Page 27 of Collision of Winters (Hillcroft Group #4)

Chris switched lanes and took a swig of his coffee.

“I’m afraid a nice exterior only exists on a few of them.

What you’ll come to learn about Hillcroft is that we always aim to blend in.

Granted, we have a few upscale SUVs and sedans, which we mainly use for escorting clients in the private sector or in politics.

But the vehicles you will work with have been knocked down to never stand out.

You’ll be impressed by what’s under the hood, but the exterior will make you believe we found the car in an alley. ”

I didn’t mind that at all, actually. It made sense.

Any tidbit they shared only made me more eager to start.

“There.” Wade was done, so I pulled on my tee and hoodie again. “How are the nerves, sweetheart?”

“Aw, ain’t that cute. Sweetheart.” Chris smirked.

“One of these days, you will grow up, brother,” Wade drawled.

I snickered and righted my hoodie.

“Fat chance of that happenin’,” was Chris’s reply.

Wade was waiting for me to respond, so I refocused on him.

“I’m okay,” I said honestly. “I’m nervous, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I know where to go, what to do, and how to act. I trust Chris and you to handle the rest, and if there are any changes, you’ll let me know in that earpiece thingy.”

I was simply going to pace around the left side of Silver Diner, where there was a drive-through parking area, and give off a vibe of waiting for someone. Chris had encouraged me to make a pretend phone call to him and ask why he was running late.

Chris’s intel team had made sure that the targets had accessed a log of fake messages between him and me, deciding to meet up for lunch. And Hillcroft already had operators in place at Silver Diner. They had a live feed and everything. Surveillance was important.

A few blocks away from the diner, tucked behind a bank, it was time to switch cars and part ways. Chris had borrowed Yaya’s old Accord for me to drive. It was literally older than me.

“I almost lost my virginity on that thing,” I mentioned, inserting the earpiece. It was much smaller than I’d expected. It came with a wristband I’d put on too.

“Excuse me?” Wade scowled. “With whom?”

“ That’s your question?” Chris asked incredulously. “Not the fact that he said on instead of in ? Man, you are so far gone.”

I cracked up and snuck in and hugged Wade’s middle. “You’re so hot right now.”

“Hmpf.” He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, but now wasn’t the time to get cute. We had a job to do, and he was too focused and concerned to be derailed. “Do you remember where to park?”

“Considering Chris told me like thirty seconds ago, yes, I still remember,” I said.

“I’ll park between a blue F-150 and a silver Camry.

” Because two operators were waiting in those cars, Operator Bo Beckett and Operator Vince Beckett.

They were brothers. “And then I’ll get out of the car and pace around while keeping myself, as Chris said, easily kidnappable. ”

Chris chuckled. “Just, you know—with space around you. Don’t lean against the building, don’t wait between cars.”

I nodded, getting it. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“We will be watching you the whole time,” Wade promised. Not for the first time. “And if you need to speak to Chris…?”

“I’ll press the push-to-talk button on the wristband,” I replied. “He’ll do the same if he wants to communicate with me.”

“You got this.” Chris clapped me on the shoulder and handed me the car keys. “One of the targets is already in place at the diner, so it’ll be over soon.”

Oh. Um, okay. Yeah, okay. Cool. He was there, waiting to kidnap me.

I didn’t wanna process it or let the information freak me out, so I took the keys and nodded firmly, then got in behind the wheel.

Ahhhh, it smelled like Yaya. I took a deep breath—and it was weirdly calming. Her sweet perfume, the faint smell of cigarettes from before she’d quit, and the lavender soap bars she made to act as air fresheners.

I’ve got this.

After exchanging a last couple of looks with Wade and Chris, I backed out of the space and hit the road. I’d been instructed to circle the block twice before I made my way to the diner, just to ensure Wade and Chris got there first.

Deep breaths.

On the upside, my anxiousness could’ve been way worse.

First of all, it felt insanely good just to be home again.

I’d missed NoVa like fucking crazy. That on its own had a calming effect, because I knew these streets so well.

Secondly, Chris was more concerned about attracting the attention of local law enforcement than what the targets might do.

Like, Hillcroft could make some calls and pull strings, and everything would be fine, but they preferred to work discreetly.

From my understanding, what little Wade had shared, Hillcroft commonly involved the FBI for domestic operations.

I stiffened when I heard a faint beep?—

“Do you hear me, kid?”

“Jesus! You scared me.” Fuck. Excuse me, I’d never communicated with earpieces before. But that beep must’ve meant that the thing was on or something. I didn’t know. “Yeah, I hear you. What is it?”

“Lesson one in becoming a Hillcroft logistics officer or coordinator—understanding that no plan survives first contact with the enemy.” What was he talking about? “This is my heads- up to let you know that Quin has figured shit out, and he’s on his way.”

Oh my God. “Should we call things off? How did he find out?” I slowed down for a red light.

“You know how I reminded Wade that profiling is what I do for a living? Well, Quin can say the same thing, but he’s been on this earth far longer than I have. In short, it’s close to impossible to keep secrets.”

I made a noise and checked the rearview. “Except, I did it most of my life. It took a kidnapping for shit to come out into the open.”

“Kayden, we always knew something was wrong,” he pointed out. “Just because we waited for a long time to intervene with unconventional methods…? Think about it. How often did Quinlan ask you what was wrong—or remind you that you could always talk to him?”

Okay. Fine. Valid point. Wade had said something similar.

“All right, what about every damn Christmas?” I pressed. The light turned green again, and I was done with my two laps around the block. “I always surprised him with the best gifts.”

He found that funny. “If he wanted to spoil the surprise, he would’ve succeeded.

” Something happened in the background; I heard Wade being irritated and claiming what we were discussing was “utterly irrelevant.” Chris cleared his throat.

“But you know what—that’s irrelevant. Quin’s on his way.

Nothing changes for you. I just wanted to let you know. ”

“Okay,” I said. “I have an important question, though. When this is over, can we eat pancakes at the diner?”

“Are you seriously asking me that, Kayden?” he grated out. “Of-fucking-course we will.”

I laughed.

“You two are fucking hopeless,” Wade said in the background.

I couldn’t stop laughing!

“You shoulda seen it comin’,” Chris drawled. “It’s the risk of dating one of your brothers. Chances are they act similar.”

“Oh my God, stop,” I guffawed. My stomach couldn’t handle the workout. I had to focus here!

You’re home. This is the rest of your life. Laughing. Working. Being part of the Winters family properly. Hillcroft. DC.

My last chuckle left me in an exhale, and I couldn’t describe the feeling of fulfillment.

This was what I wanted. And me finally being with the love of my life didn’t mean we couldn’t still have this family dynamic where he was the older, wiser brother who shook his head in amusement at Chris and me.

I grinned to myself, and we wrapped up the convo.

Dad being on his way, and soon finding out about Wade and me, wasn’t going to kill my vibe. I’d force him to accept us. He had to be happy so we could have a family lunch at Silver Diner.

Right between the blue F-150 and the silver Camry.

I killed the engine and let out a breath.

Go-time.

Not wanting to overthink anything, I climbed out of the car and just focused on doing my job. I could ask questions about the hows and whens later. All I had to do was fiddle with my phone and pretend I was waiting for my brother.

I used my phone as a prop right away, because it was the only way I could feel natural about walking aimlessly in the middle of a parking lot. The area wasn’t very big, but cars could drive through to exit the premises.

When I heard the faint beeping sound again, I was more prepared.

“Status update,” Chris stated. “We have eyes on all three targets. They’ll likely strike fast because they want to avoid having me on the scene. Try to put away your phone, in case that’s what’s stopping them.”

Roger.

I rolled my shoulders and hoped I pulled off the look of aloof and unassuming, and I pocketed my phone and peered up at the sky briefly. No rain yet, thankfully. But it was in the air. It was cold too.

In the corner of my eye, I spotted a red van with the logo of some plumbing business out of Fairfax. Someone opened the back doors, and I immediately wondered if that was one of the kidnappers.

Don’t get scared. You’re surrounded by operators.

I heard the beep again.

“You’re about to hear commotion. It’s okay to look up and act confused, like you don’t know where the noise is coming from.”

I exhaled. This was what it meant to trust Chris, to trust what they were doing. Both Wade and I could use the reminder. We should’ve known that Chris was going to give us exactly the information we needed when we needed it.

Sure enough, I heard a quick groan and a grunt maybe some twenty feet away, and I glanced up and spun around. There. A man was swiftly yanking another guy between two cars and into the F-150.

Holy crap. Did that mean one down and two to go?