Page 16 of Girl Lost

“This isn’t the case you’re on, my friend.” Blade wasn’t backing down, but his tone had Luna thinking there was something in the undercurrent.

“FDLE can take jurisdiction anytime,” Corbin said.

“State boys can’t come in and take over. They have to be invited.”

“So do it.” Corbin’s neck flushed red.

Blade’s eyes flashed. “Fine, but I’m driving.” He rested a hand on Tori’s shoulder. “You guys hang tight here. Text me if you get anything.”

Harlee nodded, and Tori said, “Be safe.”

Luna followed Blade. She wasn’t about to sit this one out.

“Wait, where are you going?” Corbin lifted his hand like he’d planned to grab her shoulder, then thought better of it.

“With you.” She didn’t really want to, but she’d come this far.

“No. Not a chance.” The muscles of Corbin’s jaw tensed, probably biting back a few choice words.

All eyes were on her.

“Look, I know you don’t want me involved, but this is personal for me too. I promise I’ll follow your lead and stay out of the way. I just need to be there.”

“Sorry,” Blade said. “No civilian ride alongs today.”

Luna always avoided outright lying, but withholding information was a necessity as a CIA operative. Not only for her own safety, but for others. She’d gotten pretty good at the wordplay involvedand found it always better to offer something that had a shred of truth attached. Truth had a way of cementing a bond between two humans.

She glanced around the room, knowing that they deserved an explanation for her years of absence but also that she couldn’t give them the full one until she’d been officially released from the Agency.

So, she told them the only story she’d been cleared to give. “I’m not a civilian. I’m an undercover federal agent.”

6

HE’D COME TO EXPECT SURPRISESwith thisjob,but the last thing Corbin imagined was running anoperation with the woman who broke his heart. What was she doing here? Why had she come back after all these years?

He leaned his shoulder against the side of Abercorn’s dilapidated house. Sweat glued his shirt to his back beneath his tactical vest.

The broken miniblind offered a sliver of view into the silent interior. No movement. No sound. Too quiet.

Officer Salas had arrived ahead of them, warrant in hand, and waited at the foot of the steps. Officer Gordon covered the back door. Luna stood to Corbin’s right with Blade between them. They’d found an extra vest for her, but it was too big and gaped around the armholes and neck. She wore black jeans and a dress shirt with the sleeves cuffed to her forearms. Hair pulled into a low ponytail. A hand on the gun in a paddle holster at her hip.

She looked the part, he had to admit. But her presence here ... it unsettled him. How she had inserted herself into this operation, he still didn’t understand. He’d spent years imagining their reunion, replaying it over and over in his mind. But every scenariohe’d imagined ended with her in his arms. Not with her standing beside him in a tactical vest, as if the past had never happened.

On the ride over, he’d pressed her for details about her undercover work, but she’d said it was classified. That’d been her answer to all his questions.

Classified.

She was shutting him out, just like always.

Probably this was a bad idea, but it was clear she wasn’t going to back down, and he didn’t have time to argue. If they didn’t let her come, she’d likely find another way to interfere. At least this way she might stick around long enough to talk. As long as she followed his lead, this might work out.

The rotted wood creaked and groaned beneath their feet. One wrong step and one of them would fall right through the ramshackle porch.

Blade slammed his fist on the front door. Three loud bangs rattled the windows. “Police! Search warrant! Open up!”

Corbin held his breath and listened for movement inside. Nothing.

“Police! We have a search warrant!” Blade banged again. “You have ten seconds to open the door or we’re coming in!” Blade nodded at the door as he drew his weapon. “Ready?”