imagine you’re ready to knock the cowboy in the back of the head by now?”
Ana peered at A.J., catching his profile as he kept his eyes steady on the screen. “There have been moments.”
“I bet,” Asher said with a grin. “Jessica should be here in a second.”
“So, how’s it being a father to two girls?” Ana asked while they waited, trying to fill the sudden uncomfortable silence, nervous Asher might pick up on the sexual tension between her and A.J. through the screen.
“They’re more work than infiltrating a Pakistani compound in the dead of night without any ISR to back you up and no QRF on standby,” Asher answered, continuing to rock ever so slightly, and he positioned a pacifier into his one daughter’s mouth without losing hold of either little bundle. That took skills.
“You have your in-laws, and your mom, oh, and your sister, Sarah, as your QRF. Luckier than most,” A.J. said, his tone light and joking. “But, man, we miss you out here with us.”
“I’m itching to spin back up, but I, um.” Asher cleared his throat and dropped the rest of what he was about to say. Had he caught himself on the verge of exposing the truth about his team? “I mean, I miss all that highly fulfilling private security work,” he corrected himself.
Before anyone could speak, Jessica sat in the swivel chair next to him and gently took one baby girl. “Hey, how are you holding up?”
“Hanging in there.” And nearly making out with A.J. in the kitchen.
Jessica’s eyes made a scrutinizing sweep over Ana. Shit, did she know something? “My contact confirmed Ivan Smirnoff, The Huntsman, was in fact in Miami this weekend before going to Atlanta.”
“Our working theory is that Ivan went to Miami for the second Volkov source,” Asher added. “I assume even the great Ivan was unable to get to him because the FBI had already placed him in protective custody.”
“So, we think Ivan led the Bureau to Atlanta, under the impression his next target was going to be the Iranian, when in fact it was for the purpose of drawing out and abducting a Fed to press for intel about the Volkov’s location in Miami,” Jessica went on.
“Which, frankly, is why the big guns shouldn’t be going out into the field to begin with,” Asher pointed out. They made a great team the way they bounced back and forth off each other.
“If you’re suggesting Ivan got to Porter, well, Porter’s tough,” Ana said quickly, because Asher had no idea what was really going on, and how could he? She hadn’t revealed anything to A.J. or his team. But no, Porter wasn’t really in Atlanta for the Iranian.
Ana felt A.J. twisting to the side to peer her way, and when she checked—yup, his eyes were set on her. A question mark hanging between them that said What do you know that we don’t?
“Our contact at the FBI also said Porter no longer has access to the FBI servers in case he is being tortured for information.” Jessica tickled her baby’s stomach and made a coo noise as though the subject of torture was akin to talking about the weather. But her comment gave Ana a reprieve from A.J.’s unspoken question, at least. “Your access has been revoked as well. Half your teammates believe you were taken, and the other half think you’re the mole.” She’d spoken more casually than Ana expected, or maybe Jessica was exhausted from sleep deprivation. Or Jessica was attempting to use spy tradecraft on Ana to continue getting a read on Ana’s true intentions. Based on the way Jessica was looking at her, it didn’t seem like she was as eager to trust Ana the way A.J. had.
“I assumed they would change our passcodes.” Griff was probably leading the charge against her. Halle and Dean were most likely on her side. The others were a coin toss. And she wasn’t sure where Gray would fall.
All of the passion that had sizzled through her body began to fade with their conversation, and she flinched at the feel of A.J.’s hand on her shoulder. When had he come to stand behind her?
“But still not on the wanted list yet, right?” A.J. asked for confirmation.
Yet. He must’ve assumed she would be at some point. The cards weren’t going to stack up great for her, but she’d known that. The risk was worth it.
“No, I think the Bureau is hesitant to do so because then they’d have to explain why