Page 167 of Covert Mission
He leans between the seats, his mint-heavy breath hitting me in the face. “Nyx told her about the op, the night she was taken.”
Scout holds up his hand and Evan drops a piece of unopened gum in it. “I agree. So, she felt like you didn’t need that responsibility tonight. Not after what happened.”
My entire team knows I’ve been dealing with the aftermath of the failed op that cost our friend his life and Nyx her innocence. I have to force myself to breathe. “You’re right. I’m sure Nyx did. I have to admit, I feel like an ass for not telling Camile about that before tonight.”
I lean my head back. I’ve got a lot of shit going on inside me right now. It’s like some kind of fucked up circus where the two sides of me are at war.
Scout sighs heavily. “Take it easy on yourself, man. We all share the responsibility for that night.”
“It doesn’t make it any easier. Every time I look at Nyx?—”
Evan interrupts me. “Did you see how good she looks now?”
I nod.
“She’s going to be okay.”
But we all know she’s forever changed. And Alex… he’s never going to get to do all the things he always daydreamed about.
“Guys, we can’t be going down this road before we go in that building.”
I glance in the mirror and exchange a nod with Evan. “You’re right. And Nyx did look good. She might even be able to make friends with Camile.”
“Good, they both seem like they could use some girlfriend time.”
I pivot my head and look at Scout. “What do you know about women?”
“I’m just speculating.” He pops his gum as he stares at the office we’re about to raid.
I finally relent and hold up my hand. I’m not going to be the only one with dragon breath, because whatever the hell I ate was hot enough to leave me breathing fire.
Evan passes over a small stick of gum to me. He’s grinning, I can feel the heat radiating off his smile. Then the man chuckles for a solid minute. “Dude, she took you out at the knees the first time you laid eyes on her.”
I groan. “Not thefirsttime.”
Scout coughs, “Bullshit!”
Evan leans back in the rear passenger area. “So, what’s next?”
“I don’t know… but I know this is the end of me distracting you from the mission of finding MZ. I appreciate you guys coming tonight. It means a lot.”
“Great.Now that he’s getting pussy, he’s all touchy feely.”
I shove Scout and he bumps against the door as he flips me off.
“You’re not distracting us,” Evan says from the back seat. “Given that the guy from the earthquake rubble is still in a coma, and that we haven’t had any other sightings, we’re—” He makes a choking sound as he leaps toward the passenger side rear window. “Guys! What the fuck am I seeing?”
I swing my head around to the side, peering through the window and make a sound of my own. “Is that…”
Scout mutters a curse. “Our missing woman?”
There are two cars parked in a lot next to the building we’ve been scoping. A lean, fit-looking guy just got behind the wheel of one. Another man is gripping a woman’s arm. He pushes her into the passenger seat and slams the door. The car takes off. The second guy gets in his car and does the same.
“Holy alligator shit.” Evan is half out of the truck when the car with the woman screams past us, disappearing into the night.
I grab my bag and jettison myself out of the driver’s seat. “Take the truck.”
They scramble into action, Scout clambering over the center console and turning the engine on.