Page 30 of Hidden Attraction

He nodded, mind far away. “I was out on medical with a broken leg. Echo had returned to Syria for an op—quick in-and-out. Only the out was much quicker than anyone expected.”

Alyssa issued a low sigh. “They boarded the helicopter.”

He nodded. “It crashed. But you said the reports don’t give a clear reason other than mechanical failure.”

“Exactly. That’s what isn’t adding up to me. These crafts have mechanics combing them over before every flight.”

“Helicopters crash all the time, Julian.” Her voice was low, soothing.

He scrubbed his hands over his face and then pushed into a straighter position. “An entire special ops team died that day.”

“Are you saying nobody thought it was important to dig further into the crash when it happened?”

“Anything involving Blackout is buried deep, and this is buried even deeper. But the commander was too damn cavalier about our request for more information.”

“I completely agree. But you of all people know how military types can be. Maybe the security detail coordinator he mentioned was there at the time of the crash will shed more light on the topic.”

“We’re going back to the base—today. And we need a plan.”

She folded her arms and gave him her best calculating, ambassador look. “A plan for what?”

“I need in the computer system.”

Her eyes flickered with caution. “You’re planning on hacking into theircomputers?”

He stared at her unwaveringly for a solid heartbeat. “That’s right. And the commander can’t know. Which is where you come in.”

She pushed to her feet and began pacing the short span between the safehouse walls. “What exactly am I supposed to do?”

“You’re going to distract the commander.”

She stopped and faced Chase. The linen trousers she wore flowed over her curves, concealing them in a tailored menswear look. It made his hands itch to touch her, to etch the feel of her into his mind even though her shape was burned into his memory.

Whenever she was nervous, she raked her fingers through the wave of hair at her temple. The action made two thin gold bracelets on her slender wrist clink.

“Julian, there’s no way you’re getting in that system. Thorne has eyes like a hawk and a vibe that just screams ‘I know something you don’t.’”

He nodded but didn’t say a word to change his plan.

Alyssa issued a huff of air. “Fine.How much time will you need?”

“Thirty minutes.”

She sliced a hand through the air. “That long? What am I supposed to do to distract the commander for thirty minutes?”

Chase eyed her. “Isn’t thinking on the fly part of your skillset? You’ll come up with something.”

She groaned. “Let’s get this over with.”

He watched her ass twitch as she walked into the bedroom and grabbed her phone.

“I’m ready,” she announced.

He looked her over. “No purse?”

She rolled her eyes. “My phone’s all I need. I have my digital wallet to pay for things if necessary.”

He felt his eyes hood. There was something incredibly sexy about a woman who didn’t need a caravan of goods to survive.

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