Out of the Shadows (Falcon) Read Online Free PDF

the face and then demanding the pilot fly her back home, but she couldn’t afford to be foolish. Brody would come for her again. Not only that, but while she seriously doubted Jake was totally invested in the hair-brained scheme, his loyalties ran too deep to go against a fellow agent.
    She jumped down into arms strong enough to squish her like a bug. In his embrace, something strong and primal stirred her heart. Her teeth clamped together when she realized this man was calculating, smart, and powerful. One a wise person wouldn’t tangle with.
    In her opinion , Brody might be a little over the top, but he was handsome and rugged in an insane kind of way. His looks sent her thoughts on a detour down a very sensuous alley.
    Jake stood in the plane looking out at them. “Brody, I think you’re walking right into a trap.”
    “I thought of that.”
    “If you’re n ot here tomorrow at 2100 hours, I’m bringing in the entire agency. Like it or not.”
    “We’ll be here. And A.J. will be with us.”
    The door closed, plunging them into darkness. Kate couldn’t make out anything but shadows. The dirt beneath her feet felt more sand than soil, and the raw scents of dust and engine fuel carried on the hot air.
    Only the sound of the idling plane cut through the heavy silence. Torrid heat enveloped her and sucked the oxygen from her lungs.
    “Don’t take off running again.”
    “Where are you taking me , anyway?” she said. “I have a right to know,” she shouted over the engine.
    “To your old boyfriend, Oscar Chavez.”
    Kate slumped back against the warm plane. “Oh God!”
    ***
    Langley, Virginia
    In the darkness, Assistant Director of the CIA, Benjamin Reed, stood next to the memorial garden set on a hillside between the original headquarters building and the auditorium of the CIA complex. Here, he didn’t worry about his cell phone pinging off covert listening devices.
    After two rings , the person on the opposite end of the call picked up.
    “Is everything ready?”
    “I told you to never call me.”
    “We only have three days to pull this off. If there’s a kink in your plan, I need to know.”
    “If I had a problem I would have dealt with it. Remember Ben, I don’t need you. You need me.”
    “No, you remember who’s covering your trail. I can point an arrow right to your front door with one email. So watch your fucking mouth. Two people can be silenced as easily as one.”
    The assistant d irector snapped the phone shut and jammed it in his pocket. He didn’t own one of those fancy, hard-to-figure-out smartphones. At fifty-four he didn’t have the time or the inclination to learn all that bullshit. More important things occupied his mind.
    One goddamn thing for sure, he wasn’t about to let s ome Podunk politician yank his chain. He’d fucking bury him so deep they’d never find the body.
    He slowly walked from the gar den to the waiting car. August heat, even this time of night, seared his skin and soaked his body beneath the Armani suit.
    As he slid into the back seat, he loosened his tie and longed for a glass of Kentucky whiskey to settle his nerves. Burying his face in his hands, he prayed everything would work out as planned. He refused to consider the alternative.
    “Home, sir?”
    Ben lifted his head. “No, the Ritz-Carlton.”
    Looking at him in the rearview mirror his driver said, “You’re working late tonight, sir.”
    Ben liked his black driver, Ernie. They’d been together since he wa s promoted from field agent to director of field operations. He’d worked hard to get the attention of the right people, those wielding the power to increase his chances for promotion to the hierarchy of the CIA.
    Then three years ago, after twenty one years of service Vince Colanglo, Director of the CIA strolled into his office and offered him the assistant director position.
    Ben had hidden his excitement and remained calm, confident, and professional. One wrong move and that bastard Colanglo,