Page 48 of The Spy
"Maybe they thought they had something airtight. We did find women. But they all claimed to be there voluntarily. I don't know. You're telling me I can't trust Goode?”
“If someone wants you poking at this shit, then they're using you to start a whole other kind of war. Watch your back mate.”
“Good to know.” Before I hung up, I added, “Another question. Can you go digging in your… archives? I'll take any information you have.”
“This is starting to feel a lot like unpaid labor."
"Look at it as something owed.”
“I don't owe you. I owe your sister.”
“Well, consider it a favor to her. Before getting any more bad intel, you're saving her arse.”
“Right. I'll look. And while I have no actionable intel on Jennings Tate, his old man, Kevin, knows Disick. They have a lot of common interests. So that's not a bear we want to go and poke.”
“Roger that."
I sat back, staring at the information on my screen. While Drake Webster and I might be cagey with each other for various reasons, I did trust him when it came to something like this. He would tell me the truth. Which meant that someone else wasn't. I just had to see the big picture and figure out what the fuck was going on.
My gaze flicked to the door again, and I worried about Tabatha.
She was withholding something, too, and it was frustrating as hell.
Or you've been a dick to her, so she doesn't want to talk to you.
I made another call, and Rook answered.
“Yeah, guv, what's happening?”
“Tabatha. Can you pull her phone records for me?”
Rook, sighed. “Um, guv?”
“You heard me. I want her records. Don't make me wait.”
What the fuck was she hiding?
16
Tabatha
There was no way to describe landing in Capetown. The feelings of ease and contentment were immediate. I’d missed being home.
I had three days in Ikapa, the mother city.
There were mission specs to go over, but I could be reached from here. I needed to see Riley, which was what I told Saff. What I had left off was that I also needed to see for myself what the hell was going on with Kira.
I knew Riley was worried. And if he was worried, I was worried.
Kira had had her difficulties, and it was better safe than sorry to confirm that she was okay. I really hoped to God she was okay.
It had only been a few months since I'd last come home. Okay, six. But there was something about landing at Cape Town's airport, whether it was ocean breezes with the water so close by, or it was the scent of spices on the air, which I wasn't even sure were real or some piped-in perfume that screamed home.
You are in Africa.
Either way, it still felt like home. Like my heart could ring out just knowing I was back on the continent. Everywhere I turned, I heard Xhosa, Afrikaans, and Zulu, as well as French, Italian, and German. These were the sounds of home, and Cape Town was the kind of city where you could find someone from anywhere on the globe.
I made it through customs fairly easily as all I had was the one bag. After all, I wasn't staying. As I made it through arrivals, I saw a familiar mop of curly brown hair paired with an awkwardly handsome guy of lean build, looking a little lost and confused. I frowned, and then the guy grinned at me, lowering his sunglasses, revealing those big dark eyes I was so used to. My heart stopped. "Holy shit, Riley?”
