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“Yeah,” he said instantly. “You owe me one.”
She blinked. Then frowned and gripped the steering wheel, peering through the dust kicked up off the road ahead of her. “Now hang on,” she snapped. “You said you were helping me on that last one as a favor.”
“Sure. And now I need a favor back,” he said. “It ain’t much, Cobra.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Psh. No. But listen, it won’t take much for you to just pop down to Miami and check things out, yeah?”
“I mean...” She sighed.
“I can pay you,” he said quickly. “Ten grand.”
Now she was definitely listening. Things had been tight. Her past drug habit hadn’t exactly helped her bank account, but on top of it, she hadn’t been paidtoomuch as an FBI agent. Already, funds were running low. Savings, a rainy-day fund, a 401k...all that shit was civilian stuff. At least, so she’d thought.
She sighed and hung her head for a moment as she tried to massage the bridge of her nose. She could hear her father’s voice yelling in her mind.No good, do-nothing, lazy, spendthrift!
She bit her lip. The worst part?
He was probably right.
She’d always been told to save. To set aside money. To prepare for the future.
But how does someone prepare for a future they aren’t sure they want? Aren’t sure they’ll get? In live fire, behind enemy lines, savings was just another burden of survival. Andexpectingto survive was often a good way to get your teammates killed. It set an operator up for sub-par performance.
She sighed. “Nah, man, you don’t have to pay.”
“Hell I won’t. I saw your bank account. Rough shit, Cobra.”
She scowled. “How did you see my account?”
“Hmm?”
“Johnny—stop looking through my stuff, you asshole.”
“Sorry, didn’t hear you? RPG shot past my head. What was that? No, never mind, probably not important. Look, Cobra, just go down to Miami. Meet up with my parents and find out what happened to my sister. I can be there, but it’ll take a couple of days. And you know what they say about forty-eight hours.”
“Yeah, that’s with kidnappings, not murders, Johnny.”
“Well, hell if I know. Look, I’ll even charter you a private plane. Keep it all cash. I know you’re lying low.”
Cora considered it. The money was good. Besides...She shot a look in her rearview mirror. Gabriel had said he’d take a day to get whatever lead he’d found. She wasn’t sure if she could trust him. But ten grand? Not bad. She wouldn’t have to stay with her parents...
It was this last reason, perhaps more than any, that prompted her to say, “Alright. Just send me their address. I can check it out.”
“Good,” he said. “Plane is leaving in half an hour. About ten miles from your location.”
“Wait—what?”
“Good luck, Cobra! Thanks. And if you find who did my sister in, put them in the dirt.”
Cora sighed. “I’ll find out what I can. Dirty talk will have to wait, Johnny. Don’t get shot.”
She hung up and glanced down as an address was sent to her GPS, directing her to a private airfield. She didn’t like that Johnny was keeping track of her location. The ex-SEAL was also good with computers, which had been the main reason she’d contacted him on the last mission. And this last comment...she wasn’t a hired assassin. She did favors. For friends. That was it, wasn’t it? And yet even as she thought it, an uncomfortable realization fell over her. The only person who could draw boundaries for Cora was...Cora.A problem to consider, but perhaps focus on later.
But now...heading down to Florida?
What could it hurt?
