Page 24 of Wintering with George

Getting out of the car, I smiled at Jing Khoo, a formidable woman who wasn’t my friend, but was instead an acquaintance I considered myself to be on good terms with. She was also one of Jared Colter’s assistants, the man who ran Torus Intercession in Chicago and abroad, and even though I was pretty sure Chris had probably reached out to Jared, hence Jing being here, I was still concerned enough by her presence to close the door behind me and not have Kurt join me.

“Jing,” I said, studying her, checking her body language, seeing that she seemed at ease. More importantly, she wasn’t holding a gun, only a zippered pouch.

“Hunt,” she replied, squinting at me like I was stupid. “Are we saying our names for some reason? Do you want a list of my hobbies?”

Shit. “Sorry,” I rushed out. “I’m really tired.”

“It’s fine,” she said dismissively, handing me the pouch. “I don’t work for Chris, as you well know, but I was in town, and Chris called Jared, who called me. You get the picture.”

I did, and it was a good one of help between friends. “I’m glad to see you.”

“I’m glad to see you weren’t murdered in Minsk,” she quipped.

“You know about that too?”

I got another look like she felt sorry for me.

“Whatever,” I grumbled as the window rolled down behind me.

“Hi,” Kurt said, now in the driver’s seat. He leaned out the window to offer Jing his hand. “I’m Kurt, his boyfriend. And you are?”

“I’m Jing,” she said, taking his hand to shake. “Lovely to meet you.”

“I thought your friends would be scary,” he told me.

Jing chuckled. “Just wait.”

Kurt was charmed by her, I could tell.

She leaned back into the car and came back with a tablet. “Would you do me a favor, Doctor, and put your hand on this tablet for me, and when you’re done, pass it around inside the car?”

“May I ask what this is for?”

“Certainly,” she said, smiling at him. “It’s for security and access to the safe house where you’re going. We’d like you all to be able to get in and out even if Hunt is compromised.”

Kurt’s breath caught.

“While that’s not a contingency we’re anticipating, we have to be prepared. One should always be, don’t you agree?”

He nodded slowly, scanned his hand, then turned in his seat to give Brad instructions who immediately lowered the window behind Kurt’s. He probably wanted to be involved in the conversation as well.

Jing said, “It would be good if the children scanned their hands as well, but if the parents don’t––”

“It’s fine,” Brad said, leaning out of the window. “We want them to be safe.”

“Good,” Jing praised him, smiling, which transformed her face from gorgeous to breathtaking, and I understood why Brad stared for a moment before ducking back inside. Funnily enough, he didn’t roll down his window. It felt like, as beautiful as she was, he still wanted some protective barrier between them.

Jing texted someone on her phone as she leaned back on the passenger-side door of her car. She could not have looked any more relaxed if she’d tried, and there I was, frantic to get going, wanting to get into the new car and drive away.

Once Kurt passed me back the tablet, I went to scan my hand as well.

“Like we don’t have your prints,” she said like I was stupid.

“Nice,” I grumbled.

She smiled, took the tablet from me, then pointed at the pouch in my hand. “Use those cards and that cash and the burner in there if you need to make a call. Yes?”

“Yes.” I opened the zippered pouch to find a burner and three cash bundles of what looked like a thousand dollars each.