Red Zone (Red Zone 1)

A wave of relief rolled through him. “Has Friday’s name come up anywhere outside of the Territories?” What he was really asking was whether Enforcement had made a deal with Bolivian security to pick her up for them.

“No. You’re good to go, boss. Anything else?”

“One more thing. Any word on that issue Mace is looking into?” As the point of contact for all of their teams in the field, Hunter would know exactly what issue Striker was talking about. Mace had gone off hunting the mole on their team.

“He’s following a lead.” Hunter’s voice was tight. “We think the leak is a guy calling himself the Broker.”

“Seriously?” That was a relief. “At least we know it isn’t one of our team.”

“Yeah, nobody on this team would use that lame ass-name.”

“Any idea of the identity of this ‘Broker’?”

“Mace is checking out a hunch, and I’m hunting online. He thinks it’s someone we use to arrange transportation and weapons. He’s got Sandi for backup.”

“Keep me informed.” He ended the call after Hunter grunted his agreement.

Friday’s eyes were wide when he turned to her. “Does your team have its own satellite, or do you piggyback on other people’s?”

As usual, it wasn’t the question he’d expected. Seemed nothing could derail her curious mind. Well, nothing but him. And didn’t that make him feel ten feet tall?

…

They drove through a built-up, industrial area of the city, that seemed to go on forever. Friday watched it all pass as she held Striker’s hand, fighting the ever-present weariness that made her bones ache. Tension was heavy in the car, as they were both painfully aware that each delay ate up time. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Nineteen hours until the Interferan-X activated. And they weren’t even inside the old city yet. The roadblocks had stolen time from them.

“We’re about half an hour from the clinic,” Striker said. “We’ve got plenty of time to get you that antidote.”

His gaze stayed firmly on the road in front of him, his eyepatch in place to hide his snake from the world. It felt wrong. He was magnificent in his entirety, both halves making up a fascinating whole. None of it should have been hidden from the world.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” He skillfully negotiated the traffic to make sure they were never stuck waiting behind another driver.

“Know what I’m thinking.”

Oh, how she loved his smile. It was easy and charming, just like the man. “We’re attuned to each other. You’re thinking what I’m thinking. Plus”—his smile turned mischievous—“it’s usually written all over your face.”

“I thought I was good at projecting an expressionless demeanor.” For goodness sake, her life had depended on the ability.

“You are good at it. I guess you just relax more around me.” And didn’t he sound smug about it.

The flat road they were on suddenly dipped and curved to the right. She couldn’t help but gasp at the sight before them. They’d driven into a massive twinkling bowl, a valley filled with a billion multicolored stars.

“Pretty, eh?” he said.

The city had been built into a steep and narrow valley, spreading out and up the mountainsides. The result was mesmerizing in the dark. It felt like they were riding into a distant galaxy with swirling bright stars all around them.

“In the daytime, the mountain peaks are so close you can almost touch them.” His voice was low, gentle, intimate.

“I didn’t expect this, not after the flat area we just drove through.”

“The high plains. In my day, that was a different city called Altiplano. It grew to join with La Paz proper.”

“You were here a hundred years ago?”

His laugh was deep. A rich molasses. A decadent chocolate torte. A full-bodied wine.

“Now, that makes me feel old.” He steered the car down into the valley, where the buildings that had seemed like glittering fairy lights from a distance became tall skyscrapers up close. And yet, even above the tops of the highest buildings, there were still more lights to be seen on the sides of the mountains.