Carol Ericson - Navy Seal Spy

“It’s chilly out here. Let’s walk back together.”

Liam twisted his lips. That was a less-than-subtle way to get Katie out of this area.

As the two women turned and took the path back to the office buildings, Liam let out a long breath.

What was Katie doing working for Tempest in what amounted to an undercover situation? That was his job.

If she was here in a legitimate position as a programmer, why would she come on under an assumed name? She’d called herself KC when she was a teenager in foster care, had switched to the more formal Kathryn when she became an adult and started working and then settled on Katie, which suited her a lot better than Kathryn or KC.

Now she was KC again.

KC was the wild child, the rebel, the illegal hacker, even though she dressed like an office drone. Did calling herself KC have some significance here?

He narrowed his eyes and peered between the bleachers at the empty track. He’d skipped lunch to run a few miles, so he’d better work up a sweat to bolster his story.

He slipped between the slats and hoisted himself on top of the bleachers. Lifting his knees almost to his chest, he began running the stairs. A few trips up and back and sweat dampened his gray T-shirt and beaded his brow.

As he slung his towel around his neck, he peered at the office buildings in the distance. What kind of game was Katie playing with Tempest?

She had to know that if she lost even one round of that game, it could mean her life.

* * *

KATIE TOOK A deep breath and hunched over the sink in the bathroom. For a minute she thought Ginger was going to follow her in here. The woman gave her the creeps, and that had been before she’d watched her kill a man in cold blood in midcoitus.

Ginger had shown a lot of interest in Katie’s work. Had asked her several questions about programming and what programming languages she knew.

Katie splashed some cold water on her face even though her cheeks still stung from the crisp air outside.

She blotted her face with a paper towel and then crumpled it in her fist. Ginger had no reason to suspect her. Neither she nor the security guard had seen Liam crouching beneath the bleachers.

Meyers—had he been the same guy who’d assisted Ginger last night? He’d been wearing black gloves so if he did have the bird tattoo, she couldn’t see it. The voice sounded similar and besides, how many guards did Ginger have that would willingly be an accomplice to murder?

She tossed the paper towel in the trash and straightened her shoulders. Ginger didn’t scare her. She still planned to gather more evidence against Tempest and then report the agency to...someone. She hadn’t gotten that far in her plan yet.

Her head swiveled back toward the mirror, and she ran her hands through her wind-tossed hair. She’d thought Liam McCabe was the kind of man to turn to in dire straits, but not if he was working with the enemy.

Or was he?

Sebastian certainly hadn’t known what he was getting himself into.

She pushed out of the ladies’ room and turned the corner to catch the elevator down to her floor. The phone rang just as she stepped into her cubicle, and she spent fifteen minutes dealing with a software issue.

“Where did you disappear to for lunch?” Samantha hung on the corner of her cube.

“I wandered around outside for a bit. How was your meeting?”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “A huge waste of time, and Larry didn’t even buy me lunch, the cheap bastard.”

“That’s just wrong.”

“Cute jacket.” Samantha tilted her head. “Do you have the sweater you borrowed from me yesterday?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s hanging in the closet.” Katie jerked her thumb at the metal black cabinet behind her that had a bar and a couple of hangers.

Samantha reached past her and opened the door. She shook out the cream-colored sweater she usually kept on the back of her chair for the days when the office got too chilly—like today.

“I hope you sew.”

“What?” Katie clicked on an email reminding her about database maintenance tomorrow night and then deleted it.

“There’s a button missing, and I swear it wasn’t missing when I gave the sweater to you yesterday.”

Katie spun around in her chair. “Really?”

Samantha thrust the sweater at her and a few scraggly threads marked the spot where a square button had been.

“I’m so sorry. Do you have a replacement for it? I can sew it back on.”

Samantha laughed. “I’m just kidding. I might have an extra button for this old thing at home. I’ll sew it back on when I find it.”

“I’ll check my car. I didn’t bring it in to my place last night. I wore it to my car and tossed it in the backseat so I wouldn’t forget it today.”

“Don’t knock yourself out.” She draped the sweater over her shoulders. “It’s just my office sweater. I wouldn’t actually go out in public wearing this thing.”

“The buttons are kind of cute.”

“These?” She plucked at one of the shiny squares. “They’re hideous.”

Samantha retreated to her own cubicle, and Katie dug into her work. She hadn’t figured out a way around the Tempest firewalls yet, but she would. She’d been something of a hacker before she went legitimate, and while changing a few grades didn’t compare to the type of security Tempest had in place, she had confidence in her skills. She’d already figured out how to mess with the security cameras and the access cards.

She stretched and wandered to the window, folding her arms as she rested her forehead against the glass. She couldn’t quite see the track from here, but she could see the edge of the gym, and the movement over there meant the agents were training again.

She knew they slept here. They had living quarters behind the compound out there. Some of them wouldn’t make the cut, and they’d be sent home after signing some nondisclosure agreement. They agreed not to talk about their training, and they walked away with a nice severance bonus—at least that’s what she’d heard.

She had no doubt Liam would pass every physical test they threw at him. When she’d met him in San Diego, he’d been a SEAL—conditioned, primed and at his peak.

From the looks of him today in his T-shirt and running shorts, he was still at his peak. She chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe she should warn him. But warn him about what? She had no idea really what Tempest was up to. She just knew it was no good, and maybe Liam knew that, too.

She couldn’t believe he’d turn on her, but then she wouldn’t have believed he’d leave her stranded, high and dry in San Diego, while he returned to the Middle East for another tour. He’d promised her he was done.

She snorted and squiggled her finger through the mist her breath had left on the window. Men like Liam were never done. Men like Sebastian.

She needed another break. She dipped back into her cubicle and dragged her car keys from her purse. Tapping on the side of Samantha’s cubicle, she said, “I’m going out to my car in case anyone’s looking for me. I’m going to look for that button.”

“I don’t care about the stupid button, KC.”

“I know, but it’s bugging me now, and I need a break, anyway.”

“If you remember, get me a diet cola from the vending machine downstairs. I’m gonna need some caffeine if I’m gonna get through this boring stuff before I leave tonight.”

Katie patted the pocket of her jacket where she had a few dollar bills. “No problem.”

She made her way to the parking structure, where cars still took up the majority of the spaces. Most of the employees took off around five o’clock, except for the diehards, people like Ginger and Garrett and Mr. Romo. Nobody ever saw much of Mr. Romo, and nobody ever called him anything but Mr. Romo, but he presided over Tempest from the top floor of the building like some omniscient being. She’d caught sight of him a few times, and he always seemed to be staring at her, but that was probably because he had the oddest, light-colored eyes.