Targeted

too.

“What was that about, Dante?” Sophie asked as he headed toward I-95.

He suppressed a smile at her sarcastic tone. “I hate bringing you with me, but I’ve got to pick up some stuff and I’ve got to do it now.”

“Packaging material, huh?” She raised a dark eyebrow at him.

“That’s right.”

“Mm-hmm,” she murmured. “So, what do you do when you’re not busy being a spy?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, for fun. Spies are allowed to have fun, aren’t they?”

The past few years he hadn’t had much downtime, but there was one thing that never got old. “I like to fish.”

“Really?”

“Why is that surprising?”

She lifted her shoulders slightly. “I don’t know. That just seems so . . . normal. And pretty boring. For someone like you, I mean.”

“Nah, I love it. Maybe it’s my Irish blood, but being on the water is the only time I feel grounded.” Maybe he should have left that part out. Jack Stone was Irish, but so was his former self. She didn’t seem to notice. “What about you?”

“I love to paint and draw.”

“I know.” Damn it! The words were out before he could stop himself. This was why he needed to keep his mouth shut around her. The more he let his guard down, the more likely he was to slip up. When she was a teenager she’d always been drawing and sketching. The girl had filled up notebooks.

“You know?”

“Your file. It said you minored in art. Why didn’t you pursue anything after school?”

“I wanted stability.” Her answer was immediate and real and he loved that she was being honest with him.

He’d already guessed why, but couldn’t tell her that. “Are you going to go back to work at SBMS when this is over—if there’s a company to go back to?” Which Jack wasn’t sure there would be. It might end up being dismantled.

She snorted in a very un-Sophie-like manner, completely taking him off guard. “No way. Even if he doesn’t go to jail, I don’t know if I can ever look Ronald in the face again after all this.”

Jack was pretty sure Weller wouldn’t go to jail, not if he helped them enough to bring Vargas down. If the threats against him ended up being bad enough, he’d likely be put into WITSEC. There were too many variables and Jack didn’t give a shit what happened to Weller anyway. “What are you going to do?”

“I . . . have no idea. After the past couple days, I’ve started to realize that no matter what I do, I can’t be truly safe from everything. I want to do something that makes me happy.” She paused and bit her bottom lip. “Is that totally cheesy?”

“No.” He pulled off the next exit and circled back under the overpass.

“Okay, where exactly are we going? Because this area looks a little like that gross motel.”

“We’re almost there.” They were in one of the worst parts of town. As they drove past an abandoned apartment complex covered with graffiti, he pointed toward an eight-foot chain-link fence across the street. The fence surrounded what used to be a parking lot but now housed storage boxes and garbage. “See those green storage boxes? That’s where we’re going.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Your friends hang out in some interesting places.”

“This guy isn’t my friend, so you’re staying in the car. And remember, my name is Dante, not Jack.”

“How many names do you have?”

“Too many,” he said as he steered into the deserted area. Gravel and dust flew up as he turned into the only cutout opening along the fence.

Avoiding potholes and bags of trash, he parked in front of one of the containers. He glanced in his rearview mirror as an old pickup truck pulled up. Withdrawing his backup pistol from his ankle holster, he laid it on the center console. “This should be over soon, but if something happens to me, drive away and don’t look back.”

Her lips pulled into a thin line. “Really, again with this? You expect me to leave you behind?”

“Sophie—”

“Fine. I’ll do it.” There was no conviction in her words and he knew she was lying, but there was nothing he could do about it. Even though he hated the thought of her not following his orders, he felt another crack around his chest at the thought of her sticking by him. It was one of many things he’d always adored about her. Once she decided she was on your side, she was loyal to a fault.

Alexander was the only person that he could see in the truck, so after another visual scan of the area, he reached behind his seat and grabbed a small duffel bag, then got out first. He’d called this meeting, so he needed to make the first move.

When he stepped out, the other man did the same.

“It’s been too long, my friend,” Alexander said. Wearing a bright green and blue Hawaiian button-down shirt and faded cargo pants, he didn’t look like the typical weapons dealer Jack usually dealt with. As long as Jack had known him, he’d never seen him wearing a suit or anything other than the tacky getup he was in now. Maybe that was another reason he’d stayed alive so long. He knew how to blend in with his surroundings.

“I’ve been out of the country. Had to lie low after that last job.”

Dante nodded knowingly, then quickly switched gears. “Have you brought the money?”

“I assumed you’d want it electronically. Just like old times.” For all Alexander’s old-school ways, he rarely dealt with cash.

The other man motioned with his hand. “This way.”

Jack glanced back at Sophie before following the other man toward one of the locked storage boxes. Alexander unlocked it, disabled what looked like a booby trap—which would probably cause an explosion if anyone tried to break into the unit—then opened it for Jack. With the flip of a switch, an overhead fluorescent light came on. The low buzz reverberated around them. Rows of packaged explosives and stacks of M-4s, M-16s and other military-grade weapons lined the small facility.

Alexander pulled a laptop from the briefcase he’d brought and opened it. “First things first.”

Jack leaned against one of the metal walls as he waited. He hated not having a visual of Sophie, but she had a gun. It was the only thing that eased his growing tension.

“Who is the woman with you?” Alexander asked as he typed in his password.

“A close friend.”

“She must be, you bringing her here. Normally I wouldn’t allow a guest, but it’s you, so I’ll make an exception.”

Jack didn’t respond. He was fishing for information. In this business, anytime someone could get a leg up on anyone, they did. Law of the jungle.

“Okay, here’s the account number.” Alexander handed him a white strip of paper with a string of numbers hand written on it.

With a few keystrokes, Jack wired the fee, then handed the piece of paper back. “Ready to do business?”

“One moment.” He pulled out his phone. After a brief conversation with his bank, Alexander was off the phone and smiling. “Take what you need.”

Jack kept his eyes on the other man as he loaded up his duffel bag. Once the bag was stocked, he hoisted it over his shoulder. “Thanks again.”

He didn’t wait for Alexander to lock up. As soon as he was outside, he scanned the area for any threats, then headed for the SUV. Jack knew that within an hour that storage container would be cleaned out and the rest of the product moved. Alexander might have let him see this place, but the weapons dealer had a habit of moving his products constantly.

“Did you get everything you needed?” Sophie asked as he strapped in.

“Yep.” He slung the bag into the backseat. The good thing about C-4, it was incredibly stable. He could hit it with a hammer and it wouldn’t do a thing. Hell, he could light it on fire and nothing would happen. Of course if he