Page 7 of Cheating the Devil

A: Just do it, pls

K: 1 sec

Leaning against the stall’s partition, she tapped her nails on the sides of the phone. She knew it wouldn’t take long. Before she’d headed over to Brad’s house the night before their flight, she’d given Haven and Kenny all the information on her and Brad’s flight, car rental, and hotel. Another one of those old habits that wouldn’t die.

K: I’m in. What am I looking for?

A: Two Asian men. Closer to lobby. Bttn-down SS shirt on one. Polo on other. Want everything you can find out. Run them thru face recog if u have to.

K: R U ok? Need help?

A: Ok for now. Just get me intel ASAP.

K: Consider it done. I’ll get back to u in a bit. Stay safe.

Avery smiled as she typed a final response.

A: k ttyl.

Putting her phone away, she took advantage of where she was, then flushed and left the stall. After washing her hands, she headed back out to the dining room, intent on ignoring the two men, not wanting to give any indication she’d made them. But as she passed where they’d been sitting, the two bar stools were now empty. Glancing around, Avery started to wonder if she’dbeen wrong about them—was she so out of practice she was seeing danger where there was none?

Reaching the table, she found Brad had already taken care of the bill, and they’d just been waiting for her to return.

“Do you mind if we go meet Tommy and Kiera?” Lori asked, pointing outside the wall of windows overlooking the rest of the resort and the ocean. There was a DJ at the outdoor bar for the evening and many of the younger guests had already gathered.

After glancing at Avery, who gave him a nod, Brad smiled as if he didn’t suspect something was wrong. “Sure. You two go on. Avery and I will see you in the morning for breakfast. Have fun.”

“Thanks.”

After the younger couple waved goodbye, Brad studied Avery’s blank face. “Had that feeling again?”

“Yeah. Let’s take a walk on the beach.” She didn’t want to have this conversation in their room. While they took measures to notice if anyone had been in their room, neither one of them had brought a communications jammer. There was the potential for the room being bugged. Once Avery was through filling Brad in on Yin and Yang at the bar, they’d request a different room from the reservations desk.

The night air was warm, but a gentle breeze coming off the water made it comfortable. When they hit the sand, Avery slid her sandals off. Brad took them from her and slung his other arm around her shoulder. No one could ever accuse the sometimes-gruff colonel of not being the perfect gentleman. Avery loved how he did little things like holding out her chair, opening doors, and carrying anything for her that wasn’t her purse—although, if it was necessary, she was sure he’d carry that for her too.

They strolled in silence down the beach as small, gentle waves rolled over their feet. When they’d gone a good distance, and Avery was certain they hadn’t been followed, she stoppedand faced the water. Usually, she hated having her back to any open area, but she trusted Brad to watch her six as he stood in front of her. He could see any threat coming their way, while she could talk low enough that any sound amplifier pointed in her direction would only hear mumbling.

Brad’s eyes darted in every direction as Avery explained about the two men at the bar and how she’d contacted Reardon. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she glanced up and down the beach, not seeing the two men from the bar nor anyone or anything out of the ordinary. “I’ve been out of the scene for a long time. Maybe I’m imagining things that aren’t there, but my Spidey-senses are screaming at me.”

“Then we listen to them,” Brad answered in a matter of fact tone. “I’d rather it be a false alarm than something we ignore that turns out to be FUBAR.”

Avery agreed—more than once in her career things had been fucked up beyond all recognition—and it was never pretty when it happened. Stepping closer, she wrapped her arms around Brad’s waist, reveling in how quickly he hugged her back. While still alert, he smiled down at her. Going up on her tiptoes, she gave him a peck on his lips then settled down again and laid her head against his hard chest. “Have I told you how much it means to me that you and I share the same thought process? Most men I’ve dated since leaving the field would probably have looked at me like I was crazy if I’d laid all this on them.”

His chuckle rumbled against her ear. “It’s nice to be with a woman who understands my thought process too. Many times, I was told I was too overprotective and paranoid.”

“It’s only paranoia if it turns out you’re wrong.”

Brad squeezed her tightly. “Exactly.”

CHAPTER 6

As they strolled backto the hotel, Brad held Avery’s hand. Never had he felt such a strong connection to a woman—not even his ex-wife. But Avery got him. She understood what made a man like him tick. Yet, there were still a lot of things he didn’t know about her—and vice versa. They’d been dancing around each other for the past few months, neither willing to dive any deeper than they already had. Maybe it was time.

He squeezed her hand. “You know, you never told me why you left the field.”

There was a long pause, and he started to wonder if he’d stepped over a line he shouldn’t have. But then she let out a deep sigh. “I’d been good at my job. Maybe too good. One day, I’d hit a wall and felt my soul would never find redemption if I continued down the road I was on. The people I’d been ordered to kill ... their blood is still on my hands. Then there are the people I didn’t kill—the ones who got away, whether it was for a few hours, days, or more—the ones who ended up killing others. Innocents who didn’t deserve to die. Their blood is on my hands too.”

She reached up and tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “I was in a remote part of northern China, tracking atarget and waiting for my orders. I was only supposed to gather intel. My cover was that the embassy wanted to help the poor people in that region, and I was there with a team to assess what improvements were needed to help them survive. “The man I was tracking was a ruthless bastard, just like his father. To me, they were the devil and his spawn.”

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