Team: Echo (4 page)

Stopping before her Mikhail looked down at her for a long
moment before he said anything. “Gareth and I will talk to Honey
with Daisy, but you are right on one score Penelope,” he grinned at
her. “You are going to be the one to tell Daisy. And when you are
telling her all about yourself mention just how it was you managed
to find me and Gareth. Because that one should be downright
entertaining as hell to hear.” Shifting out her path he jerked his
head. “Now move it Penelope, we ain’t got all day and we still have
to round up all the spiders for you.”

Penny shuddered and bit her lip, damn she hated spiders.
Worse than anything she hated those eight legged freaks. “Don’t
worry; I plan on telling Daisy everything. She’s been my best
friend for the last three years; hopefully she will continue to be
my best friend for the rest of time. So sorry about that Russian
but I think you are stuck with me. At least till you kill me and
then you would have to explain that to D and Honey.” She grumbled
and stalked from him.

“
What would there be to explain?” he asked, the sound of his
steps right on her heels. “You never know when you might be
recalled and pulled from this assignment and accidents always
happen, it’s a shame really. Do you know I personally know nearly
four hundred different ways to kill someone?” he asked in a
conversational tone. “And half at the very least look like natural
causes no matter how many times a coroner or lab tech does the
tests.” Reaching around her he opened the door for her. “I don’t
plan on killing you Penelope,” he said softly. “But if you ever
hurt Daisy or Honey there is no place on this planet where you can
hide. Remember that.”

“
Right back atcha big boy, right back atcha. I might not be
that child’s mother or father or D’s other part but I love those
two. They are the only family I have and I can promise you that if
you hurt either of them I will track your ass down and kill you.
You might think that I can’t, but I can promise you. I can.” She
was an expert sharpshooter, had nearly gone into SWAT because of it
but chose the CIA instead because she liked puzzles even
better.

“
Then we understand one another, just remember who has all the
tech piped into his brain,” Mikhail said quietly. “Now, please get
in so I can get home to see D and Honey and attempt to get some
sleep before I have to slave under a hot sun again and then help
you move your entire life for the last three years in under a
day.”

Penny frowned at that and shook her head. Nope, she wasn’t
even going to ask. Climbing into the vehicle she leaned her head
against the headrest and closed her eyes. She was fucking whipped.
Mentally, physically, she was toast. She had been forced to do
things she didn’t want to do, forced into a position that she
didn’t want and with people that would rather see her dead than
alive. Yep, life was a ball of fucking giggles each and every
fucking day.

Sliding into the passenger seat Mik nodded to Dieter and
shutting his door, they were underway. Easing his seat back a bit
he pulled a cap from somewhere and put it over his eyes. Leaning
back he was apparently asleep in under a minute.

“
I hate it when he does that,” James muttered shaking his
head. “It’s just not natural,” he commented to Dieter.

“
He wasn’t natural even before all the tech they put into our
bodies,” Dieter said with a grin in the mirror to him. “He once
said that he learned it because of the long hours he had to wait in
a perch for his target to be in the perfect spot.”

Penny snorted. “It happens,” she whispered sleepily and
forced an inner calm that she certainly wasn’t feeling. So Mikhail
was a sniper too huh? Too bad, they might have been friends in
another time. Yeah right, who the hell was she kidding? The man
hated her on sight and didn’t trust her either. Oh well, time to
move on. As long as D and Honey forgave her, that was all that
mattered to her. Without another thought she was sleeping as
well.

Chapter Five

“
About time you woke up,” Mikhail said, as he stared at her
from the open car door. “Come on, you’ll bunk in the house for the
next couple of nights until we get all the creepy critters ousted.”
Stepping back he waited on her. “Honey’s excited to see you and
would have been out here climbing all over you but Gareth got her
into a tickle fight and she must win, at all costs.”

Penny smiled at that and nodded. “She totally will too. That
girl is going to lead countries one day,” she said confidently.
Getting out of the vehicle she said, “Thank you,” before she could
stop it and headed towards the house. “Where is D? I need to have
my talk with her as well.”

