Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136425 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 682(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
“Target?” Devi asked.
“He’s talking about me. Mr. Bishop and his partner, Lacey Rook—almost certainly not her real name, but we won’t be using many of those today—were instructed to investigate me,” Zach explained. “I apparently wasn’t as good at hiding my evil ways as I thought I was.”
“Hey,” Henry began, his gaze shifting to sympathy. “We all know you’re not evil, Zachary. I know this is going to come as a surprise, but Mr. Lemon didn’t ask me to investigate you because he thought you were bad. He thought you were getting in over your head and wanted someone to watch your back since you wouldn’t let your team do it.”
“I know his name is Ian,” Parker said. “We don’t have to use all the ridiculous Agency names. Let’s go with first names if we’re worried about being identified, though I would like to point out that Ian knows pretty much everything about me, and it doesn’t feel fair.”
“Then you should be better about hiding things,” Henry said, taking the chair at the head of the table. “I don’t like the games either, but sometimes you’re compelled to play. Sometimes you don’t have a choice.”
Because like Big Tag’s daughters, Henry’s wanted to play, and he felt the need to watch over her. He wasn’t so sure, though, about Big Tag’s reasons for investigating him.
“So are you planning on letting the Agency know we’re here?” Parker asked the question casually, but there was no mistaking the undertone.
“He’s not calling anyone.” Kala walked in. She stopped at the door and managed a soft smile. “Hey, Ben. Thanks for the intel. I needed to find Devi Taggart, and you came through. It means a lot to me. I’m sorry about the rude welcome. I didn’t tell Mr. Bishop you were in town. I didn’t want to blow your cover.”
“It’s fine. I would have made contact sometime tonight anyway.” Parker straightened his shoulders, and his eyes seemed to eat her up. “I’m glad we’re working together properly now. You look good, Maggie.”
She looked like her twin. He’d never truly considered how good an actress Kala was, but there were Kenzie Taggart vibes in the air now. She sat down beside Parker. “You do, too.” She sighed. “You need to know that Cooper is on his way in. We needed a pilot. TJ can barely drive a car.”
“Rude,” Lou complained. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses as though she was waiting for the drama to start.
“I don’t love to drive,” TJ admitted.
Kala ignored him. “Also, the four of us going on vacation together won’t cause any real suspicion in our handlers. They’re used to it.”
“So why did you need to find Devi Taggart outside of Agency overview?” Parker asked and then shook his head. “Scratch that. I get it. You don’t want Zach there arrested. But I thought you didn’t want the big guy to know what you were doing. I’m trying to get a lay of the land here.”
Cooper chose that moment to enter, and he had forgotten to button his top button. He looked like he’d rolled around for a while with his brand-new wife. Dumb ass. Henry’s eyes closed briefly as though he was holding back on the lecture.
Parker’s eyes widened, taking in the state of Cooper’s shirt.
“Parker,” Cooper said with a frown.
“McKay,” Parker returned with an equally dour expression.
Tim leaned over and whispered Devi’s way. “Cooper liked Maggie and for a long time Ben thought Maggie was with Cooper, but she was all like no, eww, we pretend for ops and I like you. But Cooper got all freaked out when she almost died. Like soap opera hero freaked out.”
“I did not.” Cooper frowned Tim’s way. “And you weren’t even there.”
“But the security cam footage was,” Tim replied, utterly non-plussed that a six-foot, five-inch Navy pilot looked like he was going to eat him for lunch. He was too busy flirting with Devi. “It was a lot, and Ben was super sad because all he thinks about is Maggie.”
“Hey,” Parker began.
Devi grinned, turning that high-wattage charm on Tim. “No, tell me more, Tim. I’m new to this whole spy thing. I got involved with Zach at a lifestyle club. I thought he was an out-of-work student my brother knew. He was trying to get a job at my uncle’s restaurant. Washing dishes, but nope. He turns out to be a big old spy, and now some weird doctor person wants to murder me because my last name is Taggart. So I’m interested in how everything works. Maggie loves Ben now and not Cooper, who she just played around with.”
At least she had the story down. She was having way too much fun with this. He knew she would want to call Daisy and Brianna as soon as possible.
“We don’t need to get into this.” Henry valiantly tried to stop the snowball that was starting to roll downhill.