Page 69 of Collision of Winters
“One of these days, you will grow up, brother,” Wade drawled.
I snickered and righted my hoodie.
“Fat chance of that happenin’,” was Chris’s reply.
Wade was waiting for me to respond, so I refocused on him.
“I’m okay,” I said honestly. “I’m nervous, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I know where to go, what to do, and how to act. I trust Chris and you to handle the rest, and if there are any changes, you’ll let me know in that earpiece thingy.”
I was simply going to pace around the left side of Silver Diner, where there was a drive-through parking area, and give off a vibe of waiting for someone. Chris had encouraged me to make a pretend phone call to him and ask why he was running late.
Chris’s intel team had made sure that the targets had accessed a log of fake messages between him and me, deciding to meet up for lunch. And Hillcroft already had operators in place at Silver Diner. They had a live feed and everything. Surveillance was important.
A few blocks away from the diner, tucked behind a bank, it was time to switch cars and part ways. Chris had borrowed Yaya’s old Accord for me to drive. It was literally older than me.
“I almost lost my virginity on that thing,” I mentioned, inserting the earpiece. It was much smaller than I’d expected. It came with a wristband I’d put on too.
“Excuse me?” Wade scowled. “With whom?”
“That’syour question?” Chris asked incredulously. “Not the fact that he saidoninstead ofin? Man, you are so far gone.”
I cracked up and snuck in and hugged Wade’s middle. “You’re so hot right now.”
“Hmpf.” He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead, but now wasn’t the time to get cute. We had a job to do, and he was too focused and concerned to be derailed. “Do you remember where to park?”
“Considering Chris told me like thirty seconds ago, yes, I still remember,” I said. “I’ll park between a blue F-150 and a silver Camry.” Because two operators were waiting in those cars, Operator Bo Beckett and Operator Vince Beckett. They were brothers. “And then I’ll get out of the car and pace around while keeping myself, as Chris said, easily kidnappable.”
Chris chuckled. “Just, you know—with space around you. Don’t lean against the building, don’t wait between cars.”
I nodded, getting it. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“We will be watching you the whole time,” Wade promised. Not for the first time. “And if you need to speak to Chris…?”
“I’ll press the push-to-talk button on the wristband,” I replied. “He’ll do the same if he wants to communicate with me.”
“You got this.” Chris clapped me on the shoulder and handed me the car keys. “One of the targets is already in place at the diner, so it’ll be over soon.”
Oh. Um, okay. Yeah, okay. Cool. He was there, waiting to kidnap me.
I didn’t wanna process it or let the information freak me out, so I took the keys and nodded firmly, then got in behind the wheel.
Ahhhh, it smelled like Yaya. I took a deep breath—and it was weirdly calming. Her sweet perfume, the faint smell of cigarettes from before she’d quit, and the lavender soap bars she made to act as air fresheners.
I’ve got this.
After exchanging a last couple of looks with Wade and Chris, I backed out of the space and hit the road. I’d been instructed to circle the block twice before I made my way to the diner, just to ensure Wade and Chris got there first.
Deep breaths.
On the upside, my anxiousness could’ve been way worse. First of all, it felt insanely good just to be home again. I’d missed NoVa like fucking crazy. That on its own had a calming effect, because I knew these streets so well. Secondly, Chris was more concerned about attracting the attention of local law enforcement than what the targets might do. Like, Hillcroft could make some calls and pull strings, and everything would be fine, but they preferred to work discreetly.
From my understanding, what little Wade had shared, Hillcroft commonly involved the FBI for domestic operations.
I stiffened when I heard a faint beep?—
“Do you hear me, kid?”
“Jesus! You scared me.” Fuck. Excuse me, I’d never communicated with earpieces before. But that beep must’ve meant that the thing was on or something. I didn’t know. “Yeah, I hear you. What is it?”
