Page 35 of Jonas (Silver Team #4)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Wake up, Dee Dee.” I heard Jonas call while at the same time I felt his knuckles trace my jaw.

“Shit, sorry,” I mumbled, and opened my eyes. “I’m the worst partner ever.”

“If I needed you, I would’ve woken you up.”

We were back at the farm. The whole day had been a total bust.

Lou Peterson and his wife were dead, and before Zane could get someone to their house to search it, a neighbor had called nine-one-one to report possible gunshots.

The cops being there meant Jameson and Holden couldn’t get close to the house.

And someone had wiped the security footage.

Not only the Petersons’ but the whole street’s.

Not surprisingly, the Petersons’ footage was stored on Delcon’s servers as were two other houses.

But the other five houses on the street were not.

The unforeseen twist was that Lou’s driver, Les Stevenson, was also found dead inside the Petersons’ house.

By the time Theo and Easton had made it to the White residence, Karen and her husband were gone. Not gone as in dead, gone as in packed their bags and bailed.

The only sliver of good news was Jonas was able to follow the Mercedes to a house in a neighborhood not far from CIA headquarters. The problem was, there was no way for us to sit on the house without being noticed. But we had an address—that was the only win for the day.

“Maybe I should drive next time,” I told him as I unbuckled my seat belt. “I can’t fall asleep if I’m behind the wheel.”

“I told you, if I needed you I would’ve woken you up. It’s all good.”

Me falling asleep didn’t feel good; it felt like incompetence and the last thing I wanted Jonas to think was that I was incapable of doing my job.

“I should’ve?—”

“Baby,” he cut me off. “I plan on keeping you up tonight, so it’s a good thing you got in a nap.”

I really wanted details on his plan to keep me up late. But when the front door swung open and Lore stepped out onto the porch wearing an expression like thunder, I decided now was not the best time to press for sexy-time particulars.

“Since Cash isn’t back yet, my money’s on Zane pissing her off,” Jonas reasoned.

“Nebraska seemed pretty annoyed with Lore before we left,” I noted.

“That’s not the face of two friends bickering or even fighting. That’s the face of a woman who is supremely pissed at a man.”

I tracked Lore with my eyes and decided he wasn’t wrong.

“It’s funny you can tell the difference.”

“Pissed enough women off to know.”

That surprised me. Jonas seemed way too laid back to push anyone to extreme anger, especially a woman. No, not just a woman—he’d said women .

“I like that that surprises you,” he went on.

“Why do you think I’m surprised?”

“Because if you weren’t, you’d have a flippant comeback. Also when something takes you off-guard, you take a moment to process. You don’t go off half-cocked or make assumptions, nor do you jump the gun because you’re ready to be offended. Says a lot about you.”

That was a nice thing to say. But not always the truth.

“Well, are you gonna give me some examples of how you’ve pissed off women?”

“Baby.”

Apparently he thought that one word said more than it actually did.

“That’s not an answer,” I pointed out.

“Do you honestly think I’m stupid enough to answer that question and piss you off?”

He made a valid point. Yet, I still pushed. “How about just one example?”

He closed his eyes and shook his head.

When he reopened them, they held humor and resignation.

“Women don’t like hearing the word no from a man. Typically, when a woman hears something she doesn’t like she gets pissed.” Jonas dipped his head in Lore’s direction. “And a woman who’s pissed at a man looks like that.”

He was right, this was a conversation best not had. Not because his opinion would piss me off but hearing about women from his past probably would.

“So you think Zane told her no?”

“I think Zane was being Zane. And since he’s Zane and doesn’t know her or trust her, he will have made that clear in a way that might not be all that nice.”

“ Might not be?” I chuckled, knowing that was an understatement and I barely knew the man.

Jonas shrugged. “It’s possible. Unlikely but possible.”

More like it was highly likely Zane was less than nice when he explained to Lore he didn’t trust her.

Not that he trusted me, either. Especially since the first words out of my mouth had been a lie.

“Is there any chance that one day, he’ll trust me after the play I made to get a meeting with him?”

Jonas turned his attention from Lore angrily pacing the porch to me.

