Page 14 of Assassin

She was wary.

This man was one bucket of sarcasm and angst after another. He was a lot like her.

“That depends. What’s the question, Marine?”

He went there.

“How the bloody fuck do you and just about everyone you send here just pop into our goddamn courtyard without setting off our freaking security? It’s making me absolutely insane to the point I can’t stop fixating on it.”

She started laughing.

Greyson too.

Truthfully, she was waiting for him to ask. She knew him well.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she joked.

Oh, he wasn’t buying that.

“Come on!” Zayn said. “We’re always caught off guard. Are you a witch? Is it a spell? Do you sacrifice animals on the weekend? What? Because we have CIA equipment from Remmy, and you aren’t using that. What is it?”

She was to the point and gave them enough so they could figure it out.

“Well, true or false?”

They waited with bated breath.

“Jagger and Maura own the building attached on the East side of your base, right?”

Jagger lifted a brow.

Oh, he wasn’t answering that.

To be honest, he wasn’t sure where she was going with this. His home was not known to many people—including the Feds.

Old habits die hard.

“Maybe,” Zayn said.

She stared at them, waiting for someone, anyone, to get the idea. When they didn’t, she sighed.

“Mr. Thundercloud, who the hell do you think owns the one on the other side of the office you’re in?” she asked.

That was all she had to say.

“What the fuck?” Zayn asked.

Maura started laughing. She found that outrageous for the simplest reason.

It was so low tech that NONE of them ever considered it. Of course, she could just buy the property next door, create a story, and pretend it was owned by someone.

“So Renee and Jackson Williamson aren’t our neighbors?” Zayn asked.

“My middle name is Renee, and Ethan’s is Jackson. I thought for sure that the Jackson would be a dead giveaway since that’s also Callen’s writing name.”

Apparently, not.

“My dude, we share a parking area. You never see cars there, but you have to know that someone lives next to you. Come on, now. How did you not put two and two together to get the answer? HOW?”

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