Page 45 of The Angel and the Agent

“Would you let me be eaten by crocodiles?” she asked, naming her other pending fear.

“And let them mess up your Brazilian blowout? Not a chance. I had to look up what that was, by the way. Not nearly as exciting or erotic as it sounded. Does it really cost five hundred dollars?”

“Only when I do it, not when I receive it,” she said. “There’s such a thing as an employee discount.”

“We have that, too. Buy two boxes of armor-piercing ammo, get a silencer free.”

He was making her laugh, and she kind of hated him for it. How did he run so hot and cold all the time so she was forever off-balance with him?

“Amelia, don’t be mad at me,” he pled. “You’re all I’ve got here.”

“We’ll be home soon enough,” she replied.

He leaned in closer, tipping her face to his. “You’re all I’ve got in this world.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“You think I’m exaggerating? You have a big, loving family. I have you and a few SEAL guys. If I died over here, they would put a tiny paragraph in my hometown paper in Vermont, and that would be that.”

“How can you say things like that when you’re so incredibly vital? The work you do…” she trailed off, motioning helplessly around them. “Who else can do it?”

“What’s the point of saving the world if you don’t have anyone to save it for?” he asked.

“I don’t understand you, Becket. You push me away, you hold me close, you tease me until I want to scream, and then you say things that make me want to cry. Sometimes I really want to punch you in the nose, and other times I want to…”

“Do go on,” he prompted. He took her hand and caressed it gently between both of his.

“But all the time, I want to know what’s going on inside your head, inside your heart, and you won’t tell me,” she said.

“How can you not know?” he asked.

“Not know what?” she asked, and the boat bumped dry land, knocking them askew so that Ethan was forced to put out a hand to keep her from tumbling into the river.

“We’re here,” the scout announced unnecessarily, and also in English. “You two put on a good show. Most entertaining. And,oui,I do think he is too arrogant and you too good for him.”

“Thank you, Mr. Boatman,” Amelia said, waving cheerfully as they disembarked.

“Ready?” Ethan asked, taking her hand.

“For what?” she asked.

“Anything is possible,” he said, and then the shot rang out.

Chapter 16

“Arrêtez!” A man in uniform was shouting at them in French to stop. He had fired his gun into the air to get their attention.

“Now is when we run,” Ethan said, grabbing Amelia’s hand and dragging her behind him. With her free hand, she held up her robe. She was in good shape and worked out most days, but she had nothing on him. They darted into a large grove of nearby trees and hid.

“Calm your breathing,” he whispered. “Be silent. Don’t move.”

She wasn’t sure why she needed to be quiet. Their presence had disturbed the monkeys and birds that were now shrieking all around them. If the guard could hear her breathing over all of that, he must be bionic. But she did as she was told, trying hard to calm her racing heart and erratic breathing. When he was certain the guard had given up on them, Ethan sat up and rested his head on the tree behind them.

“We’re going to have to go at night,” he whispered. “I had no idea they patrolled this patch so diligently.”

“What would happen if they caught us?” she asked.

“Hard to say. Best case scenario, we get arrested. Worst case scenario, we get killed or kidnapped and…

---