That would mean seeing him on a regular basis. I smiled. “I’ve always wanted to see the USA. I’ll definitely look into it.”
“Good.” He smiled too. Those dimples. “Good luck on the Marrakesh mission. They’re not going to know what hit them. You’ll be perfect.”
“I’ve been training every day to make sure of it.”
He nodded, and we stood there looking at each other for a long minute.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered.
I did, amazed that there wasn’t a single bit of hesitation or fear in the action. This was Sarge. He’d gone out of his way to never hurt me.
His lips brushed against mine. Softly, gently. Not quite a full kiss, but a promise of more to come.
My first real kiss ever. He couldn’t possibly know that.
“It was nice to meet you tonight, Bronwyn Rourke. I hope to get to know you better in the future.”
With one more brush of his lips against mine, he was gone.
Chapter 5
Bronwyn
* * *
I was in Africa.
Morocco was in North Africa, so it wasn’t the Africa most people thought of. No rhinos or elephants here. But a lot of desert.
Still, I was in Africa.
A couple of months from now, I’d be in America if everything went as planned. Transferring to the Denver office.
At that point, I would have been to three out of seven continents. Maybe I should make it a goal to get to all seven sometime in my life. A bucket-list item. I’d learned that term pretty recently.
Maybe Sarge would visit a couple continents with me. Asia. South America.
I hadn’t heard anything from him since he’d left Paris three weeks ago, but I hadn’t expected to. He knew I’d be spending every spare minute preparing for this mission. A lot of pieces had to fall into place perfectly in order for this to work.
“How you liking Africa so far?” The voice of Jenna Franklin, tech support for the mission, came through the earpiece I was wearing.
“Currently, it’s a little underwhelming,” I whispered.
Jenna and I had become almost friends over the past month as we prepared for this operation. She was also based in Denver. Yet another reason to go there.
Not that I needed another one.
“Hanging out in that tiny section of closet for hours can’t be fun. Glad you’re not claustrophobic.”
Being cramped in here for three hours to wait for the small museum on the first floor to close was more uncomfortable than anything else. But I didn’t mind. Uncomfortable I could do.
“Boring but manageable. I’ll have to come back to Morocco sometime and take in more sights. Have you ever been here?”
“No. I don’t really travel.”
“You mean outside of the USA?”
“I don’t travel anywhere. Zodiac lets me work from a computer command center in my house. It’s why I took the job, because I wouldn’t have to go into an office. I…I don’t like to go outside. It’s complicated.”
“Oh.” There was obviously so much more to the story than she was saying, but I didn’t want to push. I knew what it was like to have things you didn’t want to discuss.
“Yeah.”
“Do you mind that everyone calls your team the nerds?” I wanted to change the subject, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized this new topic might be just as bad.
But Jenna laughed. “No. It’s a badge of honor—nobody means it with any disrespect. Plus, we actually gave ourselves the nickname. Everyone else merely makes sure it never dies.”
We fell into silence, and I took turns tightening and loosening different muscle groups in my cramped space.
“Did you have any problem switching the key card with Omar Zeroual?” Jenna asked.
That was why this mission had been deemed perfect for me. It required someone who could pickpocket a key card without being caught, hide in a tiny section of a storage closet, not get spotted by any security cameras or guards, and get the data that had been stolen via corporate espionage out of the safe. Make it out then hand it off.
All skills I’d already had that Zodiac had honed in the past year.
“Not at all. I would’ve thought he would’ve been more on edge, given that he stole the drive to begin with.”
“Overconfident. That’s brought down a lot of people.”
We fell into silence again, and I waited, keeping my mind focused on what I needed to do next.
I would not mess this up. I would prove myself a valuable member of this team. When Sarge read the report of this mission, and I knew he would, he would see that he’d been right to recruit me.
It was another hour before Jenna spoke again. “Okay, Bronwyn, you’re clear to go.”
“Roger that.”
I eased out of my tiny hiding place, stretching to get the blood flowing correctly to my body parts. Jenna and her team were electronically hijacking the cameras, so I wouldn’t be spotted. They were also using infrared to let me know where the guards were.
I had studied the blueprint of this building so I could make my way around in the dark, which I did. I couldn’t use any sort of light that might be visible through the windows.
I made my way down multiple hallways, stopping when Jenna told me to, sometimes rerouting in a different direction. A very close call with a guard forced me to hide in a stairwell and got my heart racing, but he didn’t notice me.
I was dressed from head to foot in black, my hair tucked under a beanie. If anyone caught sight of me, they wouldn’t be able to tell my gender or age. Given the sociopolitical climate of this area—part of what I’d studied to prepare for the mission—the average person who might catch a glimpse of me would assume I was male. Another reason I’d been chosen.
Because I could be mistaken for a boy. Sigh. But not something to think about now.
I made it to the office and used the key card—plus a code a different member of Zodiac had accessed last week—to open the safe.
I stared at the contents of the safe a little longer than I should have. Stacks of cash, some jewelry, and various papers filled up the space around what I was here for. More wealth than I had ever seen or thought would ever be kept in one place.
If I grabbed the necklace—diamonds—and money, I would never have to worry about being poor again. I could do whatever I wanted. Go wherever I wanted.
Except Denver.
If I grabbed anything but the computer drive out of this safe, my time with Zodiac would be over. My time with Sarge would never start.
“You good, Bron?” Jenna asked in my ear. “Is it there? You seem frozen.”
I switched out the small computer drive and shut the safe. “I’ve got it. I’m on my way out.”
“Roger that.”
She directed me back through the hallways to avoid the guards. A tiny window in the staff breakroom on the first floor was my way out. Another Zodiac team member had changed the hinges a couple weeks ago so that it opened much wider than it should’ve. But it was still too narrow for almost anyone to fit through.
Almost anyone. I climbed onto the table and shimmied my way through, catching myself with my arms and rolling into the alley on the outside. A moment later, I was on my feet and walking away from the building.