Page 43 of Trapped With the Secret Agent

“From what I’ve seen,” she said with deliberate indifference. “You’ve got several abilities that help you along the road to success.”

“Oh?” Gone was the indulgent professor. In his place was a non-committal politician. Georgia almost laughed out loud at the quick change in attitude.

“Yes. Just out of curiosity, how many languages do you speak? Was that your minor in university?” Oh, yes, let’s start with the easy questions.

“No.” he said slowly. “I can speak a few words in several languages. It’s kind of a necessity.”

“Of course. Still, that’s pretty impressive and useful when you’re in a foreign country and you have to ask someone if you can take their picture.”

“Yeah.” He sounded a touch confused, which was just what she wanted.

“And how about the martial arts, how long did you study that? I’ve got a cousin who studies kung fu. He says it’s great for stress relief.”

“I, uh... He’s right.”

Almost caught him, no denial, but no answer, either. Time to hit him with the big guns.

“Uncle Theo said something interesting about you while you were on the phone with the president.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I thought it was really curious.” She paused. “What he said.”

She heard him let out a deep breath. The kind an exasperated parent makes when inundated by a child’s questions. “Ok, I’ll bite. What did he say?”

“He said you were the best man for the job. He said if anyone could get it done it was you. He said to trust you. Can you believe that? A professional politician telling his secretary, hisniece, to trust a journalist she’s never met before. And here’s the kicker, he said all thatafterI told him we found the warhead in the basement. Now, how weird is that?”

“I don’t know. How weird is it?” His tone was so bland it had to be a lie.

“Very,veryweird.”

Two seconds of silence. “So, he knows about the warhead, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s probably a good thing.”

“A good thing?” Georgia asked. What could possibly be good about it?

“It’s his embassy, he should know if there’s a bomb in the basement, don’t you think?”

She snorted. “I guess, but there’s something else I’m curious about.”

“Oh God,” Peter said with a long-suffering sigh. “All right, lay it on me.”

“How long did it take you to learn to kill a man with your bare hands then carry on like it never happened?”

He didn’t answer right away, but when he did, his voice was nothing more than a growl. “The length of time it took him to aim his rifle at you.”

His words splashed an icy pail of reality over Georgia’s head. The breath stalled in her chest as what he said echoed through her mind. The implication was clear. To protect her, he’dkilledfor her. It was the sort of thing a mother did to safeguard her child, or a husband to protect his wife.

“Georgia?” There was worry in that growl now. He swore. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you that. The circumstances are—”

“You did it to protect me?” She was on the verge of crying, her voice full of unshed tears.

“Yes. I’m sorry for upsetting you—”

Georgia threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his shoulder.

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