery, soIsend a secure message toPackston, my tech op, letting him know that we are about to start, and thenIput in my earpiece.IseeLedgerdoing the same, even though we likely won’t need our tech ops at all for this mission.
