Death would suck so much less than this.
Hmm. Might make for a song lyric…Death sucks less than you…
Oh, crap. Footsteps coming. Not light and quick. Not the kid who normally feeds me, then. Make that thirty-three beatings and counting.
Not that a damned thing in my brain is current or useful any more. Bastards are just doing this for fun, now. Might as well give ‘em what they want.
Time to scream, kids…
Too nervous aroundTrevor to sit still, Anna murmured something about finding a restroom and strode away from him, concentrating on walking casually. But she probably looked exactly like a woman fleeing a man she didn’t know how to talk to. Damn, damn, damn.
Out of habit, her gaze roved around the airport terminal, taking in a crowd of people in front of her lining up to board an airplane. A few passengers stood off to one side, too cool to queue up for the flight, and unconcerned about whether or not there would be space for their carry-on bags.
One of those men caught her attention for some reason. Without turning her head to give it away, she glanced at him again. Nothing remarkable stood out about him. He was just a dude in a white dress shirt and dark slacks. Mid-thirties in age, medium height, medium build.
But there was something about him. An aura of lethal efficiency she knew all too well. Of course, there were any number of military bases in North Carolina and a lot of military retirees in the region. It was entirely possible the guy was a soldier or veteran. No reason for her to be jumpy.
Except when she came back from the restroom, he was standing across the concourse next to another line of people shuffling toward another flight.
What the hell?
Without giving the guy another glance, she proceeded back to Trevor and sat down casually beside him. Without moving her lips, she muttered, “We may have a tail.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I know. Right?” she responded. “Nobody but the Reapers knows about this trip. No way is anyone following us.”
“That’s not one-hundred percent true,” Trevor mumbled.
“What?” she exclaimed.
“It’s no big deal. I’ve sent a private message through channels to my brother. He works for the British government. It’ll reach him in a few days. I asked for any help he can give us.”
“I definitely saw a guy acting weird. He pretended to board two different flights.”
“Maybe he’s tailing someone else,” Trevor offered.
“You go to the restroom and see what happens.”
“Right. Don’t go anywhere.”
She snorted and watched him go. Dang, that man had a nice caboose. High and tight and firm. It shouted of strength and stamina a girl could spend all night enjoying—
Staahhpp. Lusting privately after her teammate during training was one thing. But doing it on a mission was not only stupid and distracting but borderline creepy. Right?Right?Honestly. She ought to get used to thinking of him as only her brother-in-arms and not a potential lover.
Still lusting after Trevor. No help for it, her teammate had a twitch in his tush that was hard to ignore.
Nope. Totally not brother material.
Speaking of which, she was going to have to correct her grandmother’s mistaken assumption when they arrived, which could be a problem. Zagistan was nothing if not conservative in its beliefs. Unmarried women did not travel with men who were not blood relatives. The only exception to that was fiancés. Properly chaperoned, a woman could travel with her future husband.
Oh, yeah. Trevor was going to love that one.
Trevor returned and sat down beside her. “All clear?”
“Clear,” she grumbled.
“You don’t have to sound so unhappy about it. It’s good that no one followed me.”