Game of Dust and Ashes (Book Two in the Covert Operations series)

Nineteen

"That's almost the lie I fed to Lia, Max, and Tasha. I told them that Hawke asked me to get her out."

Daniel grinned, a flash of white teeth beneath his hood. "Still in sync, even after all these years."

The trail began to curve slightly but we kept on, not faltering even as we had to side-step patches of ice and snow.

"She's doing alright, by the way. A bit nervous still, worried about her mom. And you. We had to take the phone you gave her. Just in case."

"I figured as much," Daniel said. "But when we got back to the motel that day and I saw that she was gone, I knew you'd gotten her someplace safe."

"Well," I said, "I'm not so sure about that."

Daniel cut me a hard look and the words tumbled out. Everything that Tasha had told me about Lia, the surveillance I'd been trying to do over the past few days. The fears I had about who to trust.

The walls were closing in. With each passing hour, it felt as if we were getting closer to the endgame of it all. Sometimes I would catch Lia looking at me and wonder if she was planning on smothering me in my sleep. Other times, it was Max I watched. But neither of them were acting out of the ordinary.

When I finished, Daniel whistled through his teeth. "Lia? Really?"

"According to Tasha."

"You don't sound sure."

"The circle of people I trust wholeheartedly right now is very small, Daniel."

We both fell silent as a large jogging group made to race past us. In unison, we turned our faces down. Two shadows passing in the early morning light.

Daniel asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," I said. "But even between us I know that there are things you're not telling me. And I've got secrets of my own that you'll never know. It's a part of the world we live in. Yet I believe that you're not going to betray me. Not when we've both been going to such lengths to have these meetings.

"When we met at the hotel in Times Square – you could have killed me if that was your end goal. Or arranged to take me to Izzy but you didn't. That, plus the intel you gave me about Cedric and what Ivy has told me about you...I trust you not to stab me in the back, Daniel."

He offered me a grim smile. "And Cedric? You trust him. Even after what I told you?"

"I know it sounds insane, but yes. He and I have a complicated relationship, it's true, but I know that he's not working against me. Then there's Carmichael. He owed me a life debt which is part of the reason he's helping us still. I wouldn't trust him not to flip or straight-up abandon us if things go south on Saturday, though. Saving my ass is not his top priority."

Killing Izzy Savalas was though and once that job was over, I didn't doubt that Carmichael would slip out of the Mansion like a thief in the night. I'd probably never hear from him again.

Daniel released a puff of air that came out like a white cloud of smoke in the cold winter air. "Tasha? Do you think she's feeding you lies about Lia and Max? To what end?"

"Cover her own tracks, maybe? Or maybe it is Lia and Max and Tasha has just been looking out for me."

We ran for another few steps. I risked a glance at my watch. Daniel and I had been running together for almost fifteen minutes. Our time was almost up.