One-Knight Stand (White Knights #3) - Julie Moffett Page 0,45

P. Lando guy, as well as their project.”

“That’s a good plan, Jax,” I said. “I’ll shoot you the data I’ve collected so far, and you can share it with the others. I’ve got scans of newspaper articles, including J. P.’s death and funeral, the official police report into J. P.’s death and the disappearance of my father, the notes of my conversation with J. P.’s wife, and the files and data I found and downloaded at King’s Security.”

“What kind of data?” Jax asked.

I rubbed my temples. “Before I came to UTOP, when I was looking for my dad, I was able to hack into King’s Security, which is where he worked. That’s how I discovered the company was a front for the NSA.”

“Wait. You hacked into an NSA cover company?” Jax looked at me as if this activity somehow put me in a different category of hacker.

Maybe it did.

“Don’t even go down that road,” Wally said, shaking his head at Jax. “We’ve had a lot of discussions about how dangerous that was.”

I held up a hand to stave off any further discussions on how wise, or not, a move that had been on my part. “Anyway I found some files, and in one of them was a directory of staff at the NSA. I’ll need to spend some more time going through that more carefully to see if I missed anything.”

Jax whistled. “Looks like you’ve already done most of the work.”

“The puzzle pieces are there,” I agreed. “We just have to put it together.”

“Did I happen to mention I like puzzles?” he said with a smile. There was something intimate about his smile, even though we were in a room full of people. It was as if we couldn’t see anyone else, just each other. My heart gave a couple of hard thumps.

“I do, too,” I agreed, breaking eye contact and hoping no one had noticed my reaction to him. “I just prefer the ones where people’s lives aren’t at stake.”

I glanced out the window of the farmhouse. We were all exhausted. We needed sleep, fuel, and clear heads.

“Time for bed,” I said abruptly.

Everyone looked at me in surprise, so I lifted my hands in exasperation. “Don’t look at me like that. We need to sleep or we’re going to start making mistakes. Frankie has sorted out our sleeping arrangements, so she’ll tell you where your spot is. Sorry, there aren’t any comfy sheets or blankets to supplement our sleeping situation. We’ll have to make do with our coats, clothes, and a couple of throw pillows from the couch.”

It was telling that no one objected, and everyone gathered their stuff without complaint. We headed to our respective sleeping locations after Frankie told us where we’d be.

She and I shared a double bed in what was probably the guest room. We spread our coats on the mattress and made makeshift pillows from a couple of sweatshirts. I thought I’d never be able to fall asleep, but I remember thinking of my mom for just a moment before I passed out in exhaustion.

Chapter Twenty-One

ANGEL SINCLAIR

I woke with a start, gasping. I wasn’t sure if it had been a nightmare, but a lingering sense of dread clung to me. I pressed a hand to my forehead, willing my heart to slow down and my breathing to regulate. I sat up and glanced over at Frankie. She slept as peacefully as a baby. Even though it was too dark to tell for sure, I was pretty sure she had a smile on her face, cheerful even in deep slumber.

When my heart had returned to its normal cadence, I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her. I pulled an oversize sweatshirt over my pajamas and padded barefoot out to the kitchen to make myself a cup of warm milk. To my surprise, there was a light on in the kitchen, and I could hear the low murmur of voices.

I tiptoed closer and peeked around the corner. Hala and Kira were sitting at the kitchen table, sipping something and talking. Hala spotted me before I could duck out of sight.

“Angel? Is that you?”

Busted. Sneaky spy I’m not. I’d wanted to be alone, but that wasn’t going to happen, so I sucked it up.

I came sheepishly around the corner, shoving my hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt. “Sorry to interrupt. I couldn’t sleep. I thought maybe I’d warm up some milk.”

“Join the club,” Kira said, rising from the table and heading to the stove.