Page 51 of Lethal Sins

As they perused the menu, she couldn’t shake the surreal feeling of playing house in the midst of their high-stakes mission.

They savored their meal, the briny sweetness of local clams melting on Paige’s tongue. She found herself easily slipping intothe role of a woman in love, laughing at Cody’s jokes and leaning in close as if sharing secrets.

“You know,” Cody murmured, his voice low, “I almost wish this were real.”

“Me too.” The words escaped before she could stop them.

Cody’s eyes widened, genuine surprise flickering across his face. She shrugged, feeling heat creep up her neck. “Don’t tell anybody,” she ordered.

“Yes ma’am.” He gulped down his lemonade.

As the night wore on, the clam shack quieted. Moonlight glimmered on the water outside, casting a silvery glow through the windows. The bartender ambled over, thrusting out a hand. “Mario,” he introduced himself. “I’ve got your boat ready, but I think you’re gonna want to wait until morning to head out. Too many sand bars and unidentified cays out there, lots of ‘em not much bigger than an ice chest on a picnic bench.”

They agreed readily, fatigue weighing heavily on both of them. Mario slid a room keycard across the table. “Food’s on me,” he insisted. “I owe Captain Hackett way more than a couple dinners.”

Hand in hand, Paige and Cody crossed the street to the motel. His warm touch sent a jolt through her, unbidden memories of their stolen kiss flooding back. Not great timing, given their shared accommodations for the night.

Relief washed over her at the sight of two beds in the room. Cody offered to step outside while she changed, citing a perimeter check. Grateful for the moment alone, Paige sent up a quick prayer before slipping into the pretty pajamas Kate’s mysterious former teammates had provided.

Even with the door closed, the scent of the ocean permeated the room. This tropical paradise had her mind wandering to places it shouldn’t, to possibilities that couldn’t be. She fingered the locket at her throat, a familiar comfort.

“Please, Dad,” she whispered, “steer us in the right direction. We need a break.”

As she settled under the covers, her thoughts drifted to Cody. To his steady presence, his unwavering support. To the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. Paige squeezed her eyes shut, willing away the dreams she couldn’t afford to indulge. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new dangers. But for now, in the quiet of this South Florida night, she allowed herself one moment to imagine a different life, a different ending to their story.

32

The morning sunglinted off the water as Paige and Cody set out in the borrowed powerboat, the coordinates from her father their only guide. At first, it appeared they were headed straight for the endless blue horizon, but soon a series of low-lying islets appeared, like humps of sand topped with mangroves and palm trees. They could have been plucked straight from the pages of a children’s adventure book.

Paige breathed a sigh of relief, the fresh morning air a welcome change from the stuffy confines of the motel room. While cute and tidy, the small space had left her feeling claustrophobic all night. Or maybe it was just the awareness of Cody sleeping in the next bed, their fake couple-on-vacation act seeping into her subconscious. She was more than ready to shed that persona and dive back into her element—cybersecurity and mission planning.

Finally, they were doing something, moving forward with their mission. The coordinates from her father burned in her mind, a puzzle waiting to be solved. She settled into the passenger seat, pulling out her tablet to review their route one last time.

Cody eased off the throttle, his eyes flicking between the depth chart and the maze of tiny islands. “Vacation spots, mostly,” he suggested, gesturing to the occasional shacks and makeshift homes that dotted the landscape. “There’d be no fresh water out here to speak of, for one thing.”

Just as he spoke, they rounded the corner of another flat islet. A single-story cabin nestled into some overgrown shrubbery well back from the sand. A bearded man about her father’s age waved at them from a faded beach chair, his tidy little beach house a stark contrast to some of the more ramshackle dwellings they’d passed. A gleaming speedboat was moored at his well-kept dock.

“Should we worry about him?” Cody asked as they glided past. “He looks like retired military.”

The man simply looked like a retired guy living the life to her. “What makes you think that?”

He shot her a disparaging look. “You mean besides the handgun sitting next to the fishing rod at his feet?”

Heat rose to Paige’s cheeks. She’d been so caught up in her own thoughts, wondering if her father’s coordinates were leading them on a wild goose chase, that she’d missed such a crucial detail. She needed to up her situational awareness. Big time.

Cody steered them around the corner of yet another tiny isle, disturbing a flock of seagulls resting on a sandy point. “No worries. This is a lot. And I’m used to looking for enemies around every corner. Or on every deserted island, as the case may be.”

She grabbed the gunwale, steadying herself against both the boat’s movement and her own self-recrimination. Nice of him to try to make her feel better, but it didn’t change the fact that she needed to be on her toes. They all did.

The salt spray stung her face as she scanned the horizon, determined not to miss another detail. Her father’s locket felt heavy against her chest, a constant reminder of the stakes.

They wound their way deeper into the natural channel between the islets, finally arriving at the coordinates. A broken-down dock jutted out from the shore, leading to a sagging cabin perched on the high point a hundred yards away.

She shuddered, imagining what creatures might be lurking inside.

“Bats, most likely,” Cody offered, as if reading her mind.

“Lovely. You take point.”

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