Page 46 of Redeeming Meg

“Take another look,” Dec ordered. “This is your route, right? You were here yesterday?”

Something about his tone caught the man’s attention. He peered in his rearview at them, then reluctantly inspected the picture more closely. “Maybe.”

The way Tommy had looked yesterday was a far cry from his clean-cut, smiling face in the photo. “He’s American,” she told the guy. “You picked him up after the bomb went off here. Surely, you didn’t have that many calls for this place after that.”

“All we need is to know where you dropped him off,” Dec added.

“The meter is running. Do you want to go anywhere or not?”

Dec pulled out several bills and slid them through the wire bars between the seats. “Take us to the place you took him.”

The man’s eyes grew greedy as he took in the bills, but he said, “I prefer crypto.”

“Or I could break your nose,” Del countered.

“Get out,” the man said.

Dec yanked out his phone. “Fine. Tell us what we want to know, and I’ll pay with Bitcoin.”

Frustration simmered beneath her skin. This was all part of the game, and she knew it. She’d done this dance many times with other assets and resources. But right now, staring at the remains of the embassy and thinking back to yesterday, her nerves sparked with dread all over again.

“Maybe I don’t want anything to do with this,” the driver said. “Whatever this is. You should get out.”

A greedy man with a conscience. It happened frequently when trying to bribe decent people. She could use that to her advantage. “His name is Tommy, and he’s my brother,” she said. It wasn’t a complete lie. “He’s in trouble, and I’m trying to get him out of it before he ends up dead. I know you picked him up here. I need to find him. Please.”

The driver’s gaze flicked between the cash and her face as he weighed his options. The war in his eyes told her he truly was a decent guy, but like most folks, barely paying his bills and keeping his head above water.

With a sigh, he snatched the money from Dec’s hand, crypto forgotten and not above taking a bribe. That, combined with Meg’s story, seemed to be the perfect formula. “I dropped him at the train station.”

Train station. Damn. Tommy could be hundreds of miles away by now. “Did he say where he was going?” she asked.

The man tucked the bribe into his jacket pocket. “No. He was a quiet one, moody. Just told me to drop him there, and he didn’t even give me a tip.”

Dec slid him another bill. “Take us to the station, and I’ll provide you with a day’s worth of pay—in crypto, if that’s what you want.”

The car grumbled to life, and he tapped in the destination in his machine. Now, he was all smiles and good manners. “You like music? I play you some.”

Dec nodded, slipping his phone away. “What’s your favorite?”

“Hip-hop,” the driver said, making a U-turn and heading for the boulevard. “I like rap, too. You like rap?”

“Sure,” Dec said. “Turn it up loud.”

Meg winced as the driver did so, shooting Dec awhat the helllook.

He drew her close, acting like her lover, as he muttered in her ear. “Where would Tommy go?”

Technically, Decwasher lover, so it wasn’t hard to pretend she enjoyed the feel of his warm breath against her cheek. She shifted so she could speak into his ear easily as well, smiling in case their audience was watching. “Before Afghanistan, he did a six-week stint at the Berlin office. Berlin is familiar. He might go there.”

Dec ran his fingers down her neck, across her collarbone, and her breath hitched. “If he’s been stationed here, this would be more familiar, but after what happened, I assume he’s left town. You know him better than I do, though. What do you think?”

She chuckled, arching her neck slightly and raking her fingers through his hair, keeping up the pretense. “I’m not sure what to think. I need to talk to Flynn about why Tommy was stationed here in the first place.”

He grazed his lips over her exposed skin just under her ear. Her thighs clenched. “I already did,” he admitted.

She pulled back, dropping the act. “You did what?”

He put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her close again, kissing her. Teasing her lips apart with his tongue.

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