Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            He blinked, unprepared for her use of his first name. “Make what a habit?”

            She shook her head. “You know, when I was told I was getting a hacker rookie, straight out of the Academy, I was not happy. When I found out you were a former pro athlete, I was unhappier still. I didn’t have the time to train an agent wet behind the ears. Or one with an ego the size of Texas.”

            Tom frowned. “I have an ego the size of Texas?”

            “No. I assumed that you would, but I was pleasantly surprised on that score.” One side of her mouth lifted. “I’m glad you’re here. If only so I can toughen up that soft heart of yours so you make it to retirement. I’m not kidding, Agent Hunter.”

            Tom bit back his own smile. “So noted, ma’am.” His watch buzzed, reminding him of the time. “Morning meeting,” he said. “You coming?”

            She scowled at him. “I called the meeting.”

            He grinned. He couldn’t help it. If she was taking over morning briefings, it meant that Agent Raeburn was history. Which meant his own life would be a lot less stressful going forward. “You’re back, all the way?”

            “Most of the way,” she said cryptically. “But Raeburn is still your direct supervisor.”

            Fuck. Tom’s grin disappeared, his expression becoming grim.

            She gave him a careful once-over. “Agent Raeburn reported that you’ve been feeding information about this case to Agent Reynolds and his sister. That stops now. Are we clear?”

            Tom considered his words. Of course he’d been feeding information to Gideon and Mercy. Gideon had been recused from the case because of his personal involvement, but that shouldn’t mean he got cut off from updates.

            “They have a right to know the facts, Agent Molina. It’s their lives Belmont is targeting. Agent Raeburn has been keeping them in the dark.” Which wasn’t only unfair, it was cruel and dangerous. Raeburn was taking criminal chances with the lives of Tom’s friends—and everyone they loved, because anyone around them was also in danger.

            “We’ve provided Mercy Callahan protection,” Molina snapped. This wasn’t playful banter. She was reining him in, and he didn’t like it. At all. “Agent Reynolds can take care of himself. If you can’t agree, perhaps the Bureau isn’t a good fit for you after all.”

            There it was, then. The choice.

            He could hear his aunt Dana’s voice in his mind. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Tom. And then his mother. Do the right thing, even when it’s the hard thing.

            He gave a curt nod, knowing he’d continue doing what needed to be done. “I understand.”

            “I have your word?” Molina asked, her jaw taut.

            He was tempted to cross his fingers behind his back, but that was childish. “I will not feed Gideon and Mercy information in the future. You have my word.”

            Molina narrowed her eyes at him. “Why don’t I believe you?”

            He managed a thin smile. “I gave you my word. Ma’am.”

            There were, of course, so many other ways to get vital information to them. If it was a matter of life and death, if Gideon and Mercy’s safety was on the line, he’d find another way.

            “All right, then.” She gave him a sideways glance, sharp as a knife. “What else do you know, Agent Hunter? I take it that you’ve checked out all of the former Eden sites.”

            “Of course. The notebook we found in Ephraim’s safe-deposit box had a very accurate map. None of the locations are currently occupied, though it was still valuable to find that map. We learned that their earlier locations are obvious from the sky, but the more recent ones are not. They’ve effectively utilized ground cover, building earth homes. We thought we might locate them through infrared, checking for heat signatures, but so far that’s been a bust.”

            Ephraim Burton had left a veritable Eden playbook in his safe-deposit box, with detailed descriptions of all of the Founding Elders’ sins, meticulous records of the cash stored in the offshore accounts, and the map of previous Eden locations. Tom assumed that it was some kind of dead man’s switch, that if he was killed mysteriously, the contents of his box would somehow be made public. And indeed, it had ended up in the hands of the FBI.