“
She was making tea when I came out to see if you’d woken up,”
he told her, hefting her bag over his shoulder. “Watch the walkway,
it’s on the list of things to get fixed but we’re a little more
concerned with ensuring the house won’t fall down or burn down
around our ears. The prettying up will be later when we get to
landscaping and ensuring the sloping is right for the rainfall we
occasionally get.”

“
Thank you. I will go and find D first and talk to her. I
don’t want to get to Honey yet in case D has decided she doesn’t
want me anywhere near Honey.” Which would kill Penny but she would
do whatever her friend wanted, even if it was walk away from the
only true family and friends she had. “Can you keep Honey occupied
for a wee while longer?”

“
Considering I have her gift buried in my bag somewhere I
think it can be managed. Just keep your voice down, that kid has
big fucking ears.” Going up the steps he put a hand on her elbow.
“I have a question for you to think on. Nothing bad, I hope,” he
muttered when she looked at him. “Honey mentioned some guy going
through your place every time you were away. We did a little
snooping and only caught a peek at him twice. He seemed to be extra
careful once we entered her life and started hanging around D’s
house. Do you know of anyone that would have reason to be poking
through your place while you were out of town?”

Frowning Penny shook her head. “No one that I can think of,”
she said softly. “The one and only person that would possibly do
that is thousands of miles away in DC. He’s a complete and utter
asshole that has done everything possible to make my life a living
hell but I don’t know. I will think about it.” She promised him and
smiled when she heard Honey’s laughter. “God I love that kids
laugh,” she whispered softly and then said, “Where’s the
kitchen?”

“
Straight through to the back of the house,” he told her as he
followed her inside and handed over her bag. “When you’re ready to
crash let me know, I’ll show you to your room,” he murmured
shutting the front door. “Slip past before she spots you,” he
advised. Following his gaze she saw where Gareth had Honey pinned
and was tickling her as she squirmed and squealed at the top of her
lungs.

“
Thanks.” Penny shot out and then moved quickly toward the
back and the kitchens. Seeing Daisy she smiled and closed the door
behind her. “Hey D, I need to talk to you.”

Turning Daisy looked at Penny and smiled, “Hey you. Did the
boys pick you up?”

“
Well, not exactly.” Taking a breath Penny said, “I need to
tell you the truth. I’ve lied to you for the last many years. From
the moment that I walked into your life I lied to you about what I
did for a living.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
I’m not a flight attendant. I fly enough that I could be but
I’m not. Before today I was an operative with the Central
Intelligence Agency. I was sent to Sweetwater to blend into the
community and see if I could find out a connection between strange
happenings in Southern California and Northern Mexico.” She was
rushing but had to get this out as quickly as possible. “It wasn’t
to spy on you, god it was just my good luck that I was put next
door to you. The one and only thing that I’ve lied about is my job.
That’s it. Nothing else.”

“
I see,” Daisy leaned against the counter and watched
Penny.

“
I’m sorry D. Please know that I love you and Honey like crazy
and I don’t want this to ruin our friendship.”

Taking a long sigh Daisy said, “It won’t. I kind of figured
that you weren’t a flight attendant when you were able to find
Honey’s fathers when the detective that I hired to find them
couldn’t. What you do for a living isn’t you Penny and I know that.
You’ve always been sweet, kind and loving and you couldn’t love
Honey any more even if she were your own child. You are my sister
of heart, that’s all that matters.”

Tears in her eyes Penny walked to Daisy and gave her a hug.
“I love you too D, you are the best friend that I could ever
have.”

“
Good, I’m glad. Now. Do you still work for the
agency?”

“
Well, not exactly. My job has changed but that’s something
that we will talk about when Gareth and Mikhail are around. Don’t
ask me what it is because it’s something that they need to talk to
you about and not me okay?”

“
Okay. Come on, Honey has missed you like crazy.”

