Page 8 of Smoke and Shadows

“How’s Jack?”

“Considering the circumstances, he’s good. He’s already gotten into a brawl.”

“What?”

“It’s like freaking General Hospital over here.”

“Did you just crack a joke?”

“Yes, I did, sweetheart.”

She laughed. He loved hearing her laugh.

“Listen, I think I have some intel for you.” Marissa changed the subject.

“What?”

“It’s a who. Remember Jiro Matsuda?”

“What’s the Japanese got to do with this?”

“You know he’s not really Japanese.”

“We can’t talk about this over the phone, Marissa.”

“Okay. Where do you want to meet?”

“Site three in twenty minutes?”

“Sounds good.”

“You know you don’t have to make up shit to see me, Marissa.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

The line went dead, but Viktor found himself grinning.

2

Site three wasan old abandoned junkyard on the outskirts of the shady Cloverleaf District. It was also a CIA property used for clandestine meet-ups, dead drops, and object disposal. Dark puddles covered the asphalt from the melted snow. Marissa smiled as she watched a Dodge Charger pull up beside her BMW. Viktor always loved his muscle cars. Ever since the South Africa incident involving the zee bombs, they had developed a cautious business relationship punctuated with some flirting, mostly from Viktor’s side. This was only their third rendezvous. The first one was when she put together some disturbing intel on a potential threat against the Guardians. The second meet-up was two weeks ago, soon after the attack on Nasir’s convoy and the abduction of Jack McCord. McCord’s kidnapping was baffling, but because what happened to Maia was kept under the radar, as far as New Park and DC society knew, the couple had taken a sabbatical together. Now, the pieces were falling into place, and the game board was looking more alarming. Viktor needed to be brought into the loop.

Viktor rapped on her car window. They’d done this routine the past two times; she would hand him the keys to thejunkyard gates, he would open them to let her car through, and then he would follow, locking the gates behind him afterward. Then he would park beside her car and get into her vehicle.

Marissa felt warmth flood her body as Viktor Baran folded his imposing frame into the passenger side. His light blond hair hinted of his European ancestry, and he usually wore it in a buzz cut, but he had allowed it to grow recently. Now, with some locks falling over his chiseled countenance, he had become even more irresistible. Viktor was quite a specimen of a man, and she flushed every time she remembered the muscled hardness that lay beneath the civility of his leather jacket, cargo pants, and military boots.

He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.Now this is new.

“What was that for?” Marissa quirked a brow.

“Sheathe your claws, sweetheart.” Viktor turned on his seat to face her squarely.

“You know, Viktor, you’re becoming more and more unprofessional at our meetings.” She tried to keep her tone neutral. But her blood was pounding through her veins. She wanted nothing more than to straddle him.Get a grip, Cole!

“And you’re getting more and more defensive.”

Marissa shook her head. She knew better than to argue with him, so she launched straight into their agenda to take her mind off her lusty thoughts.

“I’ve gone over the background of the men who abducted Jack McCord.”

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