“If he didn’t trust you, you wouldn’t be here. Technically your role in this ended when your cover at Delcon was blown.”

“Lore was in the meeting and she’s going with him to meet POTUS,” I pointed out.

This time it was Jonas who took his time processing what I’d said.

“There’s a difference between you and Lore.

You played the hand you were dealt. You had a job—to recruit the company—and to do that, you needed Zane in front of you.

He understands the game. Hell he’s a master at it.

It took us less than three minutes to figure out you weren’t who you said you were and didn’t work for who you said you worked for.

And when you were called on it, you knew that play wasn’t going to work so you pivoted to the truth.

“Lore is a whole different breed. The fact that no one, including Nebraska, knows who she really is, who she really works for, or where her training comes from, means she cannot be trusted. In this case, she’s bringing something to the table; that means Zane has no choice but to keep her close.

But a woman like Lore, she knows no one trusts her.

If you asked, she’d likely tell you straight out not to trust her.

“What she won’t like is the consequences of not being trusted. From what I’ve heard about her, she’s good at what she does. Excellent, actually. So her not being able to play Zane and get her way is going to seriously piss her off.”

I lied, a lot. Dishonesty was a requisite of the job—whether it be to obtain information or conceal what you knew.

If someone couldn’t lie effectively, their career as an investigator would be short-lived.

Manipulation was another requirement, though I’d learned early on that finding information to use as leverage often was faster and more effective.

I had a feeling Lore had mastered manipulation and coercion. On that thought, I watched her gaze swing to the Escalade. Her glare was accompanied with raised eyebrows and pinched lips.

When we didn’t exit the SUV fast enough, both her hands came up in the universal ‘what the hell?’ gesture.

“We better see what’s wrong with her.”

With a heavy sigh, Jonas agreed. “Yeah.” Then in a low rumble he added, “Fuck.”

It happened as soon as Jonas and I were out of the car. Without any prompting, Lore explained her irritation.

“I was asked to leave the house.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I waited for Jonas to field her declaration.

He did, just not verbally.

Apparently, Lore was fluent in badass, because she understood what Jonas’s brow lift meant, and went on, “Zane wanted a private word with Kira and Nebraska.”

There it was—not a no, but a clear indication he didn’t trust Lore and had no problem kicking her out of the house to make sure she didn’t hear what he had to say.

“And he followed me upstairs and locked the door.”

Ouch .

Jonas’s eyes cut to me. Evidence was suggesting I spoke silent-badass, too. When I caught the question in Jonas’s stare, I shook my head.

There was no way I was going inside after Zane kicked out Lore. That would be like salt in a wound and I wasn’t going to be the one to rub it in. Neither was I going to take the chance of going in and getting kicked out like Lore.

He smiled and returned the head shake.

“I’m going in,” he announced.

I watched him walk to the door, punch in a code on the keypad, and enter the house.

“Clusterfuck of a day,” she muttered.

“Yup.”

“Plot twist, killing the driver,” she went on.

“In on it, or wrong place, wrong time?”

“Nothing in Les Stevenson’s background suggests any ties to criminal activity,” Lore told me something I knew.

“On one hand, that makes him the perfect target. But it takes years to work a man like that. Les has only worked for Lou Peterson for eighteen months. The level of skill required to turn someone from law-abiding to not isn’t something Lou possesses. ”

“But you do.”

Lore read my statement as just that. She didn’t prevaricate or dodge. She did exactly what Jonas said she’d do.

“Yes. If I wanted to turn Les into an accomplice and manipulate him into doing my bidding, not only could I do it, but it would only take me a few months. Maybe less if he had triggers I could exploit.”

Her tone was matter-of-fact. Not bragging, but not ashamed.

I admired that about her—she was who she was and didn’t pretend to be anything else.

Master manipulator or not, it was refreshing.

The flip side to that was, she could be manipulating me into appreciating her candor.

Not hiding who she was, which upped her likability.

“I get it,” she quietly said. Not harsh but not gentle. Unemotional and straightforward. No hint of coaxing or laying the groundwork for empathy.

“Get what?”

