LITMIR.BIZ

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woman seemed no-nonsense and decidedly kick-ass. He shouldn’t have a problem sticking to his intent to stay single and emotionally unavailable to women. Especially one who’d tackled him before they’d been properly introduced.

      Those steely eyes didn’t inspire him to lose himself in her. Her athletic body and shoulder-length, straight, sandy-blond hair didn’t make him want to run his hand through it to ascertain just how silky the strands were.

      Well, maybe just a little. And her eyes were a startling steel-gray, rimmed with a darker pewter outline.

      When she’d lain on top of him, protecting him from potential shrapnel, he hadn’t been all that turned on by the rounded swells of her breasts against his chest.

      Okay, so maybe he had noticed her breasts. They had been smashed against him for what had felt like an eternity. When he’d rested his hands on her hips, his body had naturally reacted to having a female on top of him. A lot of time had passed since he’d been with a woman.

      He turned to study his new partner and frowned. It was so much easier to work with men. They didn’t threaten his determination to remain footloose and single.

      Dragging his attention from Kate, he focused on Fontaine. “Most of the dates are past. That means some of them are in the future. Like a schedule of events to come. You agree with that, don’t you?”

      Geek and Fontaine nodded simultaneously.

      “That’s exactly what we’ve learned,” Fontaine said.

      “So how do we fit in with this mission?” Kate asked. “Why did you need me when you had all of these people to run your operation?”

      Fontaine faced Montana and Kate. “Becca tells me you are an expert chameleon, able to change your appearance to look like anyone you want.”

      Kate shrugged. “I did a lot of theater in high school and college. My skills with makeup came in handy as a field agent with CIA. I had a knack for transforming into whomever I needed to be.” Her lips thinned and her jaw tightened.

      Montana noted this little change in her expression. That she spoke in the past tense made him curious. Wasn’t she still an agent in the CIA?

      Fontaine nodded and his gaze shifted to Montana. “Raines, your team considers you the best at camouflage and bombs.”

      Montana frowned. “Sure. I can blend in with any tree, bush or desert location. But nothing like Kate.”

      “Your abilities to blend in were only part of the reason I chose you two for this assignment.” Fontaine waved his hand. “If you could please stand, I’ll show you the other reason.”

      Montana stood and held Kate’s chair while she rose as well, her brows pulling together.

      “Mrs. Brantley, I’d like you and your bodyguard to please stand by Raines and McKenzie.”

      The two complied.

      Fontaine smiled. “Perfect. Kate, you’re almost the exact height as Mrs. Brantley. And Raines, you’re pretty close to Rex Masters’s height and build.”

      “So?” Montana challenged.

      Geek pointed to a dot on the map. “One of the dates indicates tomorrow at the yacht club.”

      Fontaine picked up from there. “Mrs. Brantley is listed as keynote speaker at the annual fund-raiser the club sponsors for the children’s hospital.”

      “I’ve canceled every other engagement I’ve had since my husband’s death,” Mica said. “This was one I couldn’t. The children’s hospital is near and dear to my heart. After losing my baby to leukemia, I realized how much the hospital does for desperately ill children and their families. I’ll be there.”

      “Based on the date and coordinates, someone knows you wouldn’t miss the event,” Fontaine said. “We can’t be certain just who will be targeted, but we wanted to make sure you’re safe. Raines and McKenzie will go as your guests. We created identities for them as newly rich recent members of the yacht club.”

      “Are we to supplement Mrs. Brantley’s bodyguard support?” Kate asked.

      “Yes, and more,” Fontaine said. “I’ll have several of the other SEALs and some of my agents augmenting the waitstaff at the club.”

      Geek added, “We can’t be certain who they will target. Because whoever is orchestrating these attacks doesn’t seem to be going after just the politicians and federal agents...” He paused. “They’re taking out the family members, too.”

      Mrs. Brantley’s face paled. “Perhaps I should call and cancel my speech at the fund-raiser. I’d hate for a bomb, targeting me, to take out innocent bystanders.”

      “That’s why we’ll have the SEALs and SOS team in place,” Fontaine assured her. “I’ll also have bomb-sniffing dogs make a thorough sweep of the entire building before the event commences, and we’ll have security cordon off the area to keep vehicles from getting close.”

      Mrs. Brantley chewed on her bottom lip. “I don’t want people hurt because of me.”

      “We don’t know who they will be after,” Geek said. “And as far as we can tell, nobody knows we have the list of dates and coordinates.”

      Fontaine turned to Montana. “Raines, you and McKenzie will be there not only to protect Mrs. Brantley, you are to watch and listen closely to the people she interacts with. If we determine she is a target, you two might have to take Mrs. Brantley’s and Masters’s places in the DC scene as their doubles for a while.”

      Montana exchanged glances with Rex Masters. It made sense that he would replace the man. They were similar in build and he could have his hair lightened to match Masters’s dark blond cropped hair. Kate and Mica were the same height and close to the same build. Mrs. Brantley might have a tinier waist and bigger breasts, but Kate, if she was as good as she said she was, could make her face up to look just like Mica’s. Colored contacts would help match Mica’s dark brown irises.

      “Why aren’t you using your SOS agents instead of the SEALs?” asked Navy SEAL Jace Hunter, the youngest member of the SBT-22 team.

      “I’m short staffed,” Fontaine said. “They’re on critical missions throughout the country and the world. Considering the successful kill rate of that list, we might need all the security and waitstaff we can get. The future dates and locations are in or around the DC area at major events. Geek and I conducted a thorough background check on the six of you SEALs. You all have exemplary records. I’d trust you with my life and that of Mrs. Brantley. Add to it the fact that most of you have already been involved in the attacks, and I think you have a stake in seeing it to a satisfactory conclusion.”

      “We usually work in combat environments,” Duff said. “Mingling with the rich and famous might be a bit out of our league.”

      “Again,” Fontaine said, “I don’t know who else I could trust. When we took down the assassin after Oscar Melton, we found a mole in the CIA orchestrating some of the assassinations. We don’t know how deep into our nation’s security the problem exists.”

      Montana’s fists clenched. They were all supposed to be on the same side. When the organization had bad seeds within it, people lost faith, and the infrastructure of that entity crumbled from within. After all they’d been through in Cancun, and the multiple attempts on his friend Sawyer’s life, he would be happy to see this operation to the bitter end. “I’m in.”

      * * *

      “WHY ME?” KATE faced Royce. “I’m with the CIA. As far as you know, I could be as rotten as the deputy director you brought down.”

      Her friend Becca stepped forward. “I vouched for you. My father and Oscar only had good things to say about your work and your integrity. They trusted you.”

      Kate’s cheeks heated. “Even after my demotion?”

      Becca

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