Semua Bab Aegis Group: Bab 201 - Bab 210

LUKE'S PALMS WERE SWEATY as he held the apartment door for Abigail. He couldn't remember the state in which he'd left it before heading out for the craziest gig of his life. It felt as though he hadn't been home for months. She stepped inside the darkened two-bedroom and he followed her in, glancing around.No boxes. He hadn't left a pile of gym clothes lying around, no stray shoes or socks. All in all it wasn't too bad. He could have vacuumed, and his clean laundry was piled on the coffee table, but otherwise it was decent. It only got better right before his mother arrived on one of her unannounced visits."It's not fancy or anything-""It's nice." Abigail walked to the overstuffed sofa and slowly sat down. Her face didn't betray any pain she might be feeling, but he could see it. Two weeks ago he wouldn't have, but he'd begun to read her non-expressions for what they really meant."You want anything? A drink? Something to eat? I could order food.""No, everything's fine. T

LUKE STARED AT THE bastard's smug mug on the screen and wished he could rip it off the fucking wall. If only Baron had the nerve to step into a room with him. Luke would tear the man limb from limb, if only for the hell he'd put Abigail through.She-was amazing.In a room crowded with the heads of Aegis, Admiral Crawford, Mr. Stevens, Zain and a few others, a handful of FBI agents and two state-side Mossad liaisons, Abigail stood out. She was a beacon of calm amid what was becoming a fucking three ring circus."Gentlemen. Ladies." Baron's voice crackled over the speakers. "What we know is that a rogue Mossad operative is on American soil. What next? That's what we're trying to find out. Not whose fault it is."The way the admiral was staring at Baron's face said it all-bullshit.Baron was trying to deflect the blame sitting squarely in his lap. And succeeding."What were his last known coordinates?" FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ryan Brooks aimed a tempered version of Admir

ABIGAIL SLITHERED THROUGH THE bushes, turning her body this way and that to leave as little of a trail as possible.This was crazy. This whole plan could go so terribly wrong if one thing didn't go the right way. But wasn't that the way most things happened?She wiggled under the hedges until she could see the open field.The four men had stopped the cart and placed what appeared to be a cooler next to an empty picnic table. It was one of the large, white ones that could hold a metric shit-ton of ice and drinks. The bomb would be packed in pretty tight. If it was her, she'd have carved the inside out, removing the insulation and only leaving the outer shell.Great, now she was brainstorming how she'd set off a bomb.But wasn't that the point all along?Zach had taught her most of what she knew about setting explosives. What she'd learned in her Taliban crash-courses was crude, rudimentary. Nothing like the sophisticated devices Mossad favored.And she'd had one hell of a

THE NEWS PLAYED THE same damn thing over, and over, and over again.Luke swigged more beer. His mother sighed and said something to...was it Marco who'd come over? He'd stopped paying attention to the parade of people in and out of his apartment after the admiral had checked on him. No one else mattered.Abigail was gone."We take you now to the FBI for new developments on this botched terrorist attack." The news anchor stared out of the TV, straight at him, her gaze condemning him for not saving Abigail. As if she knew he'd failed her.SSR Ryan Brooks stood on the steps of some federal building, a few sheets of paper in his hands. Microphones from every station pointed up at him, flashes of light going off in his face.The man looked grim but otherwise composed. It was a hell of a change from the guy who'd hauled Luke out of a police cruiser and nearly decked him a few days ago. But that was then, and this was now."We have positively identified the last of the remains at

ABIGAIL HAD NEVER SEEN anything more beautiful than Luke. The way he looked at her... How he made her feel... And to think, she'd cursed Baron for giving her this life. Without it, she'd never have met Luke. All the hardships, the years, they'd led her here. To him."Abigail?" He stroked her hair, her face. She didn't care about the muscle twinges, the pressure on her shoulder or the throb of bruises. He was touching her."I hate Baron, but...""There's no ‘But' about it, he better stay across the damn ocean.""He arranged it all.""What?""My death.""I'm supposed to thank him for that?""I'm dead, Luke. Think about it."He stared at her, his gaze a little unsteady. If she had to guess, based on the state of the house, he'd been in mourning. For her. And here she'd wondered if he cared, if her coming back from the dead was a good idea or not."You look awfully alive to me," he said."Yael is dead. No one is looking for her.""So what?""It means I'm done. I d