Read Suddenly a Spy for Free Online Page B

at work or at least do a load of laundry. All she really
wanted to do was get a hot shower and sleep for about 100
hours.
    She settled for a hot shower and a cat nap.
When she woke up, the 9 mm Makarov pistol was on her bedside stand
with a note that read, “try not to lose it again.” Veronica made a
face at the note and got dressed.
    There was a longer note in the front room.
That one told her he’d be gone for a week and left her a list of
safety instructions. By the time she made it halfway through, she
was so angry little red dots danced in front of her eyes.
    After she’d decided to stand by him, to face
this mess together, he’d taken off to solve it on his own and left
her a note that insinuated she had the brain power of a gnat. With
a curse, she realized she’d done it again. She’d been led by
sentiment. Her libido quite possibly had a say as well, but her
brain certainly hadn’t checked into the conversation.
    She called to see if anything urgent was
happening at work. Once she was sure there wasn’t anything going on
that couldn’t wait another day, she headed to Jeff’s office. Maybe
she could buy him lunch and either get the scoop on Adrianna or
lecture him about hitting on Courtney.
    “Look at you all tanned and gorgeous,” he
wrapped her in a bear hug and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek
as soon as she entered his office.
    “I told you to leave Courtney alone,” she
shoved him away. “Don’t try to charm your way out of it.”
    “Would I do that?”
    “Do you breathe?”
    “I really do wish you’d be nicer. Especially
in light of everything I found out for you.”
    “You found something?” Veronica’s interest
was piqued. “What is it?”
    “You’re not even going to buy me lunch
first?”
    “Fine. Come on. Your choice.”
    Veronica made small talk with the
receptionist while he wrapped up what he was working on. She bit
her lip to keep from avalanching him with information and questions
on the way to his black Chevy Camaro. Once she was seated and her
seatbelt securely fastened, she turned to him expectantly.
    “It sure is nice weather we’re having this
week,” he mentioned mildly.
    “Yep,” she tried not to take the bait.
    “You know, they say it might rain on
Saturday.”
    “Okay.”
    “Did it rain much on your trip?”
    “You brat—you’re killing me here. What did
you find out?”
    Jeff smiled, relishing his little victory.
“Your mystery whore works for an antique dealer in New York.”
    “The bad guys are antique dealers?”
    “I know, priceless, isn’t it?” Jeff chuckled.
“That’s why he didn’t tell us.”
    “Very funny,” she made a face at him. “You
know as well as I do that one of the major black market imports is
looted antiques.”
    “Yeah, but they’re old bowls and crap. Please
promise you’ll tell me if you find out he was undercover with the
Antique Road Show.”
    “Absolutely,” the corner of her lip twitched
just a little. It was an amusing picture.
    “At the risk of finding out more than I want
to know… how was the honeymoon? Did anything interesting
happen?”
    “Someone named Marko sent two assassins to
kill us. Rick took them out and made it look easy. Then we hopped
islands home. Other than that, it was pretty typical.”
    “So the antique dealers are really pissed at
him. Maybe he broke a Ming vase or something.”
    “I bet that was it.”
    “Did you say Marko?” Jeff grew serious as a
light bulb clicked on in his brain.
    “Yeah. That name seems to keep coming up,
actually. Adrianna mentioned him at the wedding, too.”
    “That would have been good to know,” he
scowled at her.
    “Well I’m sorry. Rick had me all flustered
that morning.”
    “A guy named Marko Kulenović popped up on our
most wanted list about two weeks ago. He just walked away from a
high-security facility buried in the Appalachians. Heads rolled
over that one.”
    “I didn’t see that name with updates to
post,” she frowned. One of her