Code Red Read Online Free

couldn’t hear Red and hoped she
remained calm and silent. They had no real reason to keep her but
wouldn’t let her walk away if she learned too much.
    He closed his covered eyes and listened,
understanding everything the men said in Russian though he had
never shared his knowledge of the language with anyone outside the
agency. Even his ex-wife had been oblivious to his ability. Keeping
secrets was his job—and the reason he wanted to leave it. Lies
destroyed those around him and ate at his own soul as well. If it
wasn’t for the people he’d helped along the way, he’d have quit
years ago.
    So far he had learned the names of three of
his captors, Dmitriyev, Kozar, and Tim, perhaps short for
Timoshkin. The driver hadn’t spoken, and no one spoke to him. The
name he recognized was Dmitriyev, a brilliant assassin trained and
owned by the FSB, a counterintelligence group out of Moscow. No one
could describe the man’s appearance; no one had ever seen him. If
he was truly in the van, Max was a dead man and Kieran and Red
might be dead soon as well.
    The van had been traveling on the main
highway for a while—Kieran was unsure how long—then turned left
down a dirt road. When it stopped, three doors opened. He heard the
Russians including Max leave, shutting the doors behind them.
    He waited for a few minutes and then
spoke.
    “Are you all right, Red?” He could hear her
slow, shallow breaths. “Red?”
    “I’m okay, but Adam’s hurt. Really bad. It’s
all my fault.” Her voice trembled. “Maybe he’s dead.”
    “Even a small head wound can bleed like a
river. He’ll be fine. Try to remain calm. They should realize you
have nothing to do with this soon. They’ll let you go.”
    He hoped.
    “Who are they?”
    “You don’t need to know anything except that
they want Max, not you.”
    “Why did they take you?”
    “I have no idea.” He honestly didn’t have a
clue why they’d taken Red or him. Something had to have happened
with Mark, but so far, no one had mentioned Mark’s name.
    “Who are you?” Red whispered before short
sobs escaped her throat.
    “Kieran Brody. And you are?”
    “Jessica Wonder.”
    “Wonder?”
    “Yes, it’s a ridiculous last name, but it’s
all I have left of my parents.” She broke down again, and her
breathing became punctuated by sniffling and hiccups.
    For a second, Kieran transformed the woman’s
name to Jessica Brody. It would have been a nice thought if they
weren’t tied up and seconds from meeting an assassin. Focus or die.
The sobbing Jess in front of him was a liability. The men who had
taken her would most likely shoot her to restore peace and quiet.
Red—or at least her feisty personality from the bar—would have a
better chance of survival.
    “I don’t know. It seems like a nice last
name,” he said. “Sure suits you. Since we’ve met, I’ve been
wondering why you’re so self-destructive.”
    Her trembling voice steadied.
“Self-destructive?”
    “Throwing yourself at Max when he looks like
a serial killer. You should have sat on my lap. I understand how to
treat a lady.”
    She stopped talking, but Kieran could hear
her inhalations. Slower, more stable. She needed fire inside of her
to eradicate the fear.
    He continued, “I guess you didn’t think a guy
like me would be interested in someone like yourself.”
    “A guy like you?” Her anger grew, and the
sobs stopped. “What are you talking about?”
    “I don’t like to brag, but I usually have a
woman eating out of my palm within minutes of meeting her. I must
intimidate you.”
    “No one intimidates me,” Red growled.
    Such bravado. Kieran had to bite his lip to
stop from laughing with satisfaction. “Good. When these guys
return, they may take off the eye covers. If they do, I need you to
focus on me at all times. If I smile, you smile. If I remain
silent, so do you. Understand?”
    “Why?”
    “Just do it. If I wink at you, you act like
my girlfriend. Not my