Free Raging Fire (Guarded Secrets Book 4) by Sara Schoen

trouble. With gun drawn, I slowly made my way through the house. I checked room after room, but found nothing. The building was empty from top to bottom. The two upstairs rooms were vacant of anything except two simple beds and the rest of the house had nothing big enough for anyone to hide behind. Even so, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that this building wasn’t safe anymore.
    As I rounded the main floor for the third time I noticed the book on the table seemed slightly out of place. We typically left one book around for agents to read during a lull in their mission, and since most rarely got sent to the same place twice it was always new to whoever came next. Whoever had read it last had purposely laid it upside down on the table in front of the only seat in the room. Havoc’s team should have been the last ones who stayed in this house, and I didn’t think any of his team members ever took the time to sit down and read a book, even when at CIRA. 
    I plucked it from the table and looked it over intently. I turned it over a few times while wondering if I was just being paranoid. How could anyone except agents know about the building, let alone know where to find the key and then plant a camera we wouldn’t notice? 
    If no one ever read it, no one would see it.
    I flipped the book open to find that my assumption was correct. A small camera rested inside, concealing itself in the binds of the book. I plucked it from its hole in the pages to examine it. The camera seemed new, as if it had been recently placed. The metal cast a shine into my eyes and glittered as I turned it over in my hands.
    “Don’t break it now, Spit Fire.”
    I turned at the sound of Seeker’s voice, but didn’t see him. I turned in circles and glanced through entryways to the other rooms on the main floor, but didn’t see him. I cleared the house, there was no way he’d managed to evade me. He couldn’t have followed me here, could he? How would he have gotten a ride here before me if I had left him in Sharp Shooter’s office? 
    “I’m not there, Spit Fire. Don’t fret, your secret isn’t blown.”
    I turned again toward the direction his voice had come from, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Where are you then? I thought you would be in Germany by now.”
    “I’m still at CIRA. I still have a few hours before I leave for my mission, but I knew something was up with you when you stormed out of Sharp Shooter’s office. You lied right to his face, and actually thought I wouldn’t know. You’re a terrible liar when it comes to me. I always know when you’re lying. It’s a sign of being good friends, right?”
    “Who’s with you?” I asked, ignoring his comment completely. 
    “Don’t worry, Sharp Shooter doesn’t know, yet .”
    His condescending tone was beginning to annoy me. “Don’t tell him, Seeker. I kept plenty of secrets for you and kept my word about your less than respectful methods when it came to gaining information from certain people and completing risky missions. I won’t hesitate to throw you under the bus if you do it to me.”
    Seeker had a history of meddling too far past his assigned mission, and in more than one instance it had gotten him in more trouble than the mission was worth. But Seeker was dedicated when it came to his job. He’d do anything to complete the mission and save as many people as he could, even when it became risky and dipped into the grey areas of CIRA’s rules. In his mind, it wasn’t all black and white. There was room to play with.
    “I won’t rat you out, but if I were you I’d turn the camera away from the back door unless you want to get caught by whoever checks these cameras. Turn it toward the chair while you’re in the house and when you leave turn it back so no one suspects anything. You don’t want anyone asking questions, Spit Fire. Especially with what you’re doing—a freaking suicide mission. You must have picked that up from Night