Ever After Read Free

weeks her actions seemed odd and entirely opposite from all her comrades. Most of Earth’s embassy staff inclusive of guards, maids, chauffeurs, and botanists, couldn’t wait to tour the beautiful, garden world to which many millions strove to emigrate.
    Why, during the few times she’d been in his presence, was she so inordinately quiet that he couldn’t reconcile her ability to strategize for the general, much less spy?
    There’d been no formal announcement of her arrival, just a small notice in an Allied High Command bulletin. This was not the norm. She’d simply taken over the general’s complete itinerary. Now, Albright went nowhere without her.
    Lieutenant Keira Foley was doing everything she possibly could to never be noticed. She was a complete enigma. Oddly, the more he studied her countenance—as provided by the bugging device she now stood near—the more intrigued he became. Unkind individuals might refer to her as plain. But there was nothing understated about her intelligence.
    The general was being manipulated. Spies could and had come in any form. At any time, her so-called suggestions to the general could become useful in setting up some grander scheme. A raid maybe? Or even an attack?
    Maybe she’d lure the entire law enforcement cadre of Mythreal into trusting the general so much that his suggestions—through her—could become a decoy. She might suggest law enforcement vessels inspect a load of ore in a certain sector of space, only to advise her pirate cohorts where those same vessels would be stationed. Than an all-out attack could ensue on innocent peacekeepers, simply trying to do the job they’d been assigned.
    He made the decision to dig further.
    Dillion punched up a series of codes that allowed him to hack into Earth Embassy’s personnel file. As with the bug in Albright’s office, the technology he used was beyond Earth’s reckoning. No one on this world ever told anyone else all their secrets. Embassies might be tied together by contractual obligations enforcing laws, but technological advances were still each embassy’s privilege. No ally ever let another ally know everything about every gadget devised. The technology he currently used fell into that don’t ask, don’t tell category. In that way, even the most devious spies, malcontents, or terrorists weren’t able to steal all defensive tactics from any one individual or embassy.
    In his heart he knew other Earth Embassy employees had nothing to do with Lieutenant Foley’s actions. They might even silently suspect her as he did. But they’d said nothing, so he’d taken action deemed necessary.
    He waited until Foley’s file came up then stepped back in shock.
    There was nothing on his screen but the girl’s name and her ID photo. The picture was as he’d always seen her. The image was still far too pale to say she appeared healthy—long brown hair was bundled at the back of her head. Her bright blue eyes were her only real, attractive feature. She had on a uniform jacket that, even from the waist up as the photo displayed, was ill-fitting. As usual, the clothing seemed too large, inappropriately altered. There wasn’t one single other fact or notation concerning her. Not even a birthdate.
    He frowned.
    If there was cause to be suspicious before, now he was downright sure the woman was a plant of some kind. She’d actually assumed this file could be hacked and had taken measures to assure her embassy identity remained innocuous. She’d known no one working legitimately would go to such lengths, so he couldn’t out her without outing himself.
    Smart girl. Very, very clever.
    This new discovery meant that someone else in the embassy knew she was a plant. She was being aided by someone in a high-ranking position or she could never have gotten away with leaving so little in her personnel file.
    “Bloody damn!”
    After making a second attempt to bring up more data and finding nothing else to alter his current suspicions,