Viking Warrior Rebel by Asa Maria Bradley Page B

himself that it’d been some time since he hit puberty, and he manned up. “Procedure or no procedure, have I ever let you down before?” When in the wrong, going on the defensive usually worked.
    Some grumbling traveled down the line. Luke couldn’t make out all the words, but one was definitely “asshole.” He didn’t mind not hearing the rest.
    â€œWhat progress have you made?” Whalert asked in an almost normal tone of voice.
    â€œI’ve made contact with the target.”
    â€œYeah, Broden shared that in his report. You know, those things most agents fill out on a regular basis.”
    Fuck Broden and his reports. Why did he have to be such a brownnose? “That’s correct. We saw her at dinner last night and I spoke with her, but I had continued contact with her tonight.” He had to give his boss something but would keep the details to himself. Until Luke could figure out exactly what Astrid was up to, there was no reason to involve people higher up the chain of command. The longer someone sat behind a desk, the more complicated they tended to make things.
    â€œWhat kind of contact?”
    â€œI followed her tonight and pretended a chance meeting.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. Even if Astrid was unaware of his presence in the parking garage, they had kind of met.
    â€œYou don’t think she’ll find that suspicious?”
    â€œNot at all. She has no clue I followed her.” The only full truth he’d said during this conversation.
    His boss chuckled. “You’ve already managed to get her into bed, haven’t you?”
    Luke glanced at Astrid asleep under his covers. “Something like that.” He ignored the stab of guilty conscience and refused to explore if it was because he was misleading Astrid or his boss. “We’ve flirted.”
    Another chuckle traveled down the line. “I just bet you have. I’ve seen how you flirt.”
    Luke pushed down the irritation he felt at his boss’ insinuation. He wasn’t that bad. Women found him attractive, but that didn’t mean he jumped into bed with everyone who gave him a clear signal. Most of them maybe, but not all of them. “Let’s move on,” he muttered.
    â€œI understand, no kiss and tell. I like that about you.” Another chuckle. “Okay, down to business then. Have you set up a meeting with Kraus?”
    â€œYes, but he’s not available until two days from now.” Luke was meeting with the German businessman under the pretense of offering money-laundering services through the nightclub. In reality, he wanted to check if the man had a connection with the covert government labs. Before the North Dakota lab closed down, Kraus had met with the head scientist of the facility. It had taken weeks to set up the meeting. “I’m not sure if he’ll take me up on my offer though. He seems a little skittish.”
    â€œMost criminals turn paranoid a few years into their careers. And with good reason.” Whalert sighed. “I’m actually calling for more reasons than just finding out why the hell I haven’t heard from you.” Uh-oh. Luke had heard that tone of voice before. It always delivered bad news. He braced himself for what was coming. “There’s been some chatter in cyberspace,” his boss continued. The bureau monitored several regions of cyberspace, including the off-the-grid corners that were usually referred to as the Darknet. Conversations that seemed related to the covert labs often popped up, but so far DTU hadn’t been able to pinpoint who was taking part in the discussions.
    â€œWhat can you tell me?” Luke asked. The information gathered was often sensitive enough that only people several security levels above him were allowed access.
    â€œI don’t know much.” Whalert sounded apologetic. “But there is a lot of talk about a ‘live package’