Page 33 of Come Fly With Me

This time, she was staying right where she was—at Benson Security.

* * *

From a dark alleyacross the road from the burning warehouse, a man stepped out into the orange glow of the streetlights. He was dressed head to toe in black, his features generic. It was as though he’d been genetically designed to blend into the woodwork. A prerequisite for his type of work.

A car drew to a halt at the edge of the curb in front of him, and the driver’s window lowered. Like the man, the vehicle was nondescript.

“The woman?” his contact asked.

“She’s safe.” Even if she hadn’t taken care of the situation all by herself, he’d been seconds away from stepping in. “The police are on their way. There’s no time for cleanup.” All they could do was hope the bodies were too burned to be identified. But even then, there were ways to tamper with records to make the victims appear any way they chose them to appear.

“Her cover?” his contact said, eyes on the burning building.

“Still intact.”

Cold eyes met his. “But they know who she is.”

“No.” He shook his head. “This was a chance encounter. Someone who knew her from before heard her laughing and saw past her disguise. They followed her and led the team to her door. They don’t know who she is now, and all records for the warehouse are buried deep enough as to be impossible to find.” Unless you had the skills that Elle Roberts had.

“Make sure everything is secured,” his contact said. “It could be years before we’re ready for the woman to come into play. Until such time, we need her to be available, but hidden.”

He nodded. “I’ve already taken measures to bolster the efforts she’s making on her own.” And her efforts were almost titanium. If you didn’t know where to look, you would never be able to find her. “I’ll release word that she was caught in the blaze.”

“Don’t let anything happen to her,” came the imperious command. “We’ll only have one chance at this.”

“I know what I’m doing.” There was a warning in his tone.

His contact wasn’t intimidated. “If I even suspect you’re getting too close to this situation, I will pull you.”

“And I would expect nothing less.”

“Don’t get attached. She’s a pawn. Nothing more.”

He nodded. But he knew Elle was far more than a pawn. She was brilliant at what she did, and she still managed to keep an air of innocence and delight around her that most people in her situation would have lost years earlier.

She…fascinated him.

“Are you sure the security company is the best place to put her?” The question had him focusing on the occupant of the car rather than his thoughts of a woman who intrigued him. “Lake Benson has quite the reputation. He could make things difficult for us.”

“Benson has the skills needed to protect the asset. As does Callum McKay.”

A sneer. “McKay’s injuries render him little more than a liability.”

He didn’t reply. From what he’d seen, and what Lake had told him, he’d put his faith in Callum McKay any day of the week.

“Just do your job,” his contact said. “I won’t have anything ruining this operation. Not when we’re so close to taking this bastard down.”

“Yes, ma’am.” There was nothing else to say. He always did his job. It was all he had, and it defined him.

“I look forward to your report.” The window rose slowly but stopped just before it closed. Her eyes bore into him. But he knew she would see exactly what the government had made him into—their perfect spy. Nothing more. “I’ll be watching, David,” she said before the window closed and the car slid into the night.

With one last look at the blaze, David turned and walked into the shadows.

Where he belonged.

Callum’s Valentine

This story takes place between Ransom and Rich