“I didn’t get where I am by not being able to read people.

I get where your mind went. I get that everything I say is scrutinized and dissected.

You’re smart to keep your shields up around me.

I’m not to be trusted, and yes me telling you that straight out is a form of controlling your prejudice.

If I’m honest with you three-fourths of the time, when I lie to you, you’ll question your judgment.

You’ll want to believe me because I’ve been forthright and truthful with you.

But deep down you know, I’m not to be trusted.

You seem like a smart woman; stay that way and trust yourself, not me. ”

There was a twinge of sadness, not in her tone but in the way she held herself. I reckoned she’d be good at telegraphing what she wanted someone to see, yet for some reason I didn’t think the melancholy was for show.

Or, I was playing right into her hand.

“Do you regret turning into the person you are?”

“No. There’s safety in who I’ve become. I’m protected by lies and truth. There’s power in keeping someone on guard around me. If someone’s on their back foot trying to anticipate my next move they miss what’s right in front of them. Distraction and defense means I can play offense?—”

“Offense,” I mumbled. “We’re playing defense when we should be playing offense.”

“Go on,” Lore prompted.

“Kira’s busy playing defense—anticipating where the Chinese will hit next. We’re all busy tracking down leads, trying to round up the people who we know are involved, with the hope they’ll give us intel—that’s defense. We’re going about this the wrong way. We should be playing offense.”

I reached for my back pocket but remembered I didn’t have my phone.

“Do you have your phone? Can you call Zane and tell him we need to?—”

I stopped when I heard the lock click. My eyes immediately went to the porch ceiling and I spotted the camera in the corner. I glanced toward the front door and saw another camera above the doorbell.

Fucking cameras .

I flipped the one in the corner the middle finger and made my way to the door, holding it open for Lore.

“By the way,” Lore started as she closed the door. “The middle finger was epic.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been spied on enough for one day.”

“I didn’t see, but I heard you and your man put on quite the show.”

Whatever .

So what if Jonas’s team saw us kissing?

“How long have you been together?” she asked.

I stumbled to a stop and glanced back at her.

“Um…”

Lore held her hands up in front of her. “I get it. If that’s too personal, forget I asked.”

Hm . Another manipulation or genuine politeness?

“Not long,” I evaded.

“Got it.”

She didn’t get it. She thought I’d dodged the question because of who she was, not because I didn’t want to admit I’d only known Jonas for a really short period of time and I was already mostly in love with him.

“Like a day,” I told her honestly.

Lore blinked and her torso swung back. Seeing her reaction, I realized that was the first unguarded response she’d given me. The rest had been carefully crafted to keep her Machiavellian persona intact.

“A day?”

“Yup.” She continued to stare, but as the shock bled into disbelief I added, “I’m telling you the truth.”

Lore’s mask fell back into place. All emotions wiped clear so quickly if I hadn’t been looking right at her I would’ve missed the transition.

“That’s actually fascinating,” I told her.

“What is?”

“The speed in which you can disguise your emotions. Actually, the expertise is what’s most impressive. You went from shock to… nothing . Totally blank in the blink of an eye. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

With absolutely zero inflection or feeling, she responded, “There’s nothing impressive about me.

I’m a lie. A carefully created facade. I feed off the pain of others—I catalog it and exploit it when it best suits me.

I don’t mask my emotions, Derrika, I have none. Unless you consider malice an emotion.”

Lore’s speech was so convincing I almost believed her. Heck, I did believe she’d carefully created a facade, but she used that lie to hide behind—to protect herself. The rest, the part about not having emotions, was bullshit.

“I see you, Stella.”

A dangerous glint hit her eyes.

So much for not having emotions.

“Don’t fuck with me, Derrika. Your kitten claws might sting but I’ve got weapons you could only dream of having.”

Now that I believed. I didn’t doubt that if Lore so much as caught a whiff someone was trying to get close, she’d lash out, and do it to cause maximum pain.

The door to the basement swung open. Jonas appeared in the doorway. His blatantly angry gaze landed on Lore, then it came to me—no less angry, but clearly not aimed at me.

Fucking cameras .