Crossfire (Cross Duet #1)

42. GRAYSON

42

GRAYSON

My cell buzzed with a text, the sudden vibration sending a jolt through my already-frazzled nerves.

Daniel: You’ll have the files within the hour.

He didn’t say you were right, there’s been a big mistake . My chest cracked open slightly.

Files. The word seemed to pulse on the screen, each letter a dagger aimed at Ivy’s heart.

Fighting a tremble in my fingers, I typed out a response.

Me: Have you seen them yet?

I held my breath, my lungs tightening with each passing second as those three ominous bubbles pulsed across the screen, taunting me with their ambiguity.

Daniel: Not yet.

A rush of oxygen escaped me. Okay, that explains his response; it’s too premature for him to realize this is a mistake. What a relief.

It’s funny how you can know something with every fiber of your being, and yet, when you’re about to be confronted with the indisputable truth, fear has a way of coiling through your veins like an infection.

This will all be fine, I told myself, my thoughts racing to keep pace with my hammering heart.

As soon as Daniel saw the files, we’d shift into alerting the CIA. They could help clean up this mess.

A mess that could’ve put the CIA in massive hot water.

I hadn’t even thought of this icing on the cake until this moment, but as if protecting Ivy wasn’t rewarding enough, there would be a sweet-ass bonus to all of this.

The CIA would commend Daniel for keeping an innocent target alive and preventing a crisis that could have shattered the agency’s reputation. And I sure as hell wouldn’t interject that I’d played a role in that decision.

After screwing up the Vosch operation, I was glad there might be a silver lining for Daniel’s reputation.

My attention drifted back to Ivy’s face, whose fate might be determined within the hour.