on her, you won’t want to be in the middle of it.”
The major general sucked down the remnants of his drink and left.
Did he really believe Sabine would do that? Her job was the kind that forced her to give it all and rarely let anyone else walk away with anything to show for it—aside from bruises. She could absolutely take care of herself. Fiercely independent, that’s what she was. Or was it that life had taught her to guard her heart above all else to keep from risking it being broken...again? It would take a lot to get through that shell of hers.
Could she let someone in enough to be comfortable including them in her inner circle? Ben had lived there. Now that Doug knew what the two of them had been through, he could see how saving her little brother’s life meant that they stuck with each other from then on.
Would she ever let Doug in like that?
NINE
“R ichardson.” Doug rubbed the sleep from his eyes and listened to the voice bark instructions through the phone. “Understood.”
He pushed away the urge to mourn for what would have been his first full night of sleep in days and got up. It was 4:00 a.m. After he splashed cold water on his face, Doug put the few things he’d got out of his duffel back in and zipped it closed.
He tapped on Sabine’s door and waited, but she didn’t appear. Sleeping that deeply wasn’t good in her line of work. At the same time he was glad she felt safe enough at his dad’s house to get the rest she needed. He peered in to check on her.
The bed was empty.
The sheets and blanket were rumpled like they’d gotten twisted up while she had tossed around trying to fall asleep. He didn’t want to be going on a mission when she was like this, but it couldn’t be helped. Work called. He’d have to trust her to stay here and wait.
The Raven, or someone who worked for him—or her, he supposed, since they had no idea—had withdrawn money from a bank in the Cayman Islands. The team was off on a treasure hunt that could lead who-knew-where. He’d get the full details at the briefing, which would likely happen on the plane since the team was spread all over the place.
Downtime was a bit of a misnomer when you were still effectively “on call.” That was the nature of his work, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a nine-to-fiver with weekends off had never been his thing.
Sabine’s bathroom was empty. The major general’s words came back to Doug, and he had to push away the distrust. Just because she wasn’t where he could find her didn’t mean she had betrayed him. She was Ben’s sister. That fact alone was enough for him to know he could trust her. Ben would never have spoken so highly of her if she was their enemy. Sure, she’d been deceived into working for someone other than the CIA. That didn’t mean she was working against the U.S. It wasn’t like she was an agent for the Raven.
Sabine wasn’t in the kitchen, TV room or the library. A low light shone from under the door to his dad’s office, so he went in to ask the general if he knew where Sabine was.
* * *
Sabine’s fingers froze on the keyboard. Doug was in the doorway, and his mouth hung open. She slid the chair back from the computer. “It’s not what you think.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Is that right?”
She wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of this. If she did, it would destroy the small bit of progress they had made toward trusting each other. “I was looking for something.”
“There are a lot of things to find in here. You know, I was just thinking to myself, no, there’s no way Sabine would ever betray me because Ben trusted her. I guess you deceived him, too.”
She gasped.
“Good thing all the sensitive information is secured.”
He thought she was capable of that? She would never, ever have betrayed her brother. “Is that your way of warning me away from betraying the very country I’ve been working for this whole time? You think
The major general sucked down the remnants of his drink and left.
Did he really believe Sabine would do that? Her job was the kind that forced her to give it all and rarely let anyone else walk away with anything to show for it—aside from bruises. She could absolutely take care of herself. Fiercely independent, that’s what she was. Or was it that life had taught her to guard her heart above all else to keep from risking it being broken...again? It would take a lot to get through that shell of hers.
Could she let someone in enough to be comfortable including them in her inner circle? Ben had lived there. Now that Doug knew what the two of them had been through, he could see how saving her little brother’s life meant that they stuck with each other from then on.
Would she ever let Doug in like that?
NINE
“R ichardson.” Doug rubbed the sleep from his eyes and listened to the voice bark instructions through the phone. “Understood.”
He pushed away the urge to mourn for what would have been his first full night of sleep in days and got up. It was 4:00 a.m. After he splashed cold water on his face, Doug put the few things he’d got out of his duffel back in and zipped it closed.
He tapped on Sabine’s door and waited, but she didn’t appear. Sleeping that deeply wasn’t good in her line of work. At the same time he was glad she felt safe enough at his dad’s house to get the rest she needed. He peered in to check on her.
The bed was empty.
The sheets and blanket were rumpled like they’d gotten twisted up while she had tossed around trying to fall asleep. He didn’t want to be going on a mission when she was like this, but it couldn’t be helped. Work called. He’d have to trust her to stay here and wait.
The Raven, or someone who worked for him—or her, he supposed, since they had no idea—had withdrawn money from a bank in the Cayman Islands. The team was off on a treasure hunt that could lead who-knew-where. He’d get the full details at the briefing, which would likely happen on the plane since the team was spread all over the place.
Downtime was a bit of a misnomer when you were still effectively “on call.” That was the nature of his work, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a nine-to-fiver with weekends off had never been his thing.
Sabine’s bathroom was empty. The major general’s words came back to Doug, and he had to push away the distrust. Just because she wasn’t where he could find her didn’t mean she had betrayed him. She was Ben’s sister. That fact alone was enough for him to know he could trust her. Ben would never have spoken so highly of her if she was their enemy. Sure, she’d been deceived into working for someone other than the CIA. That didn’t mean she was working against the U.S. It wasn’t like she was an agent for the Raven.
Sabine wasn’t in the kitchen, TV room or the library. A low light shone from under the door to his dad’s office, so he went in to ask the general if he knew where Sabine was.
* * *
Sabine’s fingers froze on the keyboard. Doug was in the doorway, and his mouth hung open. She slid the chair back from the computer. “It’s not what you think.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Is that right?”
She wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of this. If she did, it would destroy the small bit of progress they had made toward trusting each other. “I was looking for something.”
“There are a lot of things to find in here. You know, I was just thinking to myself, no, there’s no way Sabine would ever betray me because Ben trusted her. I guess you deceived him, too.”
She gasped.
“Good thing all the sensitive information is secured.”
He thought she was capable of that? She would never, ever have betrayed her brother. “Is that your way of warning me away from betraying the very country I’ve been working for this whole time? You think
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