Special Ops Affair Read Online Free PDF Page B

together on this. Are you going to be able to do that?”
    “Of course.” Unless it was related to ELF.
    “You’ll share whatever you find?”
    “Yes.” Unless it was related to ELF.
    “Who did you go see tonight?”
    That she could answer. “Kate’s sister.”
    “What did she say?”
    “Nothing, which doesn’t surprise me. Kate never involved friends and family in her work.”
    “How do you know her death was related to her work?”
    “I don’t.”
    “I thought she was just helping you. You know, on the side as it were, since she already had a good enough job.”
    “She was.”
    He sighed at her evasiveness. “Will there be someone at her funeral we can talk to?”
    “You don’t have to go to her funeral with me.”
    He cocked his head at her lame attempt to get him to leave her alone. “It’s no trouble.”
    No trouble. Not for him. What was she going to do with him hanging around all the time? Nothing, that’s what. She’d wait for the funeral—see who showed up—and then she’d go from there.
    Now her only concern was getting through the next couple of days alone with him.

    It was sunny and warm the day of Kate’s funeral. Standing near the casket as the minister finished his eulogy, Odie watched the mourners. She knew Jag was doing the same beside her, tall and big and handsome and way too distracting. He didn’t know these people the way she did, but she didn’t doubt he’d notice things—like the man standing next to Senator Raybourne and his wife and daughter. It had to be Calan Friese. Odie was already suspicious of him. He showed no emotion and yet his long-term girlfriend had just been murdered.
    She sneaked a glance at Jag. Yep, he’d noticed. Just as his head started to turn toward her, she faced forward and tried to pay attention to the service.
    The past two days had been a challenge. She’d barely managed to maintain her aloofness sharing meals and a room with a man who attracted her against her will. The only thing that saved her was her laptop. She had used the excuse of working to keep her distance. But like the trained operative he was, he’d endured the boredom with style. She’d even caught him amused while he observed her.
    The minister approached the senator and his wife. Odie hadn’t seen them in a long time. Luis looked different, still tall but his middle was beginning to protrude and his hair was gray. Alice began crying uncontrollably and he put his arm around her. She wasn’t gray but she probably dyed her hair. Slender and stylish in her long black dress, she looked fabulous. For an older woman, she sure knew how to keep her shape. Mo stood next to them, mouth tight with the effort not to cry. Luis put his other arm around her, a stoic rock of support for his family.
    She wondered if he could help her. As a senator, he could have valuable connections. Maybe it would lead to something.
    Something linked to Hersch, a voice taunted in her mind. She felt a disturbing chill run down her back. How deep did this go? Cullen also had connections in the government, and at least one of them had asked him to carry out this mission. But what had triggered the inquiry into Defense Initiatives? Who had tipped off Cullen’s higher-ups to the Albanian company?
    She moved her focus again to Friese. Tall and expressionless, he had dark blond hair and wore sunglasses. To hide his lack of tears? He was on the thick side with muscle. No fat. He had all the signs of special ops.
    Feeling Jag watching her, she looked up at him. Without even trying to pretend he hadn’t noticed where her gaze had gone, he looked away.
    Mourners began to line up to offer their condolences to Kate’s family. It wasn’t easy to watch. Odie waited until the last of them finished before leading Jag there.
    “You didn’t tell me Kate’s father was a senator.”
    “I thought you already knew.”
    “I had to read about it.”
    “Poor baby.”
    “What else am I going to read about?”
    She glanced