Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            The three of them laughed. “You are far too smart, lubimaya,” Irina said. “Come. We will bake. Mercy? Liza?”

            “I am so in,” Liza said, but her cell phone began to ring. It was Special Agent Raeburn. “But I need to answer this first. You get started and I’ll help in a bit.”

            She went into the laundry room to take the call, shutting the door for privacy. So far, Mercy didn’t know about her job at Sunnyside Oaks, and Liza aimed to keep it that way. Mercy had enough to worry about. “Hello?”

            “Miss Barkley, this is Special Agent Raeburn. Are you well?”

            “We’re nervous,” Liza said, knowing that he wasn’t asking about her health. “But okay.”

            “Good. Very good. I’d wanted to bring you in for a briefing before you start at Sunnyside tomorrow morning, but it’s better that you stay where you are.”

            “Has something new happened?”

            “Things are . . . in play. For now, let’s discuss your role. First and foremost, you are not to do anything that puts you in any additional danger. You will wear your wire.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            “Good. You will leave your personal phone with the agents manning the surveillance van. Agent Hunter will make sure you get a burner that you can use in an emergency.”

            “Because Sunnyside will break into my locker and search my phone. What’s next?”

            “We have custom shoes for you. They have a hollow sole in which you can conceal a small blade that we will also provide.”

            “How very James Bond.”

            He chuckled. “Isn’t it, though? I assume they’ll search you or maybe even have some kind of metal detector for you to pass through. The blade is ceramic and won’t set off the detector.”

            “Yes, sir.” Liza wondered if Tom had told him about recruiting Rafe and decided not to ask.

            “Do you wear glasses?”

            “Contacts, but I have glasses.”

            “Give your glasses to the agent on duty. He’ll be around shortly for them. We’re going to remove your lenses and replace them with nonprescription lenses. The frames will be fitted with a small camera. That way if something happens to the pendant Agent Hunter prepared for you, we’ll still have a visual.”

            “I have my glasses with me, so that’s no problem.”

            “Good. We still don’t have access to the security network. This puts you at a higher risk.”

            “I understand. I’m still fully on board.”

            “I figured you would be. Do you have any questions for me?”

            She drew a breath, then let it out, all while wondering how trustworthy this man was.

            “Maybe I should rephrase,” Raeburn said wryly. “Do you want me to transfer you to Special Agent in Charge Molina so you can ask her questions?”

            She smiled at that. “No. I think Molina likes me too much for this. I’ll ask you.”

            “I don’t know if that’s flattering or not.”

            “Not meant to be flattering, sir. Just honest. If something happens to me, well, I haven’t updated my will since I was discharged. My beneficiary was my husband, but he’s deceased. I signed a letter changing that and mailed it to myself. Please make sure someone checks for it.”

            Tom didn’t need the money, so she’d left everything to Dana’s halfway house for survivors of sexual assault. Dana would know how to make best use of whatever Liza left behind.

            Raeburn cleared his throat. “You have my word.”

            “Thank you. That’s all, sir.”

            “Until tomorrow, then.”

            He ended the call and Liza went to find her new glasses.