Page 26 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)

DESMOND

M y father hovered behind me for a few more seconds, then wrenched open the door and strode away.

I waited until the door had shut behind him, then looked over at Charlotte. “What were you and my father really talking about?”

When I’d stepped into the locker room, the two of them had been glaring at each other, and anger had sparked, sizzled, and crackled like fireworks in their auras.

A small part of me had hoped the General would set aside his animus toward Jack Locke, judge Charlotte on her own merits, and realize just how amazing she was.

But no one could hold a grudge like Jethro Percy, even against someone he’d never met before for crimes she hadn’t even committed.

Charlotte stared at the closed door, a thoughtful look on her face. “He told me to ignore everything my father ever taught me, along with every single instinct I have as an analyst. In other words, be a good little spy, don’t ask questions, and follow his orders to the letter.”

I sighed. “The General always thinks he knows what’s best for everyone. I’m sorry he cornered you.”

Charlotte shrugged. “I’m used to people underestimating me. Now, let’s get you ready for the mission.”

She reached into my duffel bag, pulled out a blue winter hat topped by a fuzzy pom-pom, and plopped it onto my head.

“Hey! Careful with that. That pom-pom contains a highly concentrated explosive.” I removed the hat from my head and placed it on the bench.

“Yes, I know,” Charlotte drawled, pointing at the black pom-poms attached to her boots. “I just love wearing explosives on my feet. Makes me feel all warm and cozy.”

I grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. “You know what makes me feel all warm and cozy? You.”

Charlotte arched an eyebrow. “Warm and cozy? Is that code for something else?”

I grinned. “It can be code for whatever you want it to be.”

Her face split into a wide, happy smile, and she put her hands on my shoulders, leaned down, and brushed her lips across mine. I drew in a breath, drinking in her scent, along with her deep blue aura.

“We still have a few minutes before we’re supposed to be down in the garage.” I waggled my eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Charlotte gave me another quick kiss. “As much as I would enjoy that, we’re on a tight schedule. Besides, your father would probably have a stroke if he came in here and saw us fooling around.”

“Well, that would be one way to get rid of him.”

Charlotte laughed at my black humor and drew back. “Come on, Dundee. Hurry up and get dressed before I decide you have to wear explosive pom-poms after all.”

I quickly donned the clothes Joan had picked out: a dark blue suit jacket and pants, with a light blue shirt and tie and a matching vest with a paisley pattern. I nestled my silver watch into the vest pocket and slid my feet into black wing tips, sans pom-poms.

Fifteen minutes later, Charlotte and I got off the elevator on level seven, which was a massive parking garage of dull gray concrete that housed a fleet of Section surveillance vans and other vehicles.

Gia and Evelyn were talking with Joan and Diego, who were loading laptops, monitors, and other equipment into a van.

My father was standing a few feet away, barking orders at the strike team.

I couldn’t hear everything the General was saying, but the strike team members stood stiffly at attention and gave him sharp, crisp nods.

My father was good at motivating others to do what he wanted the instant he wanted it done.

Plus, no one wanted to get on the bad side of the head of the board of directors.

Except Charlotte. Every time she looked at my father, those mental calculations filled her eyes, as though she was trying to figure out his ulterior motives. I wished her luck, but I had given up understanding the General’s reasoning long ago.

Gia waved us over and handed me the keys to a black sedan parked next to the surveillance van. “The sedan is equipped with all the usual protective gear. Bullet- and magic-proof windows, run-flat tires, dashboard buttons that will let you drop spikes and smoke bombs out of the undercarriage.”

Charlotte went over to talk to Evelyn, Joan, and Diego, but Gia stepped closer to me, a serious look on her face.

“I know how difficult this is for you, Desmond, and how much you want justice for Graham and the other agents who died on the Blacksea mission, but don’t let Henrika get in your head.

Find a way to recover the UC agent list, then neutralize Henrika and any Redburn on site.

I don’t care what Henrika threatens you or Charlotte with.

If you need backup, you call in the strike team.

I am not losing any more agents to her. Understood? ”

I nodded. “Understood.”

Unlike my father, Gia didn’t bark out orders, something that made me respect the former cleaner much more as a leader.

“Be careful, and come back alive,” Gia said. “That’s an order.”

I grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

Gia went back over to the others, who were still clustered around the surveillance van.

Footsteps tapped out a quick rhythm on the floor, and my father strode over to me. He looked at the others a moment, his gaze lingering on Charlotte, then faced me.

“Remember your orders,” the General said in a low voice. “I want Henrika dead and a sample of the Redburn explosive in my hands before the weekend is through. Understood?”

Just like the strike team members, I couldn’t stop my spine from stiffening at his brisk, commanding tone. “Yes, sir.”

My father hesitated, then clapped me on the shoulder, which was his version of a hug. “Be safe, son.”

Despite all the years of simmering anger and hostilities between us, I had to swallow a hard knot of emotion in my throat before I could answer. “Yes, sir.”

My father hesitated again, like he wanted to say something else, but the moment passed. He gave me a short, curt nod, then spun around and returned to the strike team members. He didn’t look back.

I headed over to Charlotte. I didn’t look back either.

J oan checked our gear one more time, then Charlotte and I got into the sedan.

I steered the car up several long, curving ramps, then through a tunnel that rose to the ground level.

The tunnel ended in a locked metal gate, which slid back at our approach.

I drove the sedan through the opening, turned onto a street, and left Section headquarters.

I concentrated on the surrounding traffic and making sure no one was tailing us, while Charlotte swiped through screens on her tablet, reviewing information about the Winterfest event, the Glittertop Resort, and more.

A few hours later, I exited the interstate and navigated a series of narrow, curving, two-lane roads that wound deeper and deeper into the mountainous countryside of southwest Virginia.

I had never been to this region before, and the lovely, woodsy scenery was a welcome contrast to the miles and miles of city streets and office buildings that surrounded Section headquarters.

“It’s prettier than I expected,” I said.

Charlotte stared out the windshield, a wistful look on her face. “I’ve always thought the Appalachian Mountains were particularly beautiful. Being in this area is like coming home.”

“What do you mean?”

“My father owned a cabin in this region. He would often bring me here on the weekends.”

“To relax?”

“Jack Locke, take a few days off to relax? Never .” Charlotte scoffed. “My father brought me here to train. Sometimes Gabriel and his dad would join us too, and we would spend the whole weekend playing war games.”

“You don’t sound too happy about that.”

“It was usually the only quality time I got to spend with my father between his Section missions, but even then, he was never really here in the moment with me. Instead of swimming, biking, or walking in the woods, my father would chase me around with a paintball gun, yelling that I needed to run faster if I didn’t want to get mock-killed.

” Charlotte rubbed her left shoulder. “Those paintballs hurt . They also ruined my clothes and stained my skin for days afterward.”

“What did Gabriel think about your fathers’ war games?”

“He loved them, right up to when my father persuaded his father to blindfold Gabriel and me, take us deep into a cavern, and force us to find our way out.”

I winced. “How old were you?”

“Fifteen,” she muttered. “It’s a good thing Gabriel is a phaser who can walk through walls, or we never would have gotten out of that stupid cavern.”

Her face darkened like a thundercloud, and her aura pulsed with hurt and anger, so I changed the subject.

“Did you tell Gabriel about the Winterfest mission?”

“Yeah, I texted him after we left the armory, and he was really cryptic about it.” She frowned. “At least more so than usual.”

Cryptic was one way to describe Gabriel Chase, and even his smoky gray aura didn’t reveal much about what he was thinking or feeling.

The former cleaner marched to the beat of his own drum, and I envied how he had told the Section leaders to shove it, walked away from the spy world, and forged his own path.

More than once, I’d thought about doing the same thing, but I’d never quite had the courage to go through with it.

Perhaps Gabriel was right when he claimed that he was the better, stronger man.

I steered around a hairpin curve. The dense pine trees that lined the road vanished, the land flattened out, and a parking lot appeared, running alongside a lake. We’d made excellent time, and it was just after four o’clock.

I took a few extra seconds to back into a spot near the end of the lot, just in case we had to leap into the car and leave in a hurry.

Small things like making your escape as quick and easy as possible were often the keys to surviving a mission.

Although if Charlotte and I were running for our lives, we’d be lucky to get out of the hotel, much less make it back to our vehicle.