“
I’ve missed you guys as well.” Penny whispered and walked
towards the screaming laughter with Daisy, a smile on her face and
heart lighter.

Holding the gift just out of reach as Gareth tickled Honey
even more Mikhail chuckled softly... “Psst, mom’s coming,” he
hissed out, loud enough to reach them. When Daisy and Penny came
into the room they were all sitting looking like innocent angels
and Honey was cracking into a gift, likely the one Mikhail had
picked up. “All good?” Mik asked looking at Daisy before sliding
his eyes toward Penelope.

“
Yep, all good.” Daisy said as she moved to Mikhail’s side as
he stood and wrapped her arm around his middle. Looking up at him
she smiled. “Be good Mik. I love her like family, she’s like a
sister to me so stop glowering at her like she’s going to hurt me
or Honey.”

Grunting he turned his eyes on her and smiled before kissing
her gently. “How you doing love?” he murmured against her cheek.
“Did you and the poppet do anything exciting while we were off
having our lives rearranged again?”

“
Well she exercised your credit card again,” Daisy admitted
softly. “Don’t worry, I paid it off already. She wanted to get some
new clothes. Evidently her uncle Victor told her that she would
look beautiful in pinks and mint greens and so the child of course
had to have some new clothes. I think she’s got a small
crush.”

“
We were only gone a day,” he said staring down at her in
shock. “How the ever loving,” he trailed off and let out a breath.
“You didn’t have to pay it off love, I don’t mind if she wants to
get a few things. It won’t hurt the accounts to have them used for
a few things beyond the non-stop influx of necessities for this
place. Speaking of which,” he looked over at Penny. “We’re putting
her into the spider infested guest house but she’s insisting that
we oust the innocent spiders.”

Penny shuddered but it was Daisy who spoke. “You will not.
There are rooms here. She can sleep in one of the halls where the
other men are sleeping but under no circumstances are you to put
her out there. I mean it Mikhail.” Daisy knew Penny’s fear of
spiders, knew why she had the fear but that wasn’t her story to
tell, it was Penny’s.

“
She’s here for a couple of nights, I did say I’d clean it out
for her but given all the stuff she’ll end up having to deal with
she’ll need the space,” he told her quietly. “We also need to get
her house packed up by the day after tomorrow.”

Frowning Daisy asked, “Why? Why in the world would you need
to have her home packed so quickly?”

Penny answered that one. “Because I was forced to leave it,
given no choice so I guess that I’m going to be your forever
neighbor. I won’t inconvenience anyone. I will call an exterminator
and while they are fumigating the guest house I will have a mover
pack what little I have in that house. It was all mostly furnished
when I moved in anyway. I just have my clothing and the things that
Honey and you have given me over the years.”

“
Won’t kill them, they’ll just move out until the fumes are
gone and move back in,” Gareth said quietly from his reclined
position next to Honey. “And you’re not hiring a mover. We are
twelve above the average males that can heft anything out of there
and we have trucks to transport it all. Besides, it’s cheaper and
since I doubt they’ll let you expense it, you should take the
help.”

Nodding Mikhail looked at her. “Feed us and give us lots of
water and we will work. Hell, buy a flat of beer for the end of it
all and we’ll be good. As for the spiders we’ll get them out, we
have a few tricks under our hats.”

Penny sighed and shook her head; she wasn’t going to win for
losing and knew it. “Fine,” she muttered. “Just please make sure
that they are out.” To Daisy she asked, “Is there somewhere close
by where I can shower and change clothes.”

“
I’ll show her up, I need to get out of these clothes anyway,”
Gareth said. Pressing a kiss to Honey’s cheek he got to his feet.
“Come on Penelope, we’ll find you a room where you won’t have to
listen to one of the snorers.”

“
Appreciate that.” Penny murmured and gave Honey another hug.
“Love you munchkin,” she said and ruffled the little girls hair
with true affection. Turning she followed Gareth through the big
farmhouse. “I appreciate you showing me to a room.”