Читать книгу Born In Secret - Kylie Brant - Страница 8

“No one can know that I’m involved. Not even your agents.”

Richard Sutter picked up a crystal decanter of aged Scotch and splashed two generous fingers into each of a pair of cut glass tumblers. He handed a glass to his friend, and then sank down into one of the matching rich leather armchairs. At the first taste of the smooth liquor, he gave a small sigh of appreciation. It was a moment before he noticed that his guest had failed to follow suit.

“What’s the matter? Those terms not to your liking? I’m paying you a king’s ransom, you old reprobate. I’m entitled to a few conditions.”

The remark had Dirk Longfield’s mouth curving, but his gaze remained speculative. “No problem. Just wondering what’s behind your need for anonymity.” At the silence that followed his words, his brows skimmed upward and he tipped his glass to his lips. “And I’m quite aware that you’re not going to enlighten me.”

Raising his glass in a mock salute, Richard drank. “An astute observation.” His friend knew better than to waste time asking questions that wouldn’t be answered. They were both comfortable in the shadowy world of secrecy.

“Do you think you’ll have trouble getting Walker James to take this assignment?” His casual tone belied the purposefulness of the question.

Dirk hooked an ankle over his knee. “Trouble? No. Walker will do it for me.”

The certainty in his remark brought Richard a sense of relief that was only mildly tinged with jealousy. He focused on the first emotion and tried to ignore the second. The assignment would proceed as he’d planned. That was all that mattered. He thought it, and tried to believe it. “Good. From what I’ve observed, James is becoming one of the best in the business.” He waited with interest for his friend’s reaction.

Dirk tensed, straightened a bit in his chair. “Becoming? Walker is the best. The boy’s instincts are uncanny, and he’s a bloody genius when it comes to circumventing security. There’s no one in the field better suited for the task you outlined.”

For all the pride in his tone, Dirk sounded like Walker’s proud father, something both he and Richard knew he was not. “I assume you have someone in mind to partner with James.”

Nodding, Dirk raised his glass and sipped. “Another agent I highly recommend. Not as experienced as Walker, but very resourceful, and rapidly earning a reputation. I have no doubt they’ll execute the mission perfectly.”

“I hope so. Because we both know the ramifications if they fail.” The two men shared a silent look of understanding, then raised their glasses. To the mission. To success.

Long after Dirk had left, Richard remained in his study, contemplating the faded network of scars on the back of his hands. His gaze was turned inward, on a bittersweet journey of memories that he rarely indulged in. The hard living he’d experienced in his sixty-two years hadn’t come without regrets. Decisions made decades ago, even viewed from the distance of time, could still haunt.

With effort he climbed out of memory’s abyss and into the present. He trusted Dirk to do as he’d promised, and had no doubt that very soon Walker James would be flying to the Middle East to begin the assignment. Richard thought it was a mission that Walker would relish and excel at. And since Richard’s involvement would be kept secret, there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t accept the job.

It occurred to him then that Walker bore more resemblance to Dirk Longfield than he did to his own father. He tried not to let that bother him, wished that it didn’t. They both had black hair, although Dirk’s was now threaded with gray. Walker’s eyes were a shade lighter than Dirk’s midnight-blue, and his regard even more piercing. But the real cause for jealousy wasn’t for the two men’s similarity in looks, it was for their relationship. Richard knew that Walker considered Dirk his father in every sense that mattered.

And that fact was his biggest regret of all.