leaving them in the open until they reached the fence encircling the airfield.
If two agents from Sphere had been sent to track her or return her to the United States, would they have been working alone? Sphere assessed the difficulty and the importance of a mission before assigning operatives. Would they have spent the resources to send teams of agents after her? They knew she’d teamed up with Connor, his reputation legendary and his skill renowned.
“What’s the plan?” Kate asked, checking over her shoulder to see how close the Sphere agents were. She didn’t see them. Were they circling around another way? Would they trap her and Connor in a dead end? Kate wiped at her forehead, the sun and her fear overheating her. The Sphere agents couldn’t shoot at them, not out in the open in a foreign country with a complicated relationship with the United States. Not much comfort, since Sphere agents were taught plenty of ways to kill a person discreetly.
“The plan? Get away from the airport without being shot,” Connor said.
Kate inwardly sighed at his obvious statement. Connor wasn’t big on sharing details. According to what she knew of him, while at Sphere, he’d frequently worked alone. She could see why. At least he had a dry sense of humor that charmed her. “You need to give me more than that.”
“I don’t need to do anything,” Connor said, “except find my brother. You forced this partnership. You’ll have to deal with me as I am.”
“Are you trying to be difficult?” Kate asked.
The pause before he answered told her he was considering her question. “No. I am difficult. I don’t try to be. Didn’t my file tell you I don’t play nice with others?”
How had he known she’d read his file? It was a fair assumption. “You’ll have to learn.”
“You’re withholding information, too,” Connor said. “When you give me what I need, I’ll tell you more about my plan.”
Give him what he needed? He needed to relax a bit and trust her a smidgen.
“You want to trade information?” she asked.
“Tell me what you know about my brother and I’ll tell you how we’ll find him,” Connor said. He grabbed her hand. “But later. We’ve been found. Come on,” Connor said, turning the corner of the building.
Kate didn’t have time to see how close the Sphere agents were. They faced more open space and they ran across the tarmac. A baggage handler en route to a plane shouted at them in Portuguese to stop. They continued to run. When they reached the narrow strip of grass on the far side of the airport, a fence topped with barbed wire prevented them from leaving the airport grounds. “What do we do now?” Kate asked. She wasn’t climbing into the barbed wire. She’d heard of Sphere agents doing extreme things, but she wasn’t an agent. Her threshold for pain was minuscule.
“Look for another way out,” Connor said.
At least he hadn’t suggested taking their chances with the barbed wire.
Cutting through the grass, they followed the fence until it opened into an oncoming stream of cars, buses and taxis moving slowly toward the airport’s departures terminal. Kate felt better being among people. The more people around them, the safer they were. Sphere liked to work in secret.
If the Sphere agents had no other choice, how aggressive would they become to meet their agenda?
Connor’s gaze was sharp as he searched the scene, but his posture was relaxed. She was taking her cues from him. Going up against Sphere alone was a risky, and some would say foolish, decision. Having Connor on her side leveled the playing field.
“How will we avoid them?” Kate asked. The Sphere agents had disappeared from view, meaning they could be anywhere. “Maybe we should go back and explain.”
Connor whirled on her. “Go back?” He brought his face close to hers. “Do you have a death wish? Because we’re beyond playing nice and talking things over. Do you think you can reason with them? They know you’ve betrayed them. Sorry, sweetheart, but you’ve passed the point of return. We’ve got to forge ahead.”
Kate grasped for calm in a swelling sea of fears. He was right. Her throat was tight and her breathing came in shallow breaths. She was all in now.
Chapter 3
Connor knelt and dug through his bag. Removing a knife in a sheath, he slid it into the pocket of his pants.
A knife? “How did you get that on the plane?” Kate asked.
“Greased a few palms,” he said.
Unbelievable. He was full of surprises.
“No time to change now. You’ll have to change in the taxi,” Connor said, lifting his hand to hail a cab. When one stopped, he practically lifted Kate inside. He climbed in after her and barked the name of the closest city to the airport in perfect Portuguese with a hint of a Tumaran accent. The driver didn’t turn around to look at them, just jammed the gas and pulled away from the airport.
“Are we being followed?” Kate asked, turning to look out the back window and searching for any cars that were too close. In the distance, she could see el presidente’s palace set high on a hill overlooking the city. The white and gold of the building reflected the sun in a blinding glare.
“I’m not sure yet,” Connor said in Portuguese. He withdrew a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt from his backpack. “Take off your clothes and put this on.”
That earned a glance in the rearview mirror from the driver.
“Now? In a cab?” Kate asked. The road was congested with cars and trucks filled with people in plain view. Connor expected her to strip?
“Yes. Now.”
Kate watched to see if he would break into a grin. Was he joking around with her? If he was, she didn’t find him funny.
She had been careful about what she wore and, although Sphere had tracking devices as thin as thread that could be sewn into clothing, she gave it a low probability that she was being tracked. She’d buy other clothes when she could find a shop. Couldn’t it wait?
“I don’t want to be followed again,” Connor said.
“That wasn’t my fault,” Kate said. “We used your arrangements to get here. If you’re giving out blame, take some for yourself.”
Connor tossed the clothes at her. “Change. This isn’t a negotiation. I don’t see anyone on our tail and I’d like to keep it that way.”
She didn’t like being ordered around. But if he was right about Sphere tracking her, she couldn’t behave foolishly. Were they far behind them? The large white T-shirt and sturdy jeans didn’t leave her many options for modesty. She draped the white shirt over her lap and struggled out of her own.
Connor turned away. At least he was giving her what privacy was available in the backseat of a cab. His shoulders shook, making an effort to hide that he was laughing. Though he couldn’t see her, she glared at him. “What is so funny about this?”
“You.
