Page 36 of Operation: Reckless Angel

“Hi Briana, it’s Sebastian. I’m just checking in. I hope all is good,” he wrote.

Her finger hovered over her screen as she thought of the reply she’d send. Plus, she didn’t want to reply too fast. “Hi, Sebastian. All is good with me. You?”

Roth smiled at her reply. He knew she would say all was good, no matter if it was or not. “Yes, good here,” he typed. “I’m sleeping beneath the stars tonight. It’s quiet, peaceful.”

“Where are you?” she texted back.

Roth thought about it for a second. There was no harm in telling her where he was. And if he wanted her to be open and honest with him, he had to be as well. “Texas,” he replied. He wouldn’t tell her exactly where in Texas. “Where are you?” he asked.

Briana stared at the screen of her phone. “Kentucky,” she replied. He didn’t need to know where in Kentucky. “I’m helping a friend and before you ask, no, I’m not doing anything borderline illegal.”

Roth chuckled to himself after reading her reply. She wouldn’t admit it if she were. “I didn’t ask,” he replied. “LOL, but I’m glad you’re staying out of trouble.” Even as he typed it into his phone, he doubted that was the case. Briana Woods was trouble. Trouble that he was attracted to.

“Camping, huh?” she texted. “Work or pleasure?”

Roth smiled at his phone. He considered a reply that would be obvious flirting. Did he dare? Would she follow his lead? It would be fun. He decided to risk it. “If it were pleasure, I’d invite you to come join me. Or are you a five-star resort kind of girl?”

Briana laughed aloud. “Do I seem like a five-star resort kind of girl to you? Seriously, you’ve seen my van, my second home,” she fingered into her screen.

“LOL, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t want to be pampered at a spa. I love camping out. Maybe you would want to join me sometime.”

She smiled at his invitation. “A spa is always nice, but I wouldn’t be opposed to being pampered while camping.” She paused for a moment and re-read it before she sent it. She decided to edit it just slightly. “I wouldn’t be opposed to being pampered by you while camping.” She hit send.

Roth felt his dick twitch. Damn, he was getting aroused just texting with her. Well, it had gone into flirty territory. A hypothetical camping trip was better than a hypothetical date. A date would most likely end with goodnight at her doorstep or car door. A camping trip involved several nights of sleeping together. He warmed in his sleeping bag at the thought of spending the night with her. “And I would pamper you.”

“Tell me how. What’s your definition of pamper?” she texted back.

Roth thought about it. “Well, I’d plan our meals and cook them all for you. At least one dinner would be a great steak cooked over the campfire. I’d make sure our tent had an air mattress so you wouldn’t have to sleep on the hard ground. And I’m sure we’d be hiking or rafting all day, so I’d massage your feet or your whole body if they were achy, whatever you’d want. And if you were cold, I’d hold you and share my body heat with you to keep you warm.” He didn’t even re-read it before he hit send.

Briana’s entire body grew warm as she read his text. Massage her whole body. That sounded as nice as snuggling and sharing body heat. “Ah, so we’d share a tent?”

Roth read meaning into her questions. “The safest way to camp, and it’s not the four-legged predators I worry about, not that I presume I would need to defend you. I know you are more than capable. In addition to sharing body heat, it would give us less to have to pack, only one tent.”

“You’ve thought about this,” she replied.

“I’m thinking about it now,” he texted. “And I like the thought of it.” He waited for what seemed a long time before she replied.

Briana considered her next text for probably too long. “Me too. Let’s plan it.”

Roth’s smile spread over his entire face. He kept his reply toned down. “Sounds good.” And he left it at that, but he wanted to nail down a date and a place. He wanted to call her and hear her voice and plan it. Instead, he texted her a good night.

Briana replied, “Goodnight.”

She tossed and turned for an hour before falling asleep. When she woke in the morning, the room was dark. It was not quite five a.m. The house was quiet. She grabbed her laptop and logged in. She found information from Cam on three more potential clients who’d come through the new on-line contact form on their new website. She began looking into them and their cases.

***

Roth woke before sun up. He could make out in the predawn light that Jackson and Garcia still slept in the tent nearby, as the flap had been left open. He could have squeezed in with them, but he preferred to sleep under the stars. He went into the van to get a cup of coffee and check in with Smith, who he knew would be on duty.

“Hey, all quiet?” Roth asked him upon entering.

“Yes, just a few of Wells’ private security guys creeping around,” Smith answered. “I did a little digging. The last contract Wells’ firm was awarded had to do with drones. It’s classified Top Secret. I can’t get into any files that will tell me the particulars.”

“So, that wasn’t included in the intel SecDef shared yesterday?” Roth asked.

“No. Nothing regarding what program SecDef brought him, nor what project name Wells is working on. The one thing we did learn is that there is an underground R and D facility in that bunker beneath the barn on his property.”

“Interesting,” remarked Roth. “Any idea of the size of his underground facility or how extensive his tunnel network is?”

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