Mission: Impossible to Protect (The Impossible Mission Romantic Suspense Series Book 6), стр. 42
Sten kept grinning, knowing how pissed off Lars was that he and Izzy had shown up. “Izzy and I were worried about Danni after Reeves told us about Young’s body. Once we heard that you were in New York, we caught the next train out; made it here in less than three hours on the fast train from DC. We came to help.”
“You know Danni and I are undercover. And you showing up could totally blow up the identity we’ve assumed.”
“I know you’re in your author identity, RJ Phillips.”
“Exactly, and RJ Phillips doesn’t have a twin.”
“Yeah. That still hurts. How come your author identity couldn’t include a twin?”
Lars shook his head. Why have this conversation? There was no way to win.
“We booked the suite next to yours under false names. So no one will know that we’re here.”
“You can afford a suite here?”
“Do you get a different salary than I do from Uncle Sam? Izzy’s paying. It helps to have a girlfriend who has started getting payouts from her patents.”
Laughing, Izzy elbowed Sten.
“Hey, that hurts.”
Resigned to the fact that his brother wouldn’t be leaving, Lars walked to the kitchen. “Did you guys have dinner? I can call down to the restaurant.”
Izzy shook her head. “We ate on the train.”
Sten followed Lars to the kitchen. “I could always have another meal. The train food was pretty light.”
Lars had his head bent to the refrigerator. “It looks like we might have to order. Not much here but snacks and drinks.”
“I’ll order. And should I order something for Danni?”
“Yep. Order the same Jenkins special for her.”
Sten stepped to the phone on the side table and ordered three rare filets mignons with mashed potatoes and a salad.
“Why am I not surprised that the Jenkins boys don’t subscribe to a plant-based diet?”
Finished with the call, Sten joined Izzy at the center island. “We all eat healthy except when offered a chance to have a five-star meal. Too many years of eating MREs.”
“Before Danni wakes up, I want to hear how you plan to ‘help.’” Lars couldn’t keep the edge out of his voice.
“I’m here to be backup when you have to go do your author stuff. Don’t you feel better having me protecting Danni?”
“Hey, Nick’s guys are solid.” Lars trusted them. They were seasoned, well-trained Marine Raiders. But Sten was right. He did feel better knowing that Sten would be another layer between Danni and Miro. He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Maybe? Face it, bro, love can really mess up a man’s ability to stay focused.” Sten failed royally at trying to hide his grin.
“Some of us aren’t…” Lars stumbled, about to respond with “pulled around by our dicks,” but stopped when he realized how offensive it would sound to Izzy.
“Sure, whatever you say, bro.”
There were times when he hated the twins thing, where Sten knew exactly what he was thinking.
Lars didn’t like the way Izzy scrutinized his face, looking for his reaction to the “L” word. Not that it was any of her business. He didn’t think he gave Izzy an I-can-kill-you-with-my-bare-hands look when he returned her stare, but she blinked and shifted in her stool.
“I’ve been helping Reeves with the search for Miro and the Sinaloa Cartel. With my NSA credentials, I’ve been able to access DEA.” Izzy had been recruited to work for the NSA for her work on AI and its inherent security risks after her ex-boyfriend tried to frame her and sell her AI research to the Russians and the Chinese. Her ex had been indicted as a traitor and wouldn’t be seeing sunlight for a long time.
“I thought hacking was a real big no-no at the NSA.”
“My hacking days are done. I accessed DEA legitimately by first running Danni’s situation involving the Sinaloa Cartel by my boss.”
“Izzy’s the wunderkind at NSA. And her boss wants to keep her happy.” There was so much pride and admiration in Sten’s voice and the look he leveled at Izzy. God, his twin was whipped. His brothers were biting the dust one by one.
“Did you find anything?” Lars didn’t want to think about what shit his brothers would give him about his feelings for Danni when he never missed a chance to harass them about their relationships.
“Knowing you were headed here, I searched for what ties Sinaloa or Miro might have in NYC. And it looks like Miro has a cousin, a Santos Lopez, who is a member of the Bushwick Crew gang.”
“Bushwick Crew? Bushwick, like in Brooklyn?” Lars paced in front of the island in the center of the kitchen, too hyped by the new intel to stand still.
“The Sinaloa Cartel uses street gangs to police and run their drug distribution. Corporate outsourcing—their new business model. The gangs are violent and street savvy. It’s rather like using local mercenaries. The DEA believes that Lopez is running his own side business of human trafficking with the help of his older cousin.”
“And why am I not surprised that Miro’s relatives are as sick and violent as he is?” His happy mood took a nosedive. Was he ever going to get Danni away from Miro without major DEA intervention? And knowing how effective DEA had been with the war on drugs didn’t instill a lot of hope.
“I’m trying to find out more information about the trafficking ring to see if we can locate Lopez.”
“That’s why you came?” Lars looked at his brother, reading all the alarm on Sten’s face. “Miro has easy access to men in New York.”
All of Lars’s excitement about exploring New York with Danni deflated. He didn’t intend to terrify her, but he’d have to justify his decision to veto any outside activities.
“Can you wait and let me tell Danni when the timing is right? She hasn’t had any downtime or chance to regroup since this whole thing started. We moved safe houses twice and then headed here.