Page 85 of No More Spies

Her whole soul felt heavy. The tears were right there,waiting to come out in a torrent.

And then she could be done with them. This would be the lasttime she would cry for Cooper McKay. He made the decision for her, and therewas a piece of her grateful to him for doing it.

She took a long breath and looked up to Zach, who was stillholding his nose. “Did I break it?”

His head shook. “Nah. You pulled your punch. Or you were tooimpatient and didn’t wait until you were solidly on the ground. Want to goagain?”

No one ever said Zach wasn’t fair. She actually believed theman would stand there and take the punch. And not because she was a girl and itwouldn’t hurt. This was precisely why she thought Cooper was being tooemotional. If he hadn’t been, he would have seen how calm Zach was. “I’ll pass.You going to give me hell? I meant what I said. If you use one of those dartson me, there won’t be a place on earth you can hide.”

He holstered his Glock, slipping it under his arm. “Auntie,stand down. She’s not going to freak out on us.”

Joyce was crying as she looked down at Cooper. “He lookslike my granddad. I saw it the minute he walked into camp. Does your momma knowhe’s here? Zach, something’s happening. Something you’re not telling me.”

Zach sent Kala a “see what you’ve done” look. “Pretty sureMom knows nothing, but then I’ve barely talked to her. Finding her is one of myproblems. How much has Kala figured out?”

“Enough to know she’s the bombmaker.” Apparently he hadn’tbeen listening the whole time. “Did she make the bomb you put on Rebecca’s caror did you learn how to do it, too?”

Zach’s head fell back on a groan. “I should have known thiswould get heinously fucked up. The truth of the matter is I panicked when Iscrewed up with Tris. If I’d been thinking and not worried about losing myfriends, I could have saved it. You want a beer? There’s also whiskey, but it’snot what your dad drinks.”

She stared down at Cooper. “What was the dosage?”

She wanted to know if it was meant for a man or a bear. Ifit was a bear dose, she needed to get him to medical care.

Zach moved to the cooler, pulling out two longnecks. “Kala,I wouldn’t hurt my brother. It’s precisely why my aunt is carrying atranquilizer gun with man-dosed darts and not something with real bullets.She’s an excellent shot, but she can be paranoid at times.”

“It’s not paranoia, son,” Joyce argued. “The damn Agencywalked into my camp in the middle of nowhere looking for you. So it’s notparanoia. But he is right that I can shoot first and then really wish I’d askedsome questions. Though I don’t think I would have seen that face and shot.”

So Cooper would be okay, and that was all that mattered. Nowshe had a job to do. She took the beer and pulled the cap off. She should throwit back in his face since the last drink she’d taken from an actual bartenderhad been drugged. She stared at it for a moment.

“It’s not the same as Canada,” he said quietly, tipping hisown beer back and taking a long drink. “That asshole got you because you likesuper-bougie vodka. You watched him open the bottle. Watched him make thedrink. If you weren’t so fancy, the bottle wouldn’t have had a cork that makesit easy to drug.”

“I also tested the fucker.” He was right, and honestly, ifhe wanted to drug her, the rifle was still loaded. Deep down she trusted thisman. “How was I supposed to know Huisman spends his time developing new ways torape women? Asshole.”

Zach tipped his bottle her way before taking a seat. “Withyou, sister. Now tell me what’s going on with Devi.”

She sat across from him and rolled her eyes. “Sure. Let’sgossip about my cousin. No, Zach. You either talk or I call Henry Flandersright now and maybe you get away. Don’t think I’m not serious. I just wreckedthe only good relationship I’ve ever had. I would rather you tell me what Ineed to know than fight you.”

Zach sighed. “It’s two against one. I know you’re good, butI might have been holding back on you.”

Yeah, she got that. “I think I can convince your aunt tohelp me out since you didn’t talk to her about what’s going on. Joyce, yournephew has been working with the Agency for years. Now I believe he worked hisway on my team because he knew about Cooper, but he’s also used that positionto protect his mother, who is an illegal arms dealer.”

“Is this true?” Joyce asked.

“She’s not a dealer,” Zach returned. “She doesn’t want to bein this world, but once you’re in it’s hard to get out. She didn’t realize whatDisrupt would try to do with her bombs.”

A laugh huffed from Kala’s chest. “She didn’t realize theywould use bombs to blow shit up? Really? Do they have another use? Like ananxiety-inducing footstool?”

“You know as well as I do that sometimes war is necessary,”Zach replied evenly, his eyes on her. “She’s not what you think.”

“Shannon is a good girl deep down.” Joyce sniffled but keptthat rifle close. “She thinks she’s helping people.”

Joyce was delusional, but she wasn’t about to argue with thewoman. From what she could tell, Shannon and Zach were the only family Joycehad in all the world. Well, apart from her sleeping Prince Charming. Who’d lostall his charm.

He’d said all the right things, and she’d fallen for it.Because deep down she was just a pathetic girl who wanted some man to love her.Wanted a particular man to love her.

But she didn’t have to be. Lena could help her becomesomething else. Lena could help hone her into the weapon she’d always dreamedof being in her darker moments. A weapon for good, but who didn’t have to feelthis awful cloud over her head all the time.

How could he think she wanted to hurt him?

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