someone got to our truck.”
She looked away.
Tanner’s conscience played handball with his suspicions. “Jin?”
“I heard him admit that he knew Pang and Har were defecting. He said something about the truck. That was all I heard.”
But she’d known the truck had been part of the exit plan and where it was parked. “How is it that you knew so many details about tonight?”
She raised that stunning gaze at him . “I told you that I carried messages.”
“Who gave— ” Tanner banged his elbow when the boat bumped over a wake from a craft going toward the city. He repeated, “Who gave you the messages and who did you give them to?”
“I am not told names.” She looked away . Again.
Hadn’t she been taught how that was the wrong body signal for telling the truth?
Evidently not. “So you just accepted what some stranger told you to do then did whatever he or she said to do? That sounds pretty ... naïve.” He exchanged stupid for naive at the last moment.
She wasn’t stupid by any definition, but she was naïve.
Insulting her would shut her down faster than an antagonized clam.
But she didn’t miss the subtle cut. “It is more complicated than that, cowboy . Why must you be so suspicious? You are most annoying. Your intelligence people must have been satisfied with the information they received or you would not be here.”
“We were told to confirm two defectors and extract them. We confirmed Pang and Har. Not you . I shouldn’t have to tell you that you won’t be treated the same as those two since your name was never in any information related to this.”
Reality of her situation hit straight between her eyes, which clouded with worry. She turned away, refusing to engage any further.
It was the truth. So why did he feel like he’d broken her favorite toy?
The boat leaned into a hard curve on Tanner’s side of the deck and Jin slid into him .
He caught her with one hand again.
Her face was right up next to his. Those eyes flared with an awareness that bloomed in her face and the first thing that popped into his mind came out of his mouth.
“How old are you?”
“Why do you care?”
“You don’t look old enough to be doing any of this.”
“I am twenty four. How old are you?” she countered right back, then her eyes shone with mischief and she added, “You look too old to be doing this.”
“Thirty one.” And some days he’d agree that he was getting too old to be doing this . He put his time in at the gym when he was in a city for more than a week or two, but all the exercise in the world couldn’t cure years of being knocked around, shot and cut.
She cocked her head to one side in thought . “How long have you done this kind of work?”
An innocent enough question, but this was not the time to get social with the one person on this boat who was more mystery than asset . He said, “That’s more than you need to know about me.”
The glimmer of humor fled her gaze and the easy moment shattered. She reached with her free arm to grab hold of a ring mounted on the transom and yank herself away from Tanner.
Damn, but her little acts of defiance were sexy.
He bet she’d be a pistol in bed, too.
Whoa, cowboy. She was not someone who would end up in his bed. Even if the State Department eventually cleared her as no threat to the US, she’d disappear from existence just like Pang and Har.
With an economy of movement, she bent her knees and wrapped her arms around them again . Then shivered.
He reminded her, “It’s warmer in the cabin.”
“I am fine,” she lied. It took a few minutes, but she decided to talk again. “Do you truly believe we can ride this boat all the way to South Korea?”
Not a chance, which was why Dingo would be in contact with their backup in Seoul .
Tanner had to trust that Logan Baklanov and Margaux Duke would come up with a way to rendezvous somewhere in the Yellow Sea without getting everyone blown to pieces by a DPRK
She looked away.
Tanner’s conscience played handball with his suspicions. “Jin?”
“I heard him admit that he knew Pang and Har were defecting. He said something about the truck. That was all I heard.”
But she’d known the truck had been part of the exit plan and where it was parked. “How is it that you knew so many details about tonight?”
She raised that stunning gaze at him . “I told you that I carried messages.”
“Who gave— ” Tanner banged his elbow when the boat bumped over a wake from a craft going toward the city. He repeated, “Who gave you the messages and who did you give them to?”
“I am not told names.” She looked away . Again.
Hadn’t she been taught how that was the wrong body signal for telling the truth?
Evidently not. “So you just accepted what some stranger told you to do then did whatever he or she said to do? That sounds pretty ... naïve.” He exchanged stupid for naive at the last moment.
She wasn’t stupid by any definition, but she was naïve.
Insulting her would shut her down faster than an antagonized clam.
But she didn’t miss the subtle cut. “It is more complicated than that, cowboy . Why must you be so suspicious? You are most annoying. Your intelligence people must have been satisfied with the information they received or you would not be here.”
“We were told to confirm two defectors and extract them. We confirmed Pang and Har. Not you . I shouldn’t have to tell you that you won’t be treated the same as those two since your name was never in any information related to this.”
Reality of her situation hit straight between her eyes, which clouded with worry. She turned away, refusing to engage any further.
It was the truth. So why did he feel like he’d broken her favorite toy?
The boat leaned into a hard curve on Tanner’s side of the deck and Jin slid into him .
He caught her with one hand again.
Her face was right up next to his. Those eyes flared with an awareness that bloomed in her face and the first thing that popped into his mind came out of his mouth.
“How old are you?”
“Why do you care?”
“You don’t look old enough to be doing any of this.”
“I am twenty four. How old are you?” she countered right back, then her eyes shone with mischief and she added, “You look too old to be doing this.”
“Thirty one.” And some days he’d agree that he was getting too old to be doing this . He put his time in at the gym when he was in a city for more than a week or two, but all the exercise in the world couldn’t cure years of being knocked around, shot and cut.
She cocked her head to one side in thought . “How long have you done this kind of work?”
An innocent enough question, but this was not the time to get social with the one person on this boat who was more mystery than asset . He said, “That’s more than you need to know about me.”
The glimmer of humor fled her gaze and the easy moment shattered. She reached with her free arm to grab hold of a ring mounted on the transom and yank herself away from Tanner.
Damn, but her little acts of defiance were sexy.
He bet she’d be a pistol in bed, too.
Whoa, cowboy. She was not someone who would end up in his bed. Even if the State Department eventually cleared her as no threat to the US, she’d disappear from existence just like Pang and Har.
With an economy of movement, she bent her knees and wrapped her arms around them again . Then shivered.
He reminded her, “It’s warmer in the cabin.”
“I am fine,” she lied. It took a few minutes, but she decided to talk again. “Do you truly believe we can ride this boat all the way to South Korea?”
Not a chance, which was why Dingo would be in contact with their backup in Seoul .
Tanner had to trust that Logan Baklanov and Margaux Duke would come up with a way to rendezvous somewhere in the Yellow Sea without getting everyone blown to pieces by a DPRK
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