Diamonds Are Truly Forever: An Agent Ex Novel 2 Read Online Free Page B

I’ll go get that movable storage unit you call a suitcase.”
    She watched him leave before plunking down on the 1990s hide-a-bed, thinking a good night’s sleep would be impossible on that thing even if someone wasn’t trying to kill her.
    She shuddered. She couldn’t honestly think of another person besides the Brazilian Bevil who hated her enough to take a potshot at her or who had anything to gain by her death. And Bevil was in a Paraguay jail.
    This was either the Bevil’s handiwork or somehow connected with Drew’s job. It appeared the foreign espionage community may not have gotten the memo about their impending divorce. She sighed, silently cursing inept enemy spies.
    Neither scenario was reassuring.
    What was taking that man so long to bring her suitcase up?
    Thoughts of him lying on the garage floor in a pool of blood gave her the courage to get up and look for him. She found Drew in the living room, her bag at his feet as he texted someone.
    “Hey!” She tilted her head as she studied him. “I thought you were dead.”
    He snapped his phone shut and stuck it in his pocket. “No such luck.”
    “Don’t stop on my account.” She strolled over and pulled the handle out from her suitcase, ready to roll it to the stairs.
    He removed her hand from the handle and rolled the suitcase aside. “You’ll never be able to lug that thirty-two-inch monster up the stairs. I’ll take it up later.” He went to the fridge. “What’ll you have?”
    “I’m fine.”
    He tossed her a diet cola. She caught it just before the can struck her in the chest. “Nice aim.”
    “Good reflexes.” He grabbed a beer.
    “We need to talk.” She sat in one of four cheap chairs surrounding an IKEA table in the kitchen. He’d spared all expense on furnishings.
    He paused at a cupboard. “Glass?”
    She tapped the top of her can, in no hurry to open it and be sprayed. “With ice.”
    “No icemaker.”
    “A glass is fine. A clean glass.” Oops, it just slipped out there.
    “And she insults my housekeeping skills.” He smiled and her heart did a little flip. She knew that smile. It used to mean good things, like a trip to the bedroom.
    She pretended to study the tabletop so he couldn’t read her thoughts. The man could give a mentalist a run for his money. “Not insults, critiques.”
    “You haven’t even seen the glass yet.”
    “I’ve seen the living room.”
    He laughed. “The shock of being shot at must be wearing off. You’re getting your color and your sharp tongue back.”
    “Sorry.”
    He pulled up a chair and twisted off the top of his beer bottle.
    She studied him. “So, who do you think’s responsible for this forced reunion of ours? One of your enemies or…”
    Staci dropped her gaze, unable to look Drew in the eye. “Beto Bevilacqua threatened to kill me just before I blacked out in Ciudad.” She glanced up at her husband.
    Drew’s expression became instantly stony and his jaw ticked.
    Staci was almost sorry she’d brought Bevil up again. Drew didn’t talk about Paraguay and his horrific mission in Ciudad del Este where his friend and fellow agent, Jack Pierce, had been killed in an explosion.
    “Bevil’s in a Paraguay jail,” he said, softly.
    “Which wouldn’t stop a drug lord like him and you know it. Don’t spare me, Drew. Bevil has contacts on the outside, no doubt.” She studied the water beading on her soda-pop can.
    Drew didn’t refute her.
    “If Bevil’s not behind the attack, this has to be connected with your job somehow,” Staci said. “Who would you suspect?”
    “Either way, I’m at fault.” He stared back at her, his eyes unreadable. “The list of my enemies is way too long and I couldn’t tell you if, or who, I suspected even if I wanted to. National security.”
    She rolled her eyes, glad for the change of subject. “Like I haven’t heard that one before. Just once I’d like to hear a straight answer like a normal husband would give.”
    “If a normal