Page 52 of The Spy Who Ghosted Me

“Just getting a little exploration in before the wedding.”

“Down in the caves?” I clarified. I had a sneaking suspicion where the diamonds might be if they weren’t in his room or at the house on Emerald Isle. Or perhaps even in the pack he carried on his back.

“Yes,” he said nervously. “I better get cleaned up.” He made to skedaddle.

“Wait,” I hurried to say. “I have a question for you.” Crap. Think of something quick.

Soren paused, though he curled his lip as if disgruntled about it.

I smiled a dazzling smile, and a thought came to me. Seriously, I was getting good at this spy thing. “I was just wondering which caves you would recommend Cash and I explore. It could be a fun date for us.”

“I’m sure you would know better than me, growing up here.” He stomped off, obviously not wishing to share, which led me to believe my hunch was right about the diamonds’ whereabouts.

“But I wasn’t much of an explorer. That was more of Lexi’s thing,” I called out, hoping to stall him. Cash was probably yelling at me in his head. But I was doing this because I needed to save my sister and possibly because I wanted Cash to know that he was worthy to have others care about him. That he wasn’t alone in this world.

Soren paused again, this time with his plastic face so tight I thought it might tear. “Then I would ask Lexi.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the sound of something heavy falling on the floor caught both of our attention.

My heart stopped. Had one of those mob bosses or terrorists come to call on Soren? Did they take out Cash? Did Cash take them out? Please don’t let it be Cash. “Um ... what was that?” I tried to act just as surprised as Soren was.

Soren wasted no time racing toward the back. I jumped up and ran after him, knowing if Cash was okay, he was going to be upset that I hadn’t run back to Daddy and Pops. But all I could think about was making sure Cash was all right. So maybe I wasn’t so good at this spy thing. But I made for a good fake girlfriend. Or you know, a real one. Besides, it would look suspicious at this point if I didn’t check out the noise with Soren. I realized then why all those stupid people die in horror movies when they go toward the noise. Yes, I was one of those idiotic people following a wife killer back to his room.

“I think the noise came from the hall bath,” I lied, trying to give Cash some time if he needed it, or for his killer to escape. It was a toss-up. Please don’t let my fake boyfriend be dead. “I hope it’s not a possum again,” I rattled on. “We got one in the house a long time ago. Oh, man, did it make a mess.” That was a true story. I slept in my parents’ room for a month after that, afraid a possum would eat my face off in the middle of the night.

Soren wasn’t paying attention to me at all. He went straight to the room he was staying in.

I tiptoed up behind him, my heart about to beat out of my chest, trying to think of a good reason a random mob boss or Cash was dead in Soren’s room. Did SPI have a protocol for this? Did Cash have some device on him that activated if his heart stopped, and then a sweeper team came in and took care of the situation?

I had to hold back the tears thinking of Cash dead and me not even being able to attend his funeral or tell anyone he’d died trying to save Lexi. I probably should have been more concerned that my life was on the line. If Cash was indeed dead, his killer could still be there.

Soren threw open his door, flipped on the light, and looked around frantically. Did that mean the diamonds were in his room, or was he just super paranoid? Both?

I peeked my head in the meticulously clean guest room Mama had designed herself and prided herself on. The upholstered Baldwin bed sat between two floor-to-ceiling windows with the caramel velvet curtains drawn. Mama never closed those curtains. She loved natural lighting. Obviously, Soren wanted privacy.

Holding my breath, I stepped into the room and looked around. No blood was seeping onto the hardwood floors, and as far as I could tell, nothing was out of place. And the best part of all: no dead bodies. I had no idea how Cash had gotten out. I prayed it was of his own volition. Letting out an audible sigh, I said, “No possums in here. Phew.” I pretended to wipe my brow. “I’ll go check the other rooms.”

Soren whipped his head my way, his contact-covered eyes narrowed at me.

“What?” I asked, taking a step back.

Soren stepped closer, his brows ever creasing, scaring the living daylights out of me.

The doorbell rang, and it seemed to make Soren come to himself. He shook his head, and his expression softened. It was as if a new personality appeared.

“I’m going to get that,” I whispered, shaking a little. Okay, a lot.

Soren nodded, like he was giving me his permission. I didn’t like that at all. Lexi could in no way marry this man. He had the potential to be volatile.

I dashed away like my life depended on it.

Maybe it did.

Cash

DAMN IT ALL TO HELL! I’d let what very few emotions I possessed overrule me, and not only did I put the one person I cared about in this world in danger, but I may have screwed over the mission. Knocking over the decorative metal ball on the nightstand near the window while climbing out was a rookie mistake. My focus wasn’t where it should have been—all I could think about was saving Sabrina. Why hadn’t she just gotten the hell out of there like I’d told her instead of engaging the scumbag in conversation? I’d warned her how dangerous he was. More importantly, I’d told her I could take care of myself. Not that I blamed her for this situation—I should have never put her in this position in the first place. And I shouldn’t have wasted time kissing her, but to me it hadn’t been time wasted. I wanted every second with her I could get. But those seconds were costly, and now Sabrina might be paying the price.

I stared at the front door, wanting to knock it down, waiting for Sabrina to answer it. Why she hadn’t left yet, I didn’t know. Actually, that wasn’t true—I did know. She was trying to play heroine and save her sister. I was giving it five more seconds before I went in, guns blazing, not caring if I blew my cover. I would kill Izan without a thought if he did anything to Sabrina.

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