Page 63 of Covert Vengeance

They all looked up as she and Jesse entered.

“Stanislav just put us in a serious time crunch,” Amber announced. “We’ve held the cards so far, but if we push him again now, we might lose him or tip him off that something major is up. So it looks like we’re going to have to move up our timeline on the op to tonight.”

Jesse strode over to Lady Ada, then paused and looked back at Amber, a mischievous, knowing twinkle in his eyes. “May I?”

She liked that he knew to ask permission. Everyone needed to respect the Lady. “You may.”

He brought up the forum page and displayed Stanislav’s response, then immediately moved to the next keyboard beside Lady Ada and typed in the coordinates listed. The satellite map on screen shifted and tightened focus on the new location.

“This is where he wants the drop to happen.” He pointed to the parking lot of what looked like either a construction or transportation company near the docks. The south half was packed with trucks and shipping containers, the north half empty. The entire thing was enclosed with a chain link fence, but no visible major security.

“It’s still within the area easiest for me to make go dark,” Amber said. “But there’s only one way in and out, through that gate. How are we going to work around that?”

“I’ve got an idea,” said Megan.

They all listened while she detailed her plan. It was solid, had definite promise, but it involved her posing as Amber when Stanislav showed up to take custody of her. “Yeah, that’s not happening,” Amber told her in a flat voice. “We’ve been through this already.”

“You’re right, we have,” Megan agreed, her expression annoyed and just as determined as Amber’s. “And I think I’ve made my feelings and decision about this part extremely clear.”

“Let’s call this option alpha for now,” Trinity said, taking the diplomatic role, “and come up with a few more scenarios. We don’t know what Stanislav is planning. He’s a wild card, so we’ll have to be ready for anything.”

Megan held Amber’s defiant stare for a few more seconds, then finally shifted her gaze to Georgia as the sniper made her suggestions. They went around the table then back and forth, including everyone’s input and analyzing the pros and cons to each plan.

With a sinking heart as they wrapped up, Amber was forced to grudgingly agree that Megan’s plan made the most sense. And that sucked.

“We need you working on Lady Ada to do this thing right,” Megan argued. “You’re the only one here capable of pulling off what we need. I look enough like you, and if I dye my hair, even if he gets up close Stanislav won’t be able to tell it’s not you when he first sees me.”

Standing behind Megan, Ty shifted his stance. His arms were folded across his chest, his mouth a compressed line of frank displeasure. Amber didn’t blame him. And the thought of Megan putting herself in such a risky position on her behalf made her feel sick inside.

“Can I talk to you alone for a minute?” Amber said to her.

Megan studied her for a long moment, then gave in with a nod. “Fine.” She stood, brushed past Ty and walked out of the room.

Amber followed her into the kitchen, a bright, cozy room with an old brick floor laid in a herringbone pattern, white cabinets and creamy stone countertops. It smelled of the baking the cook had done that morning, but the homey scent merely made Amber’s roiling stomach churn more.

Rounding the center island to stand in front of the apron-front sink, Megan stopped and faced her. “Well? What’s the problem?”

“This,” she bit out, resisting the urge to drag a hand through her hair. “We just outlined a half dozen other ways to get this op done, and you’re hell bent on posing as bait.”

“Because I know it’ll work, and so do you and the others.”

“It’ll work the other ways, too.”

“No, it won’t. At least not without a significant increase in risk to the team.”

“And what about the risk to you? Huh?” Amber fired back. “Did you think about that?”

Hurt flickered in Megan’s eyes, and Amber felt like she’d just kicked a puppy. “You don’t trust me?”

“Of course I trust you! That’s not the point. Jesus. How can you not get that? You’re my sister and I just got you back!” She spun and paced to the end of the island, then turned to confront her sister again. “What about Ty? You think he wants to stand by and watch you do this? You thinkIwant to watch you do it?”

“Tyler will have my back. He knows I can do this. And you should too.”

“We both know you can do it,” Amber snapped. “The point is, we don’t want you to. Okay?”

Megan scowled. “Why the hell not? We get Stanislav, turn him over to Rycroft, and then we can finally get to the important part—finding the rest of us before it’s too late.”

Amber paused and drew in a deep, steadying breath, her mind racing, pulse thudding in her throat. The emotions she’d tried to keep locked down were bombarding her, rushing closer to the surface with every heartbeat.

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