Mission: Marriage. Karen Whiddon
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aren’t the only one he’s asked to do something.” He grimaced. “I may not be an active employee, but Corbett Lazlo is still the best in the business. When he suggests I do something, I tend to listen.”
She sighed. “All right, I’ll ask since you apparently aren’t going to volunteer. What are you going to do with the laptop?”
“Corbett wants me to try to hack into the SIS system.”
This destroyed any sense of relaxation she might have harbored. Appalled, she shook her head. “It’s impossible.”
“So they tell you. But it has been done and I’m pretty good. I’ve had two years of nothing but practice.”
“Pretty good?” She snorted. “Hackers have been trying for years. Whatever kind of firewall SIS has in place is top-notch.”
With a grin, he shrugged. “I’m not trying to get into the supersecured area, just far enough to wreak a little havoc. All I can do is try.”
“True. Say you do succeed. What then?”
“Corbett thinks we should set a trap. It’s highly likely the mole’s still got people there.” Steering around a sharp curve, he shot her a look. “What about you? What’s this code Corbett wants you to crack?”
Reaching into her backpack, she withdrew a small plastic case. “Corbett wants me to compare his code to this one.”
She opened the case to show him the tiny flash drive. “It’s the code I was working on at headquarters, the one I’d brought home with me the night my team was slaughtered. As you probably know, we’re forbidden to take anything out of the lab. So no one at SIS knows I have it.”
“That’s not like you. Or,” he amended, “at least not the way I remember you. That’s a safety precaution.”
“Yes, but not following that particular rule just might save my life if I can finish decoding this. Someone sent assassins to kill us all. And to destroy the code.”
Traffic had slowed, the car was inching along in a line of others. “It was my time off. I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Glasgow. I saw no need to explain my whereabouts. So the assassins didn’t know where to find me.”
“You’ve changed.”
The blunt assessment should have wounded her. Once, maybe. Not now. “I know. But after you … died, I decided I no longer wanted to color inside the lines.” She shot him a grin, her best imitation of his own cocky one. “It worked. My success rate went way up. I’ve been promoted twice, most recently to team leader. So, if I’ve changed, I think it’s for the better.”
He went silent, considering. To her disgust she found herself hoping he’d agree.
Instead, he asked another question. “How do you know they even looked for you?”
“They destroyed my flat. I’d taken the code with me, so I don’t think they’re aware I have it.”
One corner of Sean’s mouth quirked up in a half smile. “I’m glad they didn’t get you.”
“Yeah. That way you didn’t have to fake your death for nothing.” Bitterness again leaked through her voice. While she wished she could have sounded impersonal, she couldn’t help it. This was Sean. He should understand how she felt.
Once, he would have. Back when they’d allowed emotion and hot, wild sex to be the basis for their marriage. She hadn’t even known she’d wanted more, until now.
He took her hand, covering it with his. Staring down at their intertwined fingers, she tried to regain her equilibrium. She’d always loved his hands—masculine and callused. The roughness of his skin gave her a sense of protection, or had, once.
Now, his touch only made her hurt and angry.
She pulled her hand away and took a deep breath. “Are you sure Corbett was able to send us a laptop?”
“Yep.” He jerked his thumb toward the duffel bag in the backseat. “The laptop’s in there—I checked.”
“What about an Internet connection?” Keeping focused on business would be the only thing that could keep her from crying.
Sean seemed to understand. “Corbett said it would have wireless. All I have to do is find a hot spot, and I can work.”
Of course he’d go first. His job involved a bait-and-wait situation, while hers would be time-consuming and tricky.
Not to mention the fact that deciphering code required intense concentration. She found it far too difficult to concentrate with him around.
Still, she hadn’t gotten to be a team leader without understanding how to work well on a team.
“While you’re trying to hack into my employer’s database, what should I do?”
The grateful look he sent her wasn’t lost on her. She was astonished to realize he’d thought she would argue.
“Play lookout, of course. Stop the bad guys before they get to me. Once I get inside the system, I can’t be interrupted.”
He spoke like it was a done deal. “Pretty confident, aren’t you?”
“I told you, I’m pretty good.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Let’s just say I’ve perfected my computer skills over the last two years.”
Like an arrow straight to her heart. Another reminder that he’d lived an entire life without her, while she’d dedicated herself to her job and had barely lived at all.
Correction, she thought grimly. She’d learned to live for her work and nothing else.
A honking horn brought her out of her reverie.
“Do you think there’s been an accident?”
He checked his watch. “No. Just normal rush-hour traffic. Help me look for a hot spot or a place that advertises an Internet connection.”
“There.” She pointed. Someone had converted an old church into a trendy coffee shop. Sean swung out of the traffic and into a small lot across the street from the stone building. He found a spot and parked, leaving the engine idling while he leaned over the seat and rummaged in the duffel bag.
“Here we go.” He pulled out a smallish laptop. “State-of-the-art. That’s good.”
Her fingers itched to examine the machine, but she wisely held her tongue. “Good luck. What kind of time are you going to get once you’re in?”
“Pretty confident of my abilities, aren’t you?”
Throwing her own words right back at her. She couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe your self-assurance is contagious. How about an answer? Once you get into the SIS system, what then? What kind of a trap?”
“I’ll figure that out once I’m in the system. Until I see what’s involved, I have no idea.” He got out of the car. “Wait here.”
As he’d no doubt known she would, she bristled. “I’d rather go in.”
“You’d be a better lookout in the car.”
“And you’d be trapped inside, alone. A sitting duck.”
“Better one than both of us.”
She pushed open her door. “Don’t start that.”
“Start what?”
“Trying to protect me.”
He glared at her as she brushed past him. “I don’t like this,” he growled, catching up and taking her arm.
Shaking free, she gave him her sweetest, most fake, smile. “Then why don’t we both just sit in the car? You’d have more privacy.”
“And we’d also be a helluva lot