Page 6 of Cheating the Devil

“Why risk what we have here ... what we’ve worked so hard to build?” He knew it was useless to try reasoning with the old man, but he did it anyway. “Can’t you just let it go?”

Without warning, Chao backhanded him across the face, the impact thunderous in the large room. Pain bloomed through Zheng’s cheek and nose as his head snapped to the side. Chao was unapologetic as he growled. “I will never ‘let it go.’ It is mydutyto avenge Delan’s death. It is yours too. When the time is right, you will be ready to do your part.”

Chao spun on his heel and strode across the room with more energy than Zheng had seen from him lately. He didn’t botherlooking back as he opened the door and stormed out. From where he still sat, Zheng pulled a handkerchief from the back pocket of his khaki pants and dabbed his upper lip where a small amount of blood had seeped from the broken vessels in his nose. Having seen Chao’s angry rages before, Zheng’s personal secretary quietly stood from her desk, hurried over to the door, and shut it so none of the other employees could see her boss recover from another violent run-in with his father.

Swiveling the chair around, Chao stared out over the paradise he’d put his blood, sweat, and tears into. Somehow, some way, he had to ensure he came out of this mess he’d suddenly found himself in without losing everything. “Please, give me strength, oh, great Buddha.”

CHAPTER 5

Seconds after Cameronexcused himself from the table in the resort’s main dining room, Lori glared at her father. “You know, you could at least try to like him and get to know him. He really wanted to make a good impression on you this week, and all you’ve done is drill him like he’s some dweeb who just walked off the bus at basic training.”

Avery picked up her glass of wine and took a sip. This was between father and daughter, and she needed to stay out of it, even if she agreed with Lori. The first night at dinner, Brad had interrogated the poor guy, who’d somehow maintained his composure and politeness. Last night hadn’t been much better, although Brad had been a little subtler, after Avery’s suggestion that he tone it down a little.

Brad rolled his eyes. “Iamtrying to get to know him.”

“No, you’re not. You’re waiting for him to do the slightest thing wrong, so you can tell me he’s not good enough. Hell, it’s been over forty-eight hours since you’ve met him, and you’re still making him call you ‘sir.’ He’s waiting for you to say ‘hey, Cameron, we’re on vacation, and I’m not your colonel, so feel free to call me Brad.’” She paused, her facial features softeningas she clasped her hands together under her chin. “Dad, please. He means a lot to me.”

It was unclear who was more surprised at her use of “Dad” instead of his first name—Lori or Brad—but it seemed to do the trick. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, staring at his daughter as if really seeing her as a grown woman for the first time. He reached back with one hand and palmed the nape of his neck, rubbing it. “Why do I suddenly get the feeling there’s more to this week than just getting to know your new boyfriend?”

As she licked her lips, Lori glanced at Avery, before her gaze found Brad again. “Cameron’s starting MARSOC training in three weeks at Camp Lejeune. When he’s done and finds out where he’s being assigned, I’ll be moving there with him.” MARSOC—Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command—was the Marines’ equivalent of the Army’s Delta Force and the Navy’s SEALs. They were the best of the best and just as badass as their counterparts.

There was a long pause as Lori’s words slowly registered in Brad’s mind. His eyes narrowed. “Moving there? As in movinginwith him? Possibly across the country?” She nodded. “And your mother knows about this? Approves of it?”

“Yes, she likes Cam a lot. I’m twenty-four now—most of my friends have moved out of their parents’ house and a few have already gotten married. Mom and Richie have their own lives to lead—they want to do a lot more traveling and stuff—and it’s time for me to move on and do what feels right. I love Cam. We’ve already talked about marriage but want to wait until after he’s done with his training. Once we know where he’s being assigned, I’ll check out the shops around there—with my experience, I’ll have no trouble finding a job. Eventually, I want to open my own place, but I’ll have to build up a new clientele list and reputation there first.”

Silence fell over the table as Cameron returned, his confused gaze going from one mute person to the next, clearly trying to figure out what he’d missed but too polite to ask. Crossing his arms, Brad cleared his throat. It seemed as if he’d come to a decision—albeit reluctantly. “Um, Cameron. The ... uh ... ladies mentioned earlier they wanted to do some shopping tomorrow. I don’t know about you, but that’s definitely not my thing.”

His back ramrod straight, Cam shook his head once. “Definitely not mine either, sir. I avoid it whenever possible.”

“Good. Then why don’t you and I go check out those charter boats and see what kind of fish they’ve been bringing in, hmm? Maybe head out for a few hours and catch a few ourselves.”

A genuine smile spread across the younger man’s face. “That sounds great, sir.”

Brad cleared his throat again and glanced at Avery, who gave him an encouraging dip of her chin. He turned back to Cam. “I think you can knock off the ‘sir.’ Feel free to call me Brad.”

The Marine’s eyes widened a bit in surprise. “Thank you, sir ... I mean, Brad. I appreciate that.”

Rolling his lips inward, he nodded. “Okay. Good. Now that that’s settled, who’s up for dessert?”

The heavy intensity that had been hanging over the table lifted as shoulders relaxed and the conversation changed to lighter topics. While splitting a piece of cheesecake with Lori, the hairs on Avery’s neck stood up. Once again, she felt eyes on her. She’d had the same on and off vibes yesterday and today, but she still hadn’t located the source. Whoever it was, he or she was good at blending into their surroundings.

Placing her napkin and fork on the table, Avery stood. Brad gave her a probing gaze. “Everything okay?”

She smiled down at him. “Everything’s fine. I’m just going to use the ladies’ room.” When his brow furrowed slightly, she knew he’d heard the mild tension in her tone, but hedidn’t otherwise acknowledge it. The two of them had worked undercover for years and both were able to appear relaxed and unaffected during times of uncertainty and stress—to most people, that is.

Striding across the dining room, she relied on her acute peripheral vision to study everyone in the room. As she passed the bar, instead of looking at the patrons’ backs, she eyed them in the reflection of the mirror that took up most of the wall behind the rows of liquor. The gazes of several people met hers, but there were two men who nabbed her attention. Both were of Asian descent, which, by itself, didn’t raise any alarms, but one man’s eyes hardened while the other man glanced away quickly, as if he’d been caught looking. They may have just waved a red flag in her face, so maybe they weren’t as good as she’d originally thought.

Avery maintained a straight route to her destination—the ladies’ room—following two other women in. Whoever the men who’d been watching her were, they were obviously on a surveillance detail, and Avery was positive she was their target. The question was why. Once the door closed behind her, she hurried into a stall and pulled her cell phone out of her small crossbody purse. She quickly typed out a text to Kenny Reardon—geek extraordinaire. He was one of the hackers employed by Deimos with top-secret government clearance. He was also a sweet kid in his midtwenties who she’d come to adore like an adopted son. After Haven had landed in Texas, while recovering from being shot protecting Kenny, he’d asked for a transfer from California to be near her. Since the geek could work behind a computer desk anywhere in the world, it hadn’t been a problem. The property Deimos had purchased for Haven to live on, after she’d made the transition from field agent to communications and research tech, had a main house and one small guest cottage that Avery lived in. They’d added on to the latter and made aone-bedroom apartment for Kenny, with a technology setup that would give any computer genius an orgasm just looking at it.

After rereading her text, Avery hit send.

A: Need favor. Hack resort’s security feeds. Zero in on bar next to dining room.

Less than five seconds ticked by before she got a response.

K: ?

K: u’r on va-ca

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