Die Run Hide by P. M. Kavanaugh Read Free Book Online

around here take a joke?”
    “I’m headed for a briefing.” She crossed her arms. “That usually kills my sense of humor.”
    “Just finished with mine.” He rubbed his throat.
    “I thought you were on probation.”
    Mac’s brute strength and fearlessness had contributed to several successful missions, but his record was uneven. That didn’t bode well for his long-term survival in the agency.
    “Got out yesterday. Sweet-talked Command into giving me another chance. Wanna know what it is?”
    “You know that’s against the rules.”
    “Yeah, you’re a real stickler for rules.” Mac’s lips curled into a sneer. “You and Gianni.”
    Anika stiffened, but she kept her face expressionless. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    “Heard things about you two — ”
    “Things aren’t often what they seem in here.” Her voice carved icicles between them.
    “Wait a nano. Don’t go,” Mac pleaded. “I think it’s great that you two … okay, okay, forget it,” he said as Anika’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You know how long it’s been since I even talked to anyone? Spent a month on probation stuck in front of a monitor eighteen hours a day.”
    “You got off easy.”
    “And now I’m lookin’ at a long flight to France. By myself.” His thick eyebrows lifted. “Want me to bring you back something? Girls like stuff from France, right?”
    A warning buzz hummed at the base of Anika’s spine. “You’re going to France? Alone?”
    “Yeah, some town called ‘lion.’” Mac pronounced the word like the animal.
    “You mean Lyon ?” The buzz shot up her spine.
    “Yeah, that’s it.” He shrugged. “Get this. The goops in Camo gotta make me look Brazilian. That’ll be some trick, huh?”
    What the hell is going on? Has Mac somehow gotten my solo?
    Anika started to brush past him. She had to find Gianni.
    Mac put out his hand. His grip was gentler than the hug, but it stopped her just the same.
    “Maybe when I get back we could go grab a beer?” She looked up in surprise. “At that bar up the street, Amnesia.” He grinned down at her. “Hell, you can even bring Gianni if you want.”
    Anika stared into eyes that couldn’t have seen more than nineteen years of life, most of them filled with the ugliness and violence of gang warfare, prison, and missions. When he grinned, she could almost see past his hard exterior, imagine how with a little coaching he might even be good at sweetheart missions. The ones that called for tough guy charm.
    “Mac,” she began, then stopped. He wouldn’t ever be assigned one of those missions now. She wanted to warn him, tell him to start running and never stop. Her brows drew together. “Watch your back.”
    Mac loosened his hold, his grin fading.
    Minutes later, she stood in the hallway outside Gianni’s empty office and debated what to do. Her handheld vibrated. The briefing was about to start. Maybe Gianni was already there.
    But when she entered the conference room, the only person inside was U.N.I.T.’s ace ops technician. Evan sat working a handheld, her sea green eyes locked on its miniature screen. Small patches of fiery fuchsia and acid green sprinkled the sides and top of her cropped brunette hair.
    “Ooh, nice one,” she muttered in her exquisite British public school accent.
    “Do you know where Gianni is?” Anika’s heart pounded as if she had just finished a hundred-meter sprint.
    “Good day to you, too.” Evan didn’t take her eyes from the screen.
    “Evan, for God’s sake.” Anika resisted grabbing the handheld.
    “He left a few minutes ago. Rush mission. Command briefed him herself.”
    The information blasted through Anika. She sank into a chair, her legs turned to rubber.
    “Got you, you tricky bastard.” Evan shouted at the handheld and gave the screen a final jab. She glanced over at Anika. “You’re looking a bit pale this morning. Must have been some bender.”
    “What?” Anika asked. If Gianni had left, if