“I promise I’ll be there. This trip I’m on right now won’t take long,” he replied, putting the SUV in park in the second row of the makeshift lot. There were no neatly marked off rows to show the patrons where to park, so it was a bit haphazard, and that played hell on his desperate need for organization. He parked away from the other vehicles, in a place where a person would have to be drunk to hit him.
Of course he was in front of a bar, so there was that.
“They’re working you too hard.” There was a motherly tsk to her tone. “I don’t understand why an analyst has to travel so much. If I’d known how much time you would spend away from home, I never would have let you take that Defense Department job.”
On paper, Drake Radcliffe worked for the Department of Defense as a midlevel analyst. Of course he wouldn’t travel so much, but his mother didn’t know that despite the fact that she’d worked for the government for most of her adult life, first as a young congresswoman and later serving in the Senate.
Yet the woman still didn’t know that two of her children had been CIA operatives.
“All right, sweetheart. I’ll let you go. I don’t suppose there’s been any news,” she said without much hope in her voice.
Oh, there was so much fucking news, but none he would tell his mother. “No. I’m sorry.”
A sniffle came over the line. “I know she’s gone, but not having a body…well, it’s killing me. I had such high hopes when I hired that firm.”
Miles-Dean, Weston, and Murdoch hadn’t been able to find anything because the Agency had cleaned the world that day.
Julia Ennis was missing, and it was presumed she’d been killed. At the time, he’d thought Julia’s death was the worst secret he would have to keep from his mother.
If only that had been true.
“Well, I’ll see you when you get home. I love you, honey,” his mom said.
“Love you, too.” He was a thirty-one-year-old man, and keeping secrets was his life.
So was lying. He lied to everyone, especially his family.
The line went dead, and Drake eased out of the SUV and made his way across the lot, gravel crunching beneath his feet. The whole place was practically rocking, thudding with raucous country music being played inside. He pushed through the doors and realized exactly how out of place he was.
Every person in the building had on boots and jeans and hats. Including the proprietor, who looked up from her seat at the bar and flashed him a smile that damn near made his heart melt.
Sandra Croft.
She could be his grandmother but once she’d been his lover. His first lover, and there was still such a soft spot in his heart for her. One of the only soft spots he had left.
“Drake.” She approached him with open arms.
He hugged her tight. “How are you? I heard the wedding was lovely. I’m sorry I missed it.”
She grinned up at him. “Never thought I would get hitched again, but she’s my soul mate. I’ll show you some pictures when we have a chance to catch up. The grandkids all look adorable.”
He would bet they had. Sandra had made a wonderful life for herself out here in Wyoming. “I would love to see them, and thank you so much for helping me out. I know I didn’t have a right to ask you…”
“You hush,” Sandra replied with a shake of her head. “I will always help you and I will always help Tag. But you should know you owe me. The kid’s annoying. I put him in the back washing dishes so he didn’t keep getting into fights with my customers.”
“I’m sorry about that.” Drake looked around and saw no sign of either of the people he’d come out here to pick up. “Is she here?”
“Your operative?” Sandra asked, one brow raised. “She’s upstairs. She’s not what I expected. I can definitely understand how she flies under the radar. I wouldn’t view that woman as dangerous at all.”
Sandra had been out of the game for too long. Constance Tyne was the most dangerous operative the CIA had produced. She was also the quietest. Almost no one had seen her face, which would make her perfect for the job she was going to do.
She would be his way into the lion’s den. She would be how he took down The Consortium.
“Excellent, then we should get started.”
Sandra nodded. “Go on back and see him. He’ll show you up to your rooms, and I’ll meet you for a debrief.”
He should have known Sandra could handle anything he threw at her. He nodded and made his way past cowboys drinking longnecks and line dancing, toward the kitchen, where the music seemed to fade slightly. He walked past the grill and fry stations, past the waitresses and cooks. Back to the station where the lowliest of the workers toiled.
Kyle Hawthorne turned and frowned his way. “I fucking hate you.”
The feeling was often mutual. “It’s time.”
Kyle wiped his hands on the towel at his waist. “Then let’s go kill her.”
It wasn’t going to be that easy.
But it was time to take down the most ruthless villain he’d ever met.
His sister, Julia.
Drake followed Kyle upstairs, ready to begin.
Drake and the whole Masters and Mercenaries team will return in No Time to Lie.
Author’s Note
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No Time to Lie
Masters and Mercenaries: Reloaded, Book 4
By Lexi Blake
Coming September 13, 2022
Click here to purchase.
A grandmaster of lies and deception
Drake Radcliffe has spent half his life in the shadows. Recruited by the CIA when he was barely out of high school, Drake doesn’t know how to have a normal life. While most people his age were playing sports or video games, he was playing spy games with the world’s most dangerous adversaries. It has been a life filled with thrills and adrenaline, but it’s also been lonely. All that might change when a mistake from Drake’s past rears its ugly head and he’s forced to face the only woman he ever loved—the one he pushed away.
A beacon of love and compassion
Taylor Cline committed the cardinal sin for an analyst—she fell for the operative she was working for. Drake was everything she wanted in a man, until he broke her heart. She had one unforgettable night with him and then he never looked back. Her career threatened, she shut down and moved on, hoping to never see him again. Just as she is beginning to put it all behind her, a critical assignment puts her under his authority and right back in his arms.
A deadly mission that brings them together
From the wilds of Wyoming to the glittering cities of Europe, Drake and Taylor must race against time to uncover the truth and expose an evil organization. The stakes couldn’t be higher. If they fail, the world could crumble. If they succeed, they could finally have everything their hearts desire.