Page 51 of Snowbound Threat

Caleb flipped the rug over. “Whoa.”

Noah pulled Kessler to his feet. Both of them reacted. Noah said, “How’d you find that?”

Kessler’s expression seemed to indicate he wanted to ask the same question. Probably because he’d assumed Caleb wouldn’t discover his secret safe, inset into the floor under a panel that left the rug here flush with the rest of the floor.

“You’ll never break in.” Kessler sneered.

Caleb slid back the panel and punched the numbers into the keypad. The light turned green.

Kessler roared obscenities and Noah escorted him out. The gunfire outside had slowed. Caleb opened the safe and looked at the stack of hard drives and papers inside, as well as multiple passports and a bundle of Euros secured with a rubber band.

He said, “We have what we came for.”

Overwatch said, “Maybe the Rourke twins should team up permanently.”

Caleb tuned out the back and forth chatter and looked at his phone again. He replied to the message,

Thanks.

He didn’t know for sure who it was that had sent the message but given the way his parents had seemed to know what he was involved in—and Noah’s case with that bank account in Zurich, which had the Senator from Virginia being arrested just yesterday and his brother’s company shut down. Caleb figured he knew who was behind the information.

We miss you both.

His breath hitched in his throat. It was his parents who had helped them out. His father sending information to his best friend, so the preacher could pass it to Caleb. They’d all figured that much out after he talked with Tessa’s father. Not just about him dating her.

Caleb replied,

Merry Christmas.

Then he gathered everything from the safe and went to find his twin, and the rest of the team.

Their job here was done.

It was time to turn it all over to the Department of Justice and go home.

Chapter Twenty

Tessa slid the pie from the oven and set it on the cooling rack she’d pulled out. Gus wandered by, sniffing the air. “I know, it smells good.”

Now all they needed were a few certain people here to enjoy it.

She was trying to pray and not worry, but it had been days and she hadn’t heard anything about Nathan Kessler being taken down on the news.

Nothing.

Her father wandered in, wearing sweatpants and a ratty old sweater. She’d bought him a new one for Christmas, but they couldn’t open presents untileveryonewas here.

“Smells good.” He grabbed the coffee pot and got himself a refill. “More?”

“I’m good.” She was jittery enough as it was.

“Listen…” He didn’t go for the milk, he turned to face her. She could see the remnants of the injuries he’d sustained to keep the Rourke family secret, safeguarding whatever Caleb’s parents were doing. “I know things have been different between us since you found that safe. But I hope you’ll see that I was honoring a friend, and perhaps be able to forgive me. It’s bigger than bothof us, Tessa. It’s national security, international spy business. Maybe that’s hard to believe, but you know what Caleb does.”

“And you had to keep their secrets safe, even from me?”

He nodded. “I would’ve told you if I was allowed. The protocol is there to keep people safe, and it’s the reason they didn’t come after you in the first place. Because it worked.” He let out a breath. “But I’m still sorry I lied to you.”

“I forgive you.” She didn’t want anything between them, causing strain, and the fact was that forgiving him would help her release the hurt.