For some reason, that thought terrified Harley more than she wanted to admit. Because that would mean never seeing Sawyer again.
“How hard would it be for someone to get their hands on Sarah’s and Cedric’s new identities and the location of the mission Silas was on?” she asked, changing the subject before her mind could go too far down that particular path. “Who would have access to info like that?”
Sawyer scanned the monitors. “Anyone with a high enough clearance would be able to get details on an active mission like Silas was on—supervisors, branch chiefs, senior support personnel. But Sarah’s and Cedric’s identities would be more difficult to dig up. Few people, even at the highest levels, would have access to that information.”
Harley thought that was what he’d say. “What if someone had access to the MI6 records repository? Would they be able to find everything there?”
Sawyer swiveled his chair toward her with a sigh. “I know you’re trying to find a connection between their murders and the guy we followed to Mexico City, but like I said before, it’s a huge leap to think someone who has a grudge against my old team just happens to work for Boc.”
“Maybe,” she replied. “But coincidence or not, we can’t ignore the fact that a man associated with Boc broke into the MI6 records repository where all kinds of personnel and agency records are kept, then a couple weeks later, your old teammates start showing up dead.”
Harley thought Sawyer would argue that point, but after a long silent pause, he nodded. “Okay, I’ll admit you might be onto something, but there isn’t a lot we can do to prove your theory. Even if we trusted our support teams, what would we have them look for? The guy who broke into the records repository died in Mexico City and we don’t know enough about Boc to connect the two of them. The best I can do is tell Weatherford our suspicions and see what he can dig up.”
Harley appreciated Sawyer said our suspicions, instead of hanging her out to dry on her own. It was a little thing, but it still meant a lot to her.
They both fell quiet as they turned their attention back to the monitor. The silence should have been uncomfortable, but sitting there with him watching the construction team working on the mountain was relaxing.
“You hungry?” Sawyer asked a little while later. “It’s been hours since we had dinner at the hotel restaurant.”
“I could eat,” she said.
Getting up, he walked into the kitchen and turned on the small lights underneath the upper cabinets, bathing yellow walls and a colorful tile backsplash in a soft glow. Opening the fridge, he took out two bottles of orange-flavored soda, then set them on the counter so he could rummage through the paper grocery bags there. Without the support people to set everything up, Caleb had volunteered to stock the villa with food. Knowing her teammate as well as she did, Harley wasn’t holding out much hope for quality snacks.
“We have bags of something called Drakulinia, which look like cheese puffs,” he said, holding it up so she could see before reaching in for another. “Next we have Tsakiris Chips with oregano flavoring.” He grimaced. “I was good until I saw that. I am definitely not a fan of oregano.”
She didn’t mind oregano but wasn’t sure she wanted potato chips doused in it. “Anything chocolate in there?”
He dug around in another paper bag and pulled out a small red cylinder. “Chocolate wafers filled with chocolate cream. That work for you?”
Her mouth was already watering. “Definitely.”
Coming back into the living room, he handed her the cardboard canister of cookies and a bottle of soda. Harley eagerly pulled the plastic lid off the canister, then popped the metal lid underneath. The delightful scent of chocolate immediately reached her nose, along with something that smelled a little like a waffle cone. She couldn’t resist holding the container up close to her face to take an extra deep sniff.
“Mmm,” she breathed.
Sawyer chuckled. “Should I leave you two alone for a while? I could step outside for a bit. Maybe go for a walk around the block.”
Unable to resist the urge, Harley stuck out her tongue at Sawyer, who snorted and made a teasing comment about her maturity before ripping open the top of his bag of Drakulinia snacks. While he attempted to figure out what the twisted cheese-puff shape had to do with Dracula, Harley tried one of the chocolate-filled rolls from the can. The cream inside the rolled-up tube wasn’t as sweet as she expected, but it was delicious anyway. Something told her she’d eat the whole can before their shift was over.
“How’re those things working for you?” she asked as he crunched on a handful of the strangely shaped cheese puffs.
“They taste like Cheetos with a hint of tomato soup mixed in. I could definitely get addicted.”
She reached over and shoved her hand in the bag trying to grab a few.
“Hey,” he laughed, pulling his bag away with one hand while making a shooing gesture with the other. “These are mine.”
She held out the canister of Caprice cookies and flashed him a smile. “I’ll share if you will.”
“Deal,” he said, offering access to his bag at the same time he reached out and took one of the chocolate-filled wafer rolls out of the can.
Reaching for more of the powdery orange snacks, she popped them into her mouth, then bit into a cookie. “Cheese puffs and chocolate…who knew?”
He chuckled as they both went back to eating, sharing from their packages and occasionally taking a sip of the soda that tasted like orange soda and lemonade mixed together.
“So, is now a good time to talk?”
Sawyer’s voice was so casual, Harley barely took note of the question until she looked up and realized he was regarding her expectantly.
“Talk
