Page 112 of Summer Heat
Nicola finished dialing numbers, then entered more numbers. She waited with the phone next to her ear.
“Hey. Yeah, didn’t make my pick-up. We’ve got dirty laundry to deal with.”
She nodded her head. Gave a few uh-huhs and nodded some more as if her handler could see her.
“No. I’m coming in on my own. I’ll have my Bonnie and Clyde extraction team brought—”
More uh-huhs. Then one nu-uh.
She rolled through a stop sign. “If he’s still breathing when we get there, he’s all yours. I’ve got a theory or two.”
More nodding. Hello, Nicola. Only I can see the head nods. Something hadn’t changed from college.
“Yes, when we debrief. See ya. Oh, wait—”
She looked at Cash, paused, then looked back to the road, making turn. “What do you know about Titan Group involved with Antilla?”
Son of a bitch.
More uh-huhs.
She clicked off the phone and looked at him with those warm, chocolate eyes. “I need a favor.”
Oh boy. Here it comes. “Depends.”
“I’m headed back to Langley on my terms. Bringing the other two with me. You know who hired Titan on this project?”
“Yeah.”
“The CIA?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Not my place. You know their section chiefs don’t talk. All that one-upmanship bull crap.”
“I know their games well, but I try not to play.”
“So what’s the favor?”
“Bring Bonnie and Clyde in with me?” she asked with a face she certainly knew he couldn’t say no to. He needed reinforcements around her, ASAP.
“That’s not a decision I can make on my own. Despite my protocol-ignoring ass last night, I can’t just fly by night to Virginia.”
“Where are you based out of?”
He laughed. “Virginia.”
“Well—”
His phone rang, cutting her off, and she handed it back to him. How long would that drive take? Hours in a car with her. He might not live through it without doing some serious, pansy, emo outtakes. Whatever. He looked at the caller ID. Jared. His boss. Not necessarily what he needed right now.
“Yeah-ello,” Cash answered, slowly and intentionally, just to screw with Jared.
“What in God’s name did you three do up there?”
Well, hello to you too, dick. “The job.”
