Mind of Danger (Body of Danger #3) - Sidney Bristol Page 0,1
and he knew it was her. “So you do remember me?”
“Hell yeah. What are you doing in Seattle?”
There were few people he’d kept in contact with following his medical discharge. The guys, for the most part, didn’t know how to talk to him. It was easier if they went their separate ways. But that wasn’t Marjorie Walker’s way.
Elias could still remember the first day she’d joined them. Jo and two other women had been shuffled around to find units that were a better fit. At least that was the official line. The unofficial one was that Jo and the other two women had called out harassment from a fellow soldier, and to cover it up they’d separated everyone involved rather than actually deal with it.
The others had taken to Jo and the other two women without issue. She’d become one of the guys to everyone except Elias. Not that she knew that.
“Sorry,” Jo muttered. “What am I doing in Seattle? That’s kind of a long story. Are you still here? In Seattle, I mean?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“I’m in a bit of a bind, and—”
“Say no more. What do you need?”
“Would you have time to pick me and a coworker up from the airport? Our ride bailed and—”
“I’ll be there. Just putting on my shoes and walking out the door.”
Jo sighed. “Thanks, Eli. You’re saving me big time here.”
“What terminal are you at?”
“We aren’t, actually. Look, it’s a long story, but we are at the cargo entrance.”
“Sounds like a story. Maybe we’ll have time to catch up over a drink?” He hoped, but wouldn’t push his luck.
“That would be nice, if time allows. How are you?”
“You can see for yourself in a bit.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Elias shoved the phone into his pocket. A surge of energy and anticipation pushed him to move faster.
Jo was here.
It was a good thing he’d showered after wrapping up his laundry list of items. Now all he had to do was leave. He shoved his feet into his boots and grabbed his keys. It wasn’t until he took his first step toward the front door that he asked himself, what the hell was Jo doing in Seattle? Why was she flying in and out of the cargo wing of an airport? And why would she call him for anything?
Maybe he was being paranoid, but in his line of work he knew to play it safe. He decided to spare a moment and went to the gun safe in his closet.
He didn’t know what Jo was doing now, but if he had to guess, she hadn’t gotten out of the military to bake cookies or sell oils.
His Jo had a nose for danger, and he’d do well to remember that.
WEDNESDAY. SEATTLE-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington.
Marjorie Walker was in over her head so badly she was drowning. How was it things could fall apart so fast?
Her plan had been foolproof. Or so she’d thought. But now here she was stranded in a Seattle cargo hangar, only a few days away from Christmas. None of her contacts or handlers were answering their phones because they were off doing normal people bullshit. And all the while she was rotting from the inside.
This job had to end, somehow, someway.
“What the hell are we doing, Jo?”
She turned and looked at her companion.
Isaac.
She’d done her homework on him.
Isaac wasn’t the name he’d been born with. He’d remade himself following some nasty allegations as a teen. Not that he’d made better decisions as an adult. He’d hitched his wagon to a criminal and didn’t care who he rolled over.. There was a very good chance he would turn on her if he got even the faintest whiff of the truth. If that happened and she was forced to deal with him, it might blow the whole case up in her face.
They’d blame it on her. Because she was a woman in a high stress environment. She was too young. Too this. Too that. She’d heard it all. And yet, she was still here doing her job, unlike everyone else who just hit pause on the world while they went to go admire pretty lights and rip open packages.
Shit.
Inwardly, she groaned.
Her presents to her mom and sister were still at her place. There was no way she was getting home before Christmas, which meant she’d be sending everything late again.
Wonderful.
As if those relationships weren’t tense enough.
She just needed to hold it together a little longer.
Elias was on the way.
Warmth she had no business feeling spread through