Page 58 of Breached

“Her side hurts,” Olivia called.

“Hey,” I shot back, “you’re supposed to have my back.”

“I’ll always have your back, but everyone hides their pain around here, and one time my mom almost died from hiding it, so I’m breaking the cycle.” She put her hands on her hips, and I let out a laugh.

“I’m calling the doctor,” Paul said.

“Paul, seriously, I’m fine. I just picked Chase up and tweaked it,” I assured him.

He pressed his lips together, annoyed I wouldn’t listen. “Did you get any sleep?”

“Nicole?” Dr. Bash interrupted before I could answer. He stood a few feet away. “I’m ready.”

“What’s going on?” Paul asked.

“Mandatory session. You should know all about those, right?” I left him and his scowl and followed Dr. Bash to his small office. He wasn’t much of a decorator—a fake plant kind of man.

“Please take a seat.” He settled in as I did—carefully. My side throbbed. “I’m so glad you came. Where would you like to begin?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I’ve never been to one of these before.”

“Fair enough.” He smiled. “Well, what’s the first thing that comes to mind that you want to get off your chest?”

I pursed my lips and let out a long breath then opened my mouth. “I found out that my boyfriend is living a double life as a Cartel member, one I spent years gathering information on for the DEA. He had a baby with the daughter of one of the biggest crime families in the Cartel world, who is now dead, by the way. And, oh, yes,” I clapped my hands, “FYI, that baby just so happens to be about fifteen feet outside your door.” I head pointed in the general direction of the living room and gave him a huge grin. “Aren’t you glad you asked?”

He froze, staring at me—if it weren’t for his slow blink, I’d have thought he’d gone unconscious.

“Dr. Bash?” I leaned toward him. “Is everything okay?”

Suddenly, he stood and rushed out of the room.

What the hell?

FOURTEEN

PAUL

“How far out?” I asked West, who I knew had eyes on me from where he was way up on the ridge. We had our best equipment up on The Peak, locked on to the tracker Liza had planted on Keith. We needed it to look like it was active, so we’d been moving it around the town but keeping it well away from the house—until now.

“He’s just cresting the peak of the hill.” I heard him shift in the dirt. “The signal is still strong, so if they’re monitoring it, they’re getting a clear, uninterrupted signal.”

“Trust me, they’re watching it,” I muttered and knew without a doubt the Cartel had someone day and night keeping an eye on the whereabouts of that little hunk of metal.

A truck engine found my ears before I saw it. Moore turned toward the south gate entrance, and I stood up in the middle of the road so he could spot me. He shifted gears and slowly came to a stop.

He popped open the door to the old blue Chevy and jumped out. “Damn, that road is rough. If you find any teeth along the way, they're mine.” He winced and rubbed his jaw.

“Yeah, well, it hasn’t been used in nearly forty years.” I leaned my arms over the flatbed and squinted into the warm sun. “It was never supposed to be used as a way in or out in the first place. It was only to get access to the back side of the lake.”

“That explains why my organs have traded places with each other.” He chuckled then handed me the tracker. “Your turn to take the lion’s bait.”

“Mm.” I plucked it out of his hand. “Park the truck over there. If someone was watching you, I want them to see your truck is here.”

“Copy that.” He started the truck as I raced to the house to plant the bug. Though the signal was strong, the scramblers we had in place would make it ping off different towers, confusing the exact location until we were ready to lure them in. Bottom line was Bruno would see that Eric had told the truth about where he said the location of the safehouse was. I needed to ensure I instilled as much trust in Bruno as I could.

“Three inches to your right,” Keith said into my earpiece as I shifted the couch over into place. “Good. Now move the crystal vase on the table in front of the window by Olivia’s dance picture, because that thing is giving off one hell of a glare.”

“Copy that.” I shot across the living room and moved the vase to a different table. “What else?”