Page 19
Okay, fine. She’d give him a little more. “I was engaged once. It didn’t work out in the end. And he wanted to keep it a secret, because we worked together, so not a lot of people knew. Sadly, it ended as quietly as it began.”
Well, it really wasn’t quiet when it ended with her throwing things at his cheating head. But Bryce didn’t need all the dirty details.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
She expected him to pry, ask what had happened and dig for more. Instead, he ate his dessert in silence. Probably because he figured if he asked for more information, he’d have to reciprocate. This man would be tougher to crack than a safe at Fort Knox.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t like my food to touch. So, thank you for not putting the ice cream on the cake. That would ruin everything.”
“You’re welcome.” A pause. “I like to mix things together. What’s wrong with a little chaos now and then?”
Bryce groaned. “Like that’s ever going to come up in a conversation.”
“It will when I bring it up. And the more facts I have, the less I have to improvise. Trust me, you don’t want me to make things up on the spot. Like what if at dinner I tell everyone how you collect creepy antique dolls. You know, the ones with the eyes that follow you everywhere? Then everyone will request to see your collection.”
“Please don’t do that.”
“Well, then make sure I’m well-informed.”
“Noted.”
Kira cleared the dessert plates away and Bryce grabbed his laptop. She retrieved her notebook and pen from her bag and rejoined him at the table. “I think that at some point, I should excuse myself from dinner and use the bathroom. That might let me have the opportunity to snoop a bit.”
Bryce shook his head. “No. Too dangerous. What if you get caught?”
Was this man going to step in and try to shield her from danger the entire mission? She sat back in the chair and smirked. “Is this our first fight? See? I need to be prepared for these things.”
“It’s not that I can’t . . . don’t think you’re a capable agent.” He took a breath. “I’m concerned about all the things that could go wrong. We need to control the situation as much as possible.” He swung his laptop around so she could see the schematics of the neighboring house. “According to the layout of the brownstones, it looks like Alexandr may have an office upstairs. Let me be the one to do the snooping. I’ve studied the layout. You’ll make a better distraction at dinner than I will. I can slip away and snap a few pictures of the interior while I get lost on the way to the bathroom.”
Kira crossed her arms. “But I’m the risk-taker. You’re so by the book.”
He tapped his fingers on the table. “I have a bad feeling about tomorrow night. We have to be on guard at all times. What if it’s an ambush? It seems highly unlikely they just want to meet us to be neighborly. All the research says they’re not that type. We don’t know what we’re walking into, so I don’t think we should take too many chances tomorrow night. We need to play it safe.”
Kira conceded. He was right. “Fine. Maybe we wait and feel things out tomorrow night. See if there is an opportunity for one of us to be alone to do some reconnaissance. But if I see an opening, I want to take it.” She just realized that she hadn’t shown Bryce her translation of the napkin found in the trash can. “Hold on. I need to show you something.”
Bryce watched her with interest while she flipped through the pages of her notebook to the piece she’d translated. “What did you find?”
“I was able to translate the Russian letters, but it’s a list of names.” Kira slid the paper to Bryce. “I have no idea who these people are and why all the names are crossed out but one. Is it a hit list?”
Davis
Thomas
Madison
Riley
Harper
Mason
Sawyer
Bryce stared at the paper, the color draining from his face. “These aren’t names of people. They’re mountain towns in West Virginia. Maybe they searched these places for something and came up empty. Derek Young, who accidentally sold Zaika, lives in the town called Riley, a few towns over from Sawyer’s Peak. The place I swore I’d never go again.”
“Why?”
“It’s where I grew up.”
