Diamonds Are Truly Forever: An Agent Ex Novel 2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

husband, as you put it, had an enemy, drug lord or not, who wanted you dead, believe me, you wouldn’t want the straight answer. A regular guy would lie to save himself and maybe to spare you. He just wouldn’t lie as convincingly as I do.” He lost his serious expression and grinned, looking confident he’d made a good point.
    She crossed her arms. “How about a general description of the most likely candidates, then? I like to be prepared while I’m jumping at shadows.”
    “Human. Probably.”
    She gave him her serious Tell me the truth look. “Come on. How about a little more detail?”
    He shrugged. “Could be a host of totally dissimilar-looking people. Male. Female. All masters of disguise. They could even hire hit men we don’t know about to do the deed. A physical description’s useless, seriously. Best advice—stay out of dark alleys and corners, and don’t trust anyone.”
    “Anyone ever tell you you’re seriously horrible at calming nerves?” She shook her head. “I suppose you’ve already contacted Em? Is that who you were texting?”
    “Emmett? Why would I contact him?” He had a teasing look in his eye.
    Staci tried not to look as exasperated as she felt. “Because he’s your boss and he can help us. Put a hit out on whoever did this.”
    “Wow! She’s vicious when someone’s after her.” Drew shook his head and laughed softly. “Emmett will only put a hit out if it suits his purpose. You know that.”
    He cleared his throat. “Sorry about earlier, the danger I’ve apparently put you in, one way or another. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” He got that faraway look in his eyes that he had when he was thinking disturbing thoughts. She recognized this particular version of it from their marriage.
    He was most likely thinking about Ciudad del Este again. She never should have gone with him on that mission. She’d nearly gotten them both killed. Yet somehow he blamed himself for the drug lords beating her senseless.
    They sat in silence for a beat or two. Finally, she hazarded a stab at comforting him. “You’re good at your job, Drew. You couldn’t have stopped them.”
    She meant in Ciudad del Este, and again now, but she didn’t elaborate.
    “Sure.” He picked up his beer and took a swig, acting as if the conversation was over.
    So typical of him. Men! She wasn’t going to let him clam up that easily this time.
    “You still haven’t said why you’re undercover as yourself. What’s your mission? Why as yourself? And what in the world are you doing on a domestic mission again? I thought the official line is that spying on the citizens at home is forbidden.”
    Which made her worry even more. A domestic mission was extremely delicate and dangerous.
    “You know how the Agency feels about the official line. That stuff about not operating on US soil is urban legend.” He gave her a half grin. “I can’t tell you anything.”
    She pursed her lips, wildly trying to think how to proceed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were ‘moving back’ and staying for a while when I called you to come get your stuff? I thought you were just in town for a few weeks until things were final.”
    He stared at her with such intensity she felt she might crumble. “Would it have mattered?”

 
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Staci looked down at the table and traced a pattern in the condensation from the bottom of her can to avoid answering his question. Pretending she hadn’t heard it seemed the safest, most humane course of action. “What do we do now? About the sniper, I mean.” She peeked up at him from beneath her bangs. At her question, he visibly relaxed.
    “I’ve put feelers out.”
    She still couldn’t wrap her mind around the events of the day. Staci took a deep breath. “So what do we do now, really?”
    “We act the part of the happily reunited couple until I’ve taken care of things. Now go call your mom and friends and get the ball rolling.”
    She scowled at him. Only