Page 37 of Wild Fever

I smiled. "Piper, this is Kara. Kara, Piper.”

They forced a smile at each other.

Piper continued her rant. "You're late. I’ve been waiting at least 45 minutes."

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect to run into two assassins," I snarked.

"What are you getting me into?”

We stepped inside the salon, and I knelt down and petted Buddy. I introduced him to Piper, and the little Jack Russell soaked up the attention from the two beauties. He was an attention hog.

After a few moments, Piper said, "Well, I'm here. What have you got for me?”

I told Kara to fork over the data. "I know you've got it on you.”

She hesitated a moment, then pulled a USB drive from a pocket and brandished it. As I reached for it, she pulled back. "I don't know if you've forgotten, but I’m supposed to make a drop in an hour.”

"So we’ll go to the drop and see who shows up. But they're not getting the data.” I looked at Piper. "Do you have everything you need?"

She pulled a sleek black laptop from her backpack. "Where can I set up?”

"Anywhere you like. Make yourself at home."

"This is a nice boat, by the way.”

"Thank you," I said.

“Are you sure you guys are legit?”

I sneered at her.

"I'm going to wander around and find a place where I can catch a vibe.”

"Just don't leave the boat.”

"What, am I a prisoner now?" she asked as she brushed past me. She set out to explore the boat, and Buddy followed her. I think he made a new friend.

I warned her, "Remember, you can’t be connected to the Internet. You can't copy the file, you can't?—“

"I know, I know. I'm not stupid. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

I told Jack to stay here and look after Piper while Kara and I went to the drop site. He tossed me the keys to the Porsche, andwe left the boat and headed down the dock to the parking lot. We hopped into the sports car. Kara was glad to have a real seat.

24

We cruised across the island with the windows down and the sunroof open. It was a momentary breather from the chaos.

"You know, taking you out at the drop site would be an ideal opportunity," I said.

"You’re not making me feel comfortable about this.”

"Maybe you shouldn't do it.”

"Is that concern I hear?”

"It's my attempt at using good judgment. Of which I've failed miserably in recent times."

She laughed. After a pause, she said, "This could be an opportunity to find out who hired me.”