Kick Ass by Maggie Shayne

Author:Maggie Shayne
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Published: 2011-11-11T13:53:48+00:00

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CH@%!*R 5

The panel sensed him and slid open. Baird pulled out the oblong bag that held his gear, opened the seal, and spilled the hand-sized unit into his palm. Popping open the small screen, he sat down on the bed and murmured the voice command. There was a long, annoying wait while the unit set up communications with his contact.

Then the Tevan's familiar face appeared on the screen. They'd been partners for five years, ever since Baird left ship service for the intelligence branch of the Vardonese military.

"I'm in," Baird told him. "We don't have to keep trying to convince her she needs my protection."

Four yellow eyes rolled. "Gods and goddesses, that's the best news I've had all day. You broke my ribs, you bastard."

"You deserved it. I told you not to hurt her, Ualtar. She had to go into regen."

"So did I." His partner's amber gaze searched his. "And may I remind you, if she's involved, a few bruises are the least she deserves."

Baird frowned. "I still can't believe she knows what's going on."

"You don't sound as convinced as you were last night."

He raked a hand through his long hair. "She seemed…unusually evasive."

"You mean guilty." Ualtar shook his spiked head. "I told you, Baird. She's in this up to her horns—if she had any."

"Ualtar, there's no way she's working for them. Not Alina."

"It's been twenty years, brother. You don't know what she's capable of." The Tevan leaned closer to the pickup, his expression grim. "And I don't want you finding out the hard way."

"I can handle her."

"Not if you keep thinking with your dick. You have to maintain your objectivity on this, or you're going to end up dead. These people do not play around."

"Believe me, Ualtar, I know exactly what they're capable of."

"Yeah, but they're not the real problem, are they? She is."

Baird killed the com link and clicked the unit closed. Brooding, he tossed the little device aside and leaned an elbow on his thigh.

He'd become an adept and skillful liar after joining Vardonese Intelligence, but lying to Alina had been surprisingly difficult. He ached to confront her with their suspicions and beg her to prove herself innocent, but he couldn't. There was too much at risk. If she was involved in treason and discovered he was on her trail, the enemy would slip through their fingers like smoke.

Still, he couldn't believe the laughing lover he'd known during the occupation could have become a traitor. She'd been too forthright, too loyal, too courageous.

Restlessly, he rose from the bed and began to pace in long strides. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, two decades had changed Alina. She'd become closed and wary. Too often last night, he'd seen fear in her eyes. But fear of what? Him? The thought made something clench tight in his chest.

Because she had reason to fear him. If she was a traitor, he'd destroy her. Considering the rage that boiled through him at the very idea, he didn't think he was even capable of showing her mercy.

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