Deep Cover (The Extractor Series Book 4) by Mike Ryan (best novels to read to improve english txt) 📗

make any sudden turns, go in any rooms I’m not invited into, don’t make notes about what’s going on, and definitely don’t remember anything I see on any screens. I’ve worked here before. I think I know the drill.”

“Follow me.”

“Well, you are leading the way.”

They stepped off the elevator and walked down a short hallway, with several doors on each side, all of them closed. They came to the end of the hall, which then split left and right into longer hallways. They went right. They were soon greeted with glass doors, which needed an ID badge to get through. There were a few more doors, also closed, and then another glass door, badge also required.

“You sure this is an office or a maze?” Nicole asked.

“Maybe a bit of both,” Bridge replied.

They took another turn, left this time, and walked past a huge room with glass windows. They saw a bunch of people sitting at desks this time, with monitors on the wall. Bridge looked over at Nicole and whispered.

“Situation room.”

They continued walking down the hall until they got to an office. The door was also closed.

“Wait here.” Their host knocked on the door and went inside.

“This has been fun,” Nicole said.

Bridge put his hands in the pockets of his pants. “Yeah. A real blast.”

“Like old home week for you. Miss it?”

Bridge looked around for a few seconds, then shook his head. “No. Not at all. All this cloak-and-dagger stuff, it gets to you after a while.”

“Can’t say what we do now is a whole lot different.”

“Sure it is. Some of the jobs may be similar, but the way we operate isn’t.”

“Maybe we should move our operations out of your hotel and find a place like this.”

“Our hotel.”

“Your hotel. I want a house, remember?”

“Oh. Yeah. Anyway, too many doors to walk through here.”

“Yeah, I imagine it gets annoying after a while.”

“How many doors did you have to walk through where you were?”

“Uh, two I think.”

“Not too bad.”

“I guess. Do you think when we go in there we can call him by his actual name now, or do we still have to deal with all the technical code name nonsense?”

“Does it matter?”

Nicole shrugged. “I guess not. Just seems kind of silly to call someone Pinnacle One to his face instead of his actual name.”

“Then call him by his name, I don’t care.”

A few seconds later, the door opened, and the man stood there, waving his guests inside. After they were inside, the man closed the door. Almost immediately, Pinnacle One was greeting them. He shook each of their hands.

“Thanks for coming.”

Nicole smiled at him. “Thank you, Mr… uh… One.”

He laughed. “In here you can call me Joe. Enough of that technical code name nonsense.”

Nicole looked at her boyfriend and smiled. “I like this guy.”

“I hope bringing her doesn’t cause a problem,” Bridge said.

Joe looked at Nicole and smiled. “Not at all. She’s ex-agency anyway, right? Nothing she hasn’t seen before. Besides, she brightens up the building.” He then walked past his guests and went out the door, everyone else following him. “We’re just gonna go down the hall here to another room where we have some people working.”

“That main room with the glass?” Nicole asked.

“No, that’s for major active situations that require all hands on deck. We’re just gonna go to a slightly smaller room. No windows.”

“Oh.”

They did go to a smaller room, but it wasn’t that much smaller. It just seemed more closed off since there were no windows. But there were around a dozen people working at their computer stations. And there were still plenty of monitors on the walls.

“Since we spoke, Luke, I already had these guys starting to work on things.”

“Good,” Bridge replied. “Come up with anything yet?”

Joe went over to a desk and tapped one of the analysts on the back. “Pull up all of Kenny’s known associates.” The analyst nodded and brought up a bunch of pictures within seconds. Joe then looked at Bridge. “Any of these guys look like your mysterious friend at the house with Kenny?”

Bridge noticed an empty chair by the analyst. “May I?”

The analyst pointed to it and moved his over a little. “Sure. Be my guest.”

There were pictures of six guys on the monitor, taking over the entire size of the screen. “None of these guys.”

“Just use the mouse to scroll down for more, and it’ll bring a new setup.”

Bridge scrolled through a few more sets of pictures, not finding anyone that looked familiar. He was mostly paying attention to the face. Hair color and style could change easily and often did when dealing with people who were good at disappearing. He was about halfway through the pictures when one guy stood out to him.

“Wait, that looks like him.” Bridge pointed to the top right picture on the screen. He looked back at Nicole. “What do you think?”

Nicole leaned forward. She nodded. “That’s him.”

Joe looked at the both of them. “You’re sure?”

“Positive. He picked me up and threw me through a table. I wouldn’t forget his face.”

“A table?”

“Yeah.”

Joe looked her up and down. “And you’re still standing?”

“I always get back up.”

Joe was impressed with her toughness. “You sure you wouldn’t like to get back into the agency?”

Nicole smiled. “Thanks. But I got a job.”

“I might be able to pay more.”

“Thanks, but money’s not the only payment I like or get.”

Joe raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat. Bridge closed his eyes and tried to remain emotionless. Joe sidestepped the remarks and focused back to her skills. “I remember reading your file, but I don’t recall you ever being in the field.”

“Nope. Just an analyst.”

“No field work?”

Nicole shook her head. “Not until I met this guy.”

“Remarkable. I think the agency missed its calling with you.”

“Guess it’s too late now.”

“If this guy ever terminates your employment, you come and see me, all right? There’d always be a position open here for you.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Bridge hung his head. Just what he needed. Another thing she could hold over his head