Dirty Deeds Done for Reasonable Prices

By Jenniffer Wardell

Getting too attached to a real-life secret agent has its consequences. When Max asks for some help on an assignment that's gotten a little too personal, Thea can't help but say yes. Soon, however, the chance to see her favorite spy again turns into a tangle of secrets and sabotage that could blossom into a full-fledged supervillain plot. As our daring duo struggle to save the day, Thea finally realizes just how high the stakes can get. (Book 2 of the Thea and Max series)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jenniffer Wardell
• Release date: Dec 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463764831

Jenniffer Wardell

Jenniffer Wardell is a fantasy author and general fairy godmother-at-large. She's always on the lookout for witty dialogue and a well-earned happily-ever after. She loves to chat with anyone who loves a good story.

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Dirty Deeds Done for Reasonable Prices

By Jenniffer Wardell

Cover art by Jenniffer Wardell

Copyright 2018 by Jenniffer Wardell

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To Blue and Catherine.

If there’s any believable-sounding science in this thing, it’s thanks to the two of you.

Other Thea and Max books

How to Win Over Your Arch-Nemesis (In Three Easy Steps)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Never Give Them Ammunition

Chapter 2: Potential Supervillain Plot

Chapter 3: Flunky Hunting

Chapter 4: Working Through Some Issues

Chapter 5: Disaster-level Hide and Seek

Chapter 6: The Definition of Reckless

Chapter 7: Accuracy Is Everything

More Information

Chapter 1: Never Give Them Ammunition

There was a bullet hole in the breakroom.

Technically, there were two bullet holes – one in the top part of the wall, traveling upward, and another in the ceiling tile above it. Thea knew she could get maintenance to patch them up, since they’d already done the same thing to the other bullet holes scattered around the office. But no one else seemed to mind its existence, and she liked looking at it while she drank her coffee.

Some people had photos on their phones to remember the people they cared about. She had a bullet hole in the breakroom.

Well, not only a bullet hole. Thea lightly touched the phone tucked into her left pocket, reminding herself it was perfectly normal that Max hadn’t called her in a few days. He was a spy, for pity’s sake, and was probably too busy chasing down some international arms dealer to remember to let her know he was safe. If fiction was to be believed, spies didn’t get a lot of practice at having non-spy people in their lives. There was—

Is your boyfriend okay?

Thea jerked her head up at the quiet question. Seeing the surprised look on her boss’s face, Sara Chou stopped pouring her own cup of coffee and gestured to Thea’s left pocket. That’s his phone, right? From your conversations, he sounds like he travels a lot for work. It makes sense that you got a separate carrier with a better international plan. She stopped, wincing. Or she travels. We shouldn’t assume.

Thea was still frozen, appalled at herself for being that obvious. Sara smiled a little. Your voice always goes so soft when you talk to whoever it is, she explained gently. And your work phone is always in your right pocket, but since you’re left-handed you can get to that pocket a second faster. Her smile widened. "We know how much you care about work, so we decided anyone you care about more than that must be a pretty big deal to you."

Thea was briefly, fiercely tempted to throw professionalism out the window and actually flee the room. He’s not— She stopped, forcing her voice to sound completely casual and normal. Thankfully, her dark brown skin made it so she didn’t have to worry about her cheeks betraying her. He’s not my boyfriend. We’re just… She tripped briefly over what to call the extremely attractive spy you’d initially antagonized, helped take down a small part of a terrorist organization, and now had an extremely odd phone relationship with that you were maybe a little too invested in continuing. …friends.

Oh. Sara went wide-eyed with surprise. But… we all thought….

Thea tightened her hands around her coffee cup, trying not to think about just how many of her employees were included in that ‘we.’ We worked together on a project, once, she explained more calmly, hoping Sara wouldn’t connect ‘project’ back to ‘that time armed gunmen shot up the office last year.’ She’d been careful never to use Max’s name during the calls, even though that wasn’t his real one, on the off chance someone could connect them. Besides, everyone knew that spies didn’t keep in contact with the people we met on assignment. His job means he travels a lot, but we try to keep in touch. That’s all it is.

Alarmingly, Sara’s expression softened again. "But that means you still could—"

Before she could finish the sentence, Thea heard someone call out from the elevators in the thickest Great Lakes accent she’d ever heard. Delivery for a Ms. Spencer!

Sara, thankfully distracted, lowered her brow. Aren’t deliveries supposed to be left downstairs with Pete?

Yes, they were. Setting down her coffee cup, Thea carefully moved to the edge of the breakroom entrance and peered around the wall. A big, heavyset man with a beard, wearing what looked like a florist’s delivery outfit, was carrying a vase filled with two-dozen red roses. He didn’t have a jacket, which made it less likely he was carrying a gun or bomb of some kind, but as there were exactly zero people in her life who would send her—

Thea stopped, closing her eyes with a sigh. Correction – there was one person.

Next to her, Sara peered around the corner as well. I don’t think he’s going to shoot anybody, she said finally, patting Thea on the shoulder. Your not-boyfriend probably just wanted to surprise you.

Or send some kind of covert message in the most dramatic way possible. Still wishing she had her Taser on her, just in case, Thea squared her shoulders and headