Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84607 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
I blew out a breath and averted my gaze. This was so fucked up.
Beckett’s anger toward his brother was kinda justified, but I bet he was relieved a damn tattoo hadn’t actually gotten Vince killed. That might’ve been too much to deal with. But yeah, it seemed the ink was the reason the Hahns suddenly knew so much about Beckett.
I looked back to him. “If they did find your address there, isn’t it safe to assume they haven’t been there too long?”
“We’re estimating a couple months, at least,” he confirmed. “On the plus side, any information they’ve gotten their hands on in that house is older than a year. It means I don’t have to freak out about them knowing where my sister lives. But it also means I’m not letting Alex and my mother come home until this shit’s been put to rest.” He flicked away some ashes and took another pull from the smoke. “We’ll know more tomorrow morning. We have Intel running searches on the footage we have so far, and we won’t lose them this time. Three operators are on-site, and we have drones in the air.”
I cocked my head. “How many are there? The Hahns.”
“Eight that we know of. Three came from Texas, and they met up with five others at a safehouse,” he replied. “We should know soon how long they’ve rented that place. It’ll give us a better time frame.”
Three operators, eight enemies, drones…? And two locations to watch, the safehouse the Hahns were renting, as well as this mystery house left behind by Vince.
“And how much have the operators actually seen? They must’ve gotten close to find those photos, right?”
“We’ve been inside their safehouse,” he answered. “We can’t say the same about Vince’s place. It’s outside of town in an open area, so we’re gonna have to approach tomorrow night.”
The way he said that… “Are you going down there?”
He nodded. “I’ll get on the road first thing in the morning.”
Fuck.
Even though Fredericksburg was just an hour or so away from here, he was technically being deployed, and I had no idea how long he’d be gone. Just like Alex. I hated not knowing that.
I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering how much more he could divulge. “Do you know how long my instructor will be neglecting his recruits?”
He chuckled and stood up, then went over to the ashtray. “I didn’t know you were Catholic.”
I frowned. “I’m not.”
He put out the cigarette. “Jewish? My nana on Ma’s side was Jewish. She knew her way around guilt trips too. If I missed out on a visit, I was breaking her heart. If I didn’t ask for seconds, I hated her food.”
I snorted in amusement. “I’m not Jewish either.”
“Then try something else, punk. You have more than one instructor, and you’ll survive without me for a while.”
A while was so damn vague, it wasn’t even funny.
“I’m not so sure,” I said. “I’ve grown accustomed to being surrounded by Becketts, and now I’ve lost two in a matter of five minutes.” Ish.
He smiled and sat down again. “If it makes you feel any better, Alex misses you. I talked to her before my briefing.”
That did brighten my mood a little. “She’s cool. I like her.”
“It’s mutual.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “If you want, I can tell you I missed you like crazy when I get back.”
I grinned and mirrored his stance, and our elbows almost touched. “I already know you’ll miss me. No other recruit follows you around like a puppy like I do. It’s gotta be a good ego boost.”
He chuckled and glanced toward the door.
Nobody was there, but it did remind me of the cameras.
“Do the cameras here record sound?” I asked. “Because you’ve been kind of generous with sharing what I assume is classified information.”
His forehead wrinkled, and he eyed the camera in the corner above the door. “That’s not a camera.”
What?
“I mean, they are, but they’re aimed skyward.” He pointed at the other two. “They pick up movement on the helipad and drone activity.”
Whoa. “There’s a helipad up there?” I looked up on the roof, and I could obviously not see anything that would indicate a landing spot, but I guessed it was big enough.
“Yup. Not that it’s used often.”
“Badass.” I’d seen soldiers come down from helicopters on ropes at Fort Benning. That’d been cool.
Beckett looked at me with amusement in his eyes. “You’re easily impressed. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to take on an assignment with you.”
I lit up, ’cause that was the best fucking opening. “Why don’t you find out and let me tag along tomorrow?”
The mirth definitely reached a new spark level in those sexy peepers, but he didn’t laugh like I thought he would. “You just took a risk and asked for something.”