“Ask me.” Jinx inched closer.

“It can wait.” She forced a smile. “I’m ready to leave now. Thank you so much for the tour.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“I do better when I think about things for a bit. We’ll discuss it tomorrow. Is that okay?” She wanted to get out of there before she lost her temper. It was burning hotter by the second and she had to hide it.

“I’ll take you out to your escort, who will drive you back to your guest cottage.”

“Thank you.”

He led her out of Security and she was happy to see Sunshine waiting behind the wheel of a Jeep. She waved to Jinx, thanked him again, and climbed into the passenger seat. The woman grinned at her.

“Did we meet your expectations?”

“What?”

“Our security measures?”

“They are great.”

“I’ll take you home unless there’s somewhere else you’d like to see. I’m on duty for a few more hours but they told me to take you wherever you want to go.”

Kat hesitated. “Do you have Darkness’ number? I really need to ask him a question.”

“Sure.” The woman reached inside her shirt pocket and withdrew her cell phone. She tapped the screen a few times and handed it over.

Kat took it and slid out of the seat. “Give me a minute.” Her heart began to pound as she listened to the phone ring twice. It was stupid and she knew she should just keep her mouth shut. She was putting her ass on the line if she actually spoke to him. His deep voice answered.

“Darkness here. What do you need, Sunshine?”

“It’s Kat.”

“Why do you have the female’s phone?” He didn’t seem happy.

“I borrowed it with her permission. She’s about ten feet away, staring at me.”

“What do you need?”

She hesitated.

“Kat? Is something wrong?”

Just say no and hang up. You can’t do this. Just keep your damn mouth shut.

“Kat?” His voice deepened. “What is it?”

Fuck it. “Is there any way you can get near the front gate?”

“I’m actually very near there. I just came on duty.”

She closed her eyes. The sick feeling in her stomach increased. She had to make a decision and it was a tough one.

“Kat?” He softened his tone in a way that reminded her of the night before. “What is it? Are you well?”

Shit! She opened her eyes and focused. “You know how you expect me to trust you but you don’t trust me?”

“You want to discuss this now? I said I’d see you later.” Irritation sounded in his tone.

“I’m trusting you because this could get me in some serious shit. Do you understand?”

He was silent for long seconds. “What is it?”

“See the redheaded guy getting a sunburn and smoothing out concrete? Look at the driver of the truck that’s working nearby? Also, the woman with black hair who is helping install that new gate, on the right side facing the main street? Watch them closely, okay?”

Darkness growled. “Why?”

She bit her lip and then decided she’d already crossed a line. “We work for the same dickhead. I’m putting my ass on the line. That’s all I can say.”

“Are they a danger to the NSO?”

“I don’t know why they are here. That’s the truth. There could be more of them but those are the ones I recognized. They might have come to get a look inside your gates to see how much damage was done. I just don’t know.”

“How did you know they were here in the first place if you don’t know why they came?” He sounded angry.

“I just toured Security. I spotted them on the monitors. Just…watch them, okay?”

“We’re going to talk more about this later.”

“I imagine so.”

“Would you be in trouble if they were to suspect you pointed them out?”

“Big time.” Her stomach roiled, just considering Mason’s reaction.

“I’ll handle it. Are you still at Security?”

“Outside. Sunshine is about to return me to the cottage.”

“Go and stay there. I’ll see you soon.” He disconnected.

It sounded like a threat. She uttered a silent curse and returned to the Jeep. She passed the phone over and climbed back into the passenger seat. “Thanks.”

“Is everything okay? You look a little pale.”

“It’s fine. I’m just tired.”

“I’ll take you home.”

“Thanks.”

Kat wasn’t sure if she should regret what she’d just done or not. Why would Robert Mason send other agents into NSO, undercover? Their access would be limited to the area where they were pretending to be construction workers. Did they plan to sneak away to search for Jerry Boris? She really needed to discover what his connection to her boss was. Why was the guy so important that Mason would risk sending in a group of agents? It bothered her.

Sunshine pulled up in front of her cottage. “Are you well? You really don’t look so good.”

“I think I have a headache coming on.” It wasn’t far from the truth. Her boss was a pain. “Thanks for the ride home.”

“Any time. I’ll see you tomorrow for your class.”

Kat forced another smile. “I look forward to it.”