help.”
Get her stuff together. Dodger didn’t like the sound of that. She disappeared into her bedroom.
“Don’t talk about me and what I did, Mouse. You know I don’t like it.”
“Sorry, but she asked, and what you did—”
“Mouse…I’m warning you.”
Mouse’s eyes flashed. “I don’t care if you sock me. We love you like family, Oliver.”
Dodger sucked in a breath and looked away.
“All right, but to us you are a hero.”
“Bleeding hell…” He stood, his fists clenched. His anger was unreasonable and stemmed not from Mouse talking about his past, but from Anna…leaving. He entered her room, and she already had her small bag packed. “Anna, you can’t leave.”
She looked up at him and sighed. “Dodger. You’ve done enough. This is my problem now. I’m…going to turn myself in. Figure this out internally. I’m sure if I talk to my superiors, they’ll investigate, and my name will be cleared.”
“Or they can just believe what they have now as evidence and lock you in a black hole where you’ll never see the light of day again.”
Normally, she would have nailed him with some sharp snippy comment, but she just stood there staring at him, the most awful look in her eyes. Then she covered her face with her hands and simply fell apart. Feeling as if he had inadvertently broadsided her like a huge, idiot wanker, Dodger launched himself across the room.
He was just about to grab her when Anna stuck her arm out, as if blocking him. “Don’t,” she sobbed. “Don’t be nice to me now. I can’t handle nice right now.”
It was so Anna, that kind of comment, that he stopped dead in his tracks, not sure what in hell he should do. He had never felt so out of his depth in his whole life. She visibly pulled herself together and roughly dried her face on her sleeve. Then squaring her shoulders, she lifted her chin and faced him.
If she hadn’t looked so awful, and if she hadn’t damned near scared him half to death, he would have laughed. But this was no laughing matter. This woman was running on sheer grit and not a whole lot else, and he wasn’t going to stand around waiting for her to unravel. He was going to start making some critical decisions here, whether she liked it or not.
His gut rolling with acid, he schooled his expression into a much calmer one than he felt, slouching back against the doorframe and tucking his hands into his pockets. He gave himself a couple of seconds to get a grip before he spoke.
“Sit down, Anna.”
He had never used that abrupt warrior tone on her—never—and her head came up and she looked at him as if he’d just said something mean and cruel.
He fixed her with a steady stare. “You better sit down, Anna. This is going to take a while.”
She mustered some attitude and gave him a sour look, but she did sit down, plunking her butt onto the mattress of the bed. “What’s the alternative? Run. Hide. I can’t live like that.”
Not moving, Dodger contemplated what to hit her with first. He figured he might as well start at the top.
“I’m not asking you to live like that.” He took a breath. “The CIA is going to hunt you. We both know that. And when they can’t find you, they’re going to send a hit squad. We both know they don’t tolerate rogue agents, especially treasonous ones.”
She started to get up, and he held up his hand, giving her a warning look. “You better plant it, Anna.” She settled back onto the mattress, a stunned look on her face, as if she didn’t know him right now. That was all right. This was too important of an argument to lose.
“We clear your name, then you go in.”
He watched her pale face, and he caught a glimmer of acute relief in her eyes—as if a huge threat had been lifted.
She tried to resurrect some indignation, her chin coming up. “How much leave do you have left?”
“Enough.” He let his expression relax, his tone softer. She was at least asking questions. Maybe seeing reason.
“So, as you pointed out, I’m the brains of this operation. Why do you think I can’t do this alone?”
Amused at her attempt to cut him down, he looked straight into her eyes. “Sticks and stones, luv.”
“Don’t give me some crap about me being Max’s sister and you have some misplaced idea that you need to protect me.”
“I don’t, but it’s part of