in his way, including my half brother. I, too, have a trust fund . . . of sorts. I don’t have a career either.”
He twisted his head to look at her. “You work with Neil.”
“No. I help Reed out. Reed works with Neil.”
“You say tomato . . .”
“We’re not all that different, AJ. I just have a slightly different skill set than you.”
He hissed out a laugh. “Yeah, right. Half a dozen languages, mad computer skills, master of disguises. I haven’t seen you fight, but I heard you rival Catwoman.”
That put a smile on her lips.
“I’m not sorry I have the training I do. Not that it’s completely useful in the outside world unless I worked with someone like Pohl.”
“Or Neil.”
She sighed.
“But you don’t like to stay in one place for long. Keep moving, avoid routine.”
“Kept me alive so far.”
“Keeps you alone,” he said. “What happens when no one is after you, Sasha?”
She looked at him in the dark. “Apparently I return to my old school and run into trouble.”
AJ rolled to his side, reached for her arm, and tucked her palm under his cheek. “I can’t be sorry about that. You’re the best thing that has happened to me in . . .” Forever.
“See, this is why I work alone, why I don’t sleep with my lovers.”
He kissed her fingers, tucked them away again. “What?”
“Pillow talk. That’s what this is, right?”
“Yes, that is indeed what this is.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, removed her hand from his, and rolled over on her side, offering her back. “We need an early start tomorrow.”
He waited a good minute before rolling on his side, reaching around her waist, and pulling her up next to him.
She froze but didn’t move away.
It took a half an hour for her to thaw and sleep to settle in. AJ finally closed his eyes and allowed himself to join her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sasha walked out of the drugstore and dropped a package into the blue mailbox on the corner.
AJ sat on the hood of the rental car, sunglasses hiding his eyes.
She sat beside him and took the cup of coffee he offered. “Now what?” he asked.
Sasha looked at her watch. “We find out whatever intel the team managed overnight.”
“And then what?”
“I’ve overlooked something. Can’t help but think I need to get back into Richter.”
“Impossible to break out of the place, how do you expect to break in?”
She sipped her coffee, liked the rich flavor. “Underestimating me is never a safe bet, AJ.”
“Wouldn’t that play right into their hands?”
“Friends close and enemies closer.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
She was already working out how to get back into Germany without the Neil roadblock.
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket. Texas.
“Good morning.”
“Ohh, someone is in a much better mood today. Did you get some last night?”
Sasha rolled her eyes at Cooper’s question. “One of these days I’m going to kick your ass,” she warned him.
“Sounds like a promise.”
That made her smile. She motioned for AJ to get back in the car. “What do you have for us?”
“Several things. I’m putting you on speaker.”
She waited until they were inside the car with the doors closed and did the same with her phone so AJ could hear.
“Okay, so it’s me, Neil, Claire . . . and Reed is dialed in.”
“You a father yet?” Sasha asked once she heard Reed say hello.
“I think you’re more anxious about it than I am,” he told her.
“I doubt that,” she said.
“AJ, you there?” Neil asked.
“I’m here.”
“Okay, first off, who is MJ Hofmann?”
AJ stared at the phone. “My mother, why?”
“Your mother was on the board of directors at Richter while your sister attended. The picture of your father and Pohl was taken at a directors’ gala and used as recruitment propaganda for other political figures to send their children to the school.”
“How come I didn’t know this?”
“Most of the names of the board members are initials and not easily traced. Several parents of attending students did come up in our research,” Reed told them.
Sasha let the information sink in. “Did you find Alice Petrov’s name?”
“We did, Sasha. But she used her maiden name.”
“I’m not sure this is information that will help in any way, except to suggest that the Hofmanns knew some of the inner workings of Richter.”
“Especially my mother,” AJ said.
“Okay, Claire, you’re up,” Neil said.
Claire’s voice was full of teenage cheer. “Hey, guys, you behaving out there?”
“Not if I can help it,” Sasha teased her back.
“Awesome. Okay, so remember the senior computer room?”
“Of course.”
“My friend Jax and I devised a