Free Rogue Ghost (CIA Ghost Series Book 1) by Mike Ryan Page A

operative. A highly trained CIA assassin. She’s probably got over a hundred confirmed kills to her credit. She may seem all sweet and innocent…but looks can be deceiving.”
    “I’ll remember that. Just out of curiosity, how many kills do you have?” Turner wondered.
    “Ahh, I’m only up to ninety,” he said with a shake of his head.
    “Sorry to hear it.”
    Cole pulled out a cigar and lit it.
    “Smoke?” Cole asked.
    “No thanks. I prefer to keep my lungs intact.”
    “Suit yourself,” he replied, puffing on the cigar.
    “So what are the chances of us actually finding Heath at this point?” Turner wondered.
    “Well, right now, we got no leads and no prospects. So what’s that tell you?”
    Cole then left to go back to his place and Turner went inside his. Ten minutes later he knocked on Parker’s door. She opened it, wearing pajama pants and a tank top.
    “I’m sorry. Were you getting ready for bed?” Turner asked, both hands behind his back.
    “Not yet. Was there something you wanted?”
    He brought both hands around to reveal an ice cream cone in each.
    “Thought maybe I’d bring over a peace offering. I’m sorry about storming off a little while ago,” he told her. “Just my way of apologizing I guess.
    Parker smiled. “Well, I guess you know my weakness. Come on in.”
    They sat down in the living room and ate their ice cream while also talking about what was going on.
    “So what do I call you now? Agent Parker, or do you have another name or something, or maybe an alias?”
    Parker smiled. “You can call me Alex.”
    “Oh, OK. Easy enough. I guess you can still call me Ryan.”
    Parker laughed, followed by a slight laugh from Turner.
    “So I talked to Cole a few minutes ago and he told me what you did.”
    “What I did?”
    “He told me that you fought for me,” Turner said, getting a little choked up. “I guess I should be thanking you.”
    Parker smiled. “You don’t have to thank me.”
    “I guess I’m just a little scared now,” he said, tears in his eyes. “You know, with whatever’s gonna happen to me.”
    “Nothing’s gonna happen to you.”
    Turner smiled at the thought, and though it was nice to hear, he knew it wasn’t exactly true.
    “Well, I guess that’s a nice thing for you to say but we both know that it’s not necessarily the truth,” he said.
    “Why isn’t it?”
    “Well what happens when you’re far away from here and can’t fight for me anymore? I mean, next month you‘ll be somewhere far away probably fighting some terrorist or something.”
    “What makes you so sure?”
    “I dunno. Isn’t that what you do?”
    “Ryan, I’ve been gone a long time. Being here with you is the first time I’ve been back in the U.S. in over five years. Every other mission has been in Russia, or the Middle East, or South America…it’s starting to feel good being back here,” she told him.
    “Don’t you just go where they tell you?”
    “Let me worry about that. I give you my word that nothing is going to happen to you.”
    Turner smiled and looked down at the floor.
    “I know trust is probably a little hard for you right now with everything that’s happened but I want you to know that you can trust me. As long as I’m here, nobody is going to do anything to you. You have my word. I will protect you,” she promised.
    Parker’s voice was soothing and was exactly what Turner needed to hear to put his mind a little more at ease. Though he wasn’t completely convinced, he tended to believe that she meant everything she said. Whether she was able to live up to her words, he wasn’t sure. But he believed that she meant it.
    “So why would you do that for me? Protect me…go against orders,” Turner asked.
    “Because I think you’re a good guy. Maybe I’m just starting to get a little soft in my old age,” she laughed.
    “While I’m thankful you think that, that can’t be the only reason, can it?”
    “There’s probably a hundred reasons,