Midnight Alias: A Killer Instincts Novel Read Online Free PDF

again.
    * * *
    On the roof of the low-rise across the street from the Diamond Mine, Trevor lowered his binoculars and reached for the water bottle at his side. He took a quick sip, then ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and sighed. Although he wasn’t about to admit it to the others—the team leader had to lead by example, after all—this gig really was too tedious for his liking. Surveillance was boring as hell, especially after the last couple of missions the team had taken on. Rescuing the relief workers in Ethiopia, the kidnapped executive in Johannesburg. The thirteen little girls in Luis Blanco’s Colombian prison . . .
    As usual, the memory of that particular assignment caused his thoughts to drift to Isabel, the undercover operative he’d teamed up with during the Colombia job. He’d been thinking about her a lot these past six months. Too much, probably. But hell, it was hard not to. He’d been a total shit for leaving things the way he had. The woman had saved his life, and instead of thanking her, he’d lashed out, blamed her for making him face his issues.
    Funny, but the anger he’d been consumed with all those months ago had completely evaporated. Now when he thought of Isabel Roma, he was overcome with gratitude. He’d walked away from that mission with an important piece of knowledge—he didn’t want to die. Once, maybe, but not anymore. Isabel had helped him see that.
    And he’d yelled at her like a toddler throwing a tantrum and left her in a hospital room to recover from a bullet wound she’d suffered while saving his life.
    “You’re a real asshole, Callaghan,” he muttered to himself.
    Yep, he sure was. He could still make amends, though. After this job was over, he was in line for the vacation time Morgan pushed on his men to prevent them from burning out, and Trevor was thinking of sticking around in New York. Isabel had mentioned she had an apartment here, so maybe he could finally work up the courage to contact her. Unless she was out in the field, carrying out whatever task Noelle, the queen of assassins, had charged her with. In that case, Noelle would probably know how to reach her . . .
    He contemplated picking up the phone and calling Isabel’s boss, then shuddered. Maybe he’d ask Morgan to make the call. The boss didn’t seem to be frightened by Noelle.
    He was jolted out of his thoughts when Sullivan’s voice crackled in his ear. “The kangaroo’s leaving the Outback. I repeat, kangaroo’s leaving the Outback.”
    Trevor grinned. He’d rather shave his legs than say it aloud, but he really had missed that crazy Australian. Missions were always more fun when Sullivan was around.
    Reaching for his field glasses, he focused on the strip club. Sullivan had positioned himself in the outdoor patio of the pub next door, directly in the line of sight of the club’s entrance. Sure enough, Luke had just exited through the double doors. Trevor zoomed in closer, noticing that the dark-haired man looked a bit dazed.
    He frowned. The plan had been for Luke to remain in the club until closing time, but a glance at his watch showed that only a few hours had passed since Luke had gone in. Since they’d determined this was a low-risk job, the eyes on the outside had no radio contact with Luke, so they had no way of knowing the reason for his early departure until he told them.
    On the street below, Luke stepped to the curb, zipping up his Windbreaker against the early October chill. He paused at the crosswalk, then bounded across the street, disappearing into the alley separating Trevor’s building from the adjacent one. He was coming up here, then. Something must have happened in the club.
    The only telltale sign of Luke’s arrival was the faint creak of the fire escape. Then utter silence. Again, not something Trevor would say out loud, but those SEALs had definitely perfected the art of stealth . Luke didn’t make a single sound as he made his way up to the roof, and