Free On Her Six (Under Covers) by Christina Elle Page A

manage. What can I do for you?”
    Ash took a deep breath. “I need a favor.”
    There was a pause.
    Shit. Giles knew about his history with Lorena and the botched assignment in South America. Ash was a pariah. No one at the agency wanted to help him for fear of being dragged into the sewers with him.
    “What do you need?” Giles asked hesitantly.
    Ash held the nail in place with his left hand and swung the hammer with one quick stroke. “Information on a group of women.” Good. He sounded casual. Not pathetically pleading. It didn’t matter at this point if Blondie and the grannies heard him or not. Hell, maybe it would help if they knew he was onto them. Maybe they’d back off.
    “Hmm,” Giles murmured into the receiver. “Women, you say? What information are we talking about exactly?”
    Yep, Giles was definitely thinking about Lorena. “Names, backgrounds, anything you can find. The sooner, the better.”
    There was another silence on the other end.
    “Giles?” Ash asked, sickened by the desperation in his voice.
    “I don’t know, Ash. I mean, I really want to help you out, but Director Landry—”
    “I think it may be life or death,” he added. To his career, at least.
    Another moment passed, and then, “No promises. I’ll see what I can do.”

Chapter Eight
    Sharp afternoon rays pierced the windows in Rose’s house, rivaling the cool air circulating from her perfectly working air conditioner.
    In the spare bedroom, the women sat in their folding chairs as they’d been the day before.
    “Interpol’s got nothing on him,” Maybel said to the group. “Neither does the FBI or CIA. Jackson couldn’t find a lick of information anywhere.”
    Jackson was Maybel’s contact. She wouldn’t tell the group his last name or which agency he worked for. All they knew was Jackson could find anyone, anywhere, at any time.
    Except now.
    “That’s impossible.” Sam’s teeth clenched and her eyes turned to the TV screen. No movement or sound had occurred since last night’s stakeout. “There has to be something. A birth date, place of employment, anything.”
    Maybel shook her head. “It’s like he doesn’t exist. Someone went to an awful lot of trouble to cover his tracks. I asked Jackson to look up this Tyke person he keeps talking to. Still nothing. I’m concerned.”
    Why would someone need to go to that kind of trouble to hide his identity?
    John Black was collecting a lot of strikes.
    Each watch member turned and gave the woman next to her a worried glance. Anxiety blanketed the room.
    “We’ve still got eyes and ears on him,” Estelle said from behind the binoculars. Sam didn’t think the woman had moved from her post the day before.
    “Yes, we do,” Rose said, squaring her shoulders, bringing confident order back to the group, “and if he does anything, we’ll be ready.”
    The other women nodded in agreement.
    “The important thing right now is to collect as much information as we can.” Maybel spoke in a dark tone, a contradiction to her attire for the day—a simple light pink shift dress and flats. “Intel is the most important weapon one can possess. We have to learn his routine, his habits, his weaknesses .” She stared each woman down as if she was a platoon leader readying her troops for battle.
    “I agree.” Estelle fanned herself as she peered across the street. Since she had been gulping massive amounts of ice-cold lemonade and Rose’s AC worked just fine, Sam didn’t think it was because of the summer weather. “Let’s keep watchin’ him. He needs to be watched. Closely.”
    The women raised their eyebrows and turned to Estelle.
    Sensing the silence, Estelle unglued her gaze from the window. “What? I’m just sayin’ if we need to videotape him more, I’d be willing to do it. Hold the camera and what not.”
    Maybel smirked. “You know, we have a tripod.”
    “We’ll keep that in mind, Estelle,” Rose said through a crooked smile.
    “Ladies.” Sam stomped