two about it. Better be more specific with what you’d like to know.”
“Me. What do you know about me?” She shifted to face forward, and the movement pulled the strap of her tank down, exposing the top of her bra. Shit. She quickly adjusted the seatbelt and righted her top. The last thing she wanted was to flash her boobs when he needed to keep his eyes on the road.
She’d order him to pull over so she could drive, but her hands and fingers were still cramped up from strangling the steering wheel last night.
I’m basically a fugitive. If not yet, I will be soon. But she’d known the risks when she’d agreed to her assignment the day Porter offered her the promotion. She never expected it all to go down like this, though. Or for A.J. to walk into her life and offer a hand when she needed it the most.
“Born in New York. Moved around a lot. Parents traveled for work before they died.” He paused. “I’m, um, sorry for your loss.” When it was clear she wasn’t going to respond, he added, “You excelled in all your studies. Recruited by the FBI. Their third time courting you was the charm. You were assigned to Charlotte after Quantico. Bounced around a few different squads over there. Married Kyle Jeter. No relation to the baseball player. I checked.” He cleared his throat. “And then you got divorced shortly after we worked that case together. Took a position in D.C. with the Counterintelligence Division. Six people in your unit, plus your unit and section chiefs,” he added, speaking very matter-of-factly. “Lots and lots of blank spaces, though. I’d much rather hear your story from you since you lived it.”
She slumped back into her seat after A.J. had summed up her life in just over thirty seconds. He had the Anastasia 1.0 version.
Part of her was relieved he didn’t know the tragic circumstances of her life. The other part almost wished he did know, thereby sparing her the need to reveal everything face-to-face when or if she chose to do so. She’d never mustered the courage to tell her husband of three years the truth. How could she confide in this man who should have felt like a stranger but didn’t?
“Who hired you?”
“Classified,” he abruptly answered, then his shoulders sagged apologetically. “Sorry, I, uh, well, you know how it is.”
And she supposed she did get it. Her world was one classified bubble. Even with the Hatch Act, she wasn’t supposed to share political opinions given her job, let alone classified intel.
Ana’s gaze veered out the side window, her thoughts flitting about as she tried to piece everything together. “Well, someone suspected a leak since all of the sources that went missing were attached to my unit. I’m guessing they didn’t want to tip off the mole by sending someone from the FBI to watch us, so they went outside the lines on this one, which is how you’re involved.”
Porter would have warned her if he’d had any idea about the external investigation being conducted on her team. Well, he would’ve warned her before shit hit the fan last night. God, she hoped he was okay.
But aside from her and Porter, who else knew about the files in his safe? Who the hell was that guy in Porter’s house last night?
“Does it really matter who hired me?” A.J. asked a few deep breaths later. “All you need to know is that you’re in good hands. If someone at the Bureau is a traitor, we’ll take him or her down. And my team has excellent facial recognition software. If anyone can find your missing sources and The Huntsman, it’s Jessica and Harper.”
“I thought Jessica was on maternity leave.”
A.J. side-eyed her. “How much did Adriana tell you about my team?”
She was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to handle the direction of the conversation. “Not much. Does Adriana know about us?” She regretted the use of “us” almost immediately, knowing A.J. would most likely spin her words.
“Adriana knows you’re with me, yes.” Wow, a straightforward, non-flirtatious answer. What was up with that? Operator mode again? Of course, she heard that Navy SEALs had the ability to be a warrior one moment and help a woman with her groceries the next. Warrior to gentleman to warrior within the blink of an eye. A.J. was most likely the same. “And Knox will soon know she kept you a secret.”