Page 7 of Covert Temptation

Of course it was Kennedy. Ever since Charlie team helped Alyssa, the word “problem” was synonymous with her name.

“What did she do now?”

“She left the safe house.”

He half launched out of his seat. “Fucking hell!”

“We got word from the undercover. When he performed the routine check, she wasn’t in the apartment.”

He bit off a growl. “I knew she’d never stay put. Dammit! I’ll pull footage from traffic cams in the area.”

As Dante set his fingers to the keys and his mind to the task, irritation rolled over him. He hunched over his desk, rifling through traffic cam feeds.

“Any guess what time she left?”

“I’d say it was right after news of Shaw’s death hit the news.”

His fingers slowed. “Why do you say that?”

“Because she contacted Alyssa.”

Dante swung his head to pierce Con in his stare, waiting for more.

His CO continued. “She told Alyssa she knows Shaw is dead and said I love you. It’s a goodbye.”

“Fuck.” He returned to scouring new footage, looking for the tall, leggy blonde. In a city of over a million people, a good percentage of them were blonde.

He didn’t need to tell Con—again—that they shouldn’t be wasting valuable resources—him—on the woman. He’d gone through it over and over again with Con, and yet his thoughts about being Kennedy’s main contact were always shot down.

Kennedy Bloom had been found with spyware on her phone that leaked the ambassador’s schedule—the same schedule that nearly got Alyssa killed, not to mention two special operators on Charlie team.

But here they were, keeping her in a safe house so they could find her and question her anytime they wanted. Only now that another person close to her had been actually killed, she was probably considered a target.

They soon learned Cipher’s true goal: eliminating what was left of SEAL Team Blackout Echo’s unit. Julian Chase, the last man standing, was the biggest target of all. If anyone should be guarded with every resource they had, it was him.

With a low huff of annoyance, Dante sifted through several minutes of footage around the time of the evening news. Within minutes, they had eyes on their escapee. Kennedy Bloom, wearing a dark trench coat, carrying a bag and walking briskly with the crowd, headed to the subway.

Con leaned over the desk, eyes fixed on the monitor. “Stay with her.”

Dante switched to subway cams. Kennedy stepped through the open doors.

“What’s the destination of that train?”

Dante had the subway lines memorized and spouted off several stops on the line…ending with Grand Central Station.

He and Con exchanged a look.

Dante threw himself into following Kennedy. Just as he predicted, she exited the subway and walked into Grand Central Station.

He lost her once, but picked out her thick golden hair glowing like a beacon. Dante studied her from two different camera angles.

She was carrying a big tote bag and wearing a designer coat. Probably every piece she wore had a designer price tag, he thought with a huff.

“She definitely has a plan,” he said.

He and Con tracked her through the busy station to a ticket kiosk. When she made a purchase with cash, he turned his head to look at Con.

“I thought someone searched her belongings to make sure she didn’t have any money?”

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