Page 10 of Code Name: Admiral

I shook my head. What else could I say? Why hadn’t I thought this through before making the call? “Do you remember how you felt when you first met Bryar?”

Diesel chuckled. “Sure do. I also remember that she hated the sight of me.”

“I did not.” I heard her say in the background.

“Yeah, you did, but I won you over eventually.” The phone rustled with what sounded like them kissing. “Sorry, Admiral. I’m back. So, the sister? What’s she like?”

“I haven’t met her yet,” I admitted. “But I feel like I know her already, like I’ve been waiting to meet her my whole life.” The words tumbled out before I could stop them, more honest than I’d intended to be. I stopped and did a three-sixty. Someone was tailing me. I could feel it. Out of the corner of my eye, I couldswear I spotted Alice’s long red hair, but with a blink, she was gone.

“But?”

“I can’t stop thinking about her. In fact, I thought I just saw her. I’m hallucinating, Deez. I mean, who am I?”

Diesel chuckled. “First of all, trust your gut, my friend. If you think you saw her, you probably did. Second, what you’re going through happens to all of us, if we’re lucky. The only advice I can give you is, go with it.”

“She has pink streaks in her hair.”

“Right up your alley,” he joked.

“As if.” But even as I protested, I knew he was right. Everything about her that should have put me off only drew me in deeper.

“So, what’s the next step?” he asked.

“No idea, but my gut is telling me she’s planning to avenge her sister’s death, one way or another.”

“Is Bobby still hanging out with the Castellanos?”

“Affirmative.”

“I don’t need to tell you how dangerous they are. Do you need backup?”

“I appreciate the offer, Diesel. Outside of the bureau, I’ve got four from K19 Security Solutions helping out. Two are on contract.” Diesel worked for the same firm but on a team called Shadow Operations.

“Good deal. The backup offer will stay open. By the way, I was over at your place yesterday. Everything’s looking good.”

The peaceful lake in the Adirondacks, where Diesel and Bryar lived, felt thousands of miles away from where I was. “I need to get up there,” I muttered.

“Damn straight, you do. Bryar and I have big news, but we’re waiting to tell you in person.”

I could guess, but I wouldn’t. “I’ve got a bunch of personal time accumulating. As soon as this case wraps, I’ll get up there.”

Back when I worked out of the Albany field office, my parents had asked if I was interested in the lakefront estate—called a great camp, in the Adirondacks—that had been in my dad’s family for years. If I wasn’t, they planned to sell it since the upkeep was becoming too much for them. After all the summers I’d spent there, I couldn’t let it leave the family, so I bought it. Once I transferred to the field office in Manhattan, the four-hour drive got harder to fit in than the ninety-minute one had. Diesel was great about checking on the place for me, but I sometimes wondered if I should have stayed at my previous job. However, if I had, my only involvement in Sarah Gordon’s death would’ve been my connection to Bobby.

While it was the weekend, I decided to go into the office since it would be quiet today. Rather than returning home to get my laptop, which I really didn’t need, I went straight to the building. When I got off the elevator, Tank was getting on. I stepped out, and he followed me down the hall.

“What’s going on?” I asked when he closed my door behind him.

He held out his phone, and I read the message he must’ve been about to send me.

Cheshire made contact. Wants to meet with you.

My mouth gaped. “Seriously?” My heart rate spiked with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety coursing through my veins. This was what I’d wanted and dreaded equally—when the game of cat and mouse would become a face-to-face confrontation. That it was happening so much sooner than I’d anticipated should’ve worried me a helluva lot more than it excited me.

5

ALICE

What the fuck did I think I was doing, following an FBI agent around Manhattan? Although the fact he hadn’t appeared to spot me made me wonder how good of a G-man he was.

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