Page 32 of Provoke You

10

You Knew That Would Happen

Matt

“Of course, he ran.” I tossed my phone on the bed after reading Kitt’s text.

“You knew that would happen.” Ela sat in the small kitchen of our rental apartment. After Chase brought her a chicken-and-pesto pizza and a tub of strawberry Greek yogurt, she made herself at home without asking any more questions or even complaining about not being included in our plans. It was unsettling, to say the least.

“Are you tagging me in, coach?” She jumped off her chair, wearing a pretty Sunday dress and a pair of Converse. Not exactly a stakeout outfit.

In the three hours we’d spent on the plane, she’d convinced me that using her to get to Ben was the best option. I had no reason to believe Ben was involved with Mr. Benoit’s shady dealings. If he were, he wouldn’t be hiding. He’d be in New Orleans brokering the deal. Playing this guessing game wasn’t exactly my forte. I’d been trained to make plans based on concrete information. With Ela, everything seemed to be a moving target, and I didn’t like it.

“Yeah, I’m tagging you in. You may want to change clothes.”

“Why? This is what I would wear to call on an old friend,” she said with an innocent tone.

“Fine. I’ll drive you. But, Ela, stay close to me. We go in, stay no more than forty minutes, and then we’re out. Keep it simple.” My tone of voice was the same tone I would have used on any other tactic mission, but for some reason, Ela found it amusing. “This is serious.”

“I’m serious too. I find this whole marine act very sexy, is all.”

“It’s not an act. Should we skip this Ben nonvisit until you understand how deep in shit you really are?”

She pursed her lips, bracing her hands on her hips. Even in her cute dress, she looked as if she were ready to set this place on fire. “I understand. Would it make you feel better if I crawled into a corner and cried myself to sleep instead? Because I can do that. God knows I want to.”

“I’m sorry. The last time I did this with a civilian, it didn’t turn out so well.” I tried to tell Tyler this thing with Ela was different, but that was a lie. This nonmission with Ela was worse than the Venezuela extraction mission because I never had feelings for Rebecca. Other than feeling sorry for her for the fucked-up life she had to endure.

“I’d like to hear about it someday.”

“And I’d like to tell you.” I cradled her cheek and pressed my lips to hers, hoping my gut was wrong. For once, it’d be nice to be wrong about how quickly people were willing to sell their souls. Was her dad tempted? He already had money. What else did he want? I would very much like for Ela to never have to find out.

I ushered her out the door and to the car where Chase and Kitt waited. Ela climbed in and scooted all the way to the other passenger door. I wanted to pull her closer to me, hold her, but Chase and Kitt would have a big issue with that. We had rules for a reason.

“We should call ahead.” Ela squeezed my thigh.

“Why?” I met Chase’s gaze in the rearview mirror when he cocked an eyebrow.

“To be polite to Mrs. Turner and also to speed things along. In case your bad guys aren’t as good as you think they are.” She shrugged.

Chase sniggered in the front seat. “She’s got a point.”

“Okay.” I fished my phone from the inside pocket of my suit and dialed the number.

Squinting at me, Ela snatched my mobile. “I’m not even going to comment on how fucked up it is that you memorized Old Ben’s number.”

“Because I didn’t share it with you?”

“Yeah.” She shook her head. “Hello, Mrs. Turner? Hi, it’s Rosela LeBlanc. Ela. Do you remember me?” A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Did she think Mrs. Turner wouldn’t remember her? “I know it’s rather sudden, but I was wondering if I could call on you soon. I’d love to see you and catch up. I haven’t seen Old Ben in ages.” She went quiet for a long time. “Well, if you don’t mind, I’m available right now.” She turned to me and shrugged.

We’re about thirty minutes out, I mouthed to her.

“Great. We’ll see you in about half an hour.” She tapped the screen and hugged the phone to her chest. “That was intense.”

“You did great. Why don’t you keep the phone? Just in case.”

When we reached Ben’s lake house, Chase drove past the entrance and around the water fountain.

“Wow. Now I remember this place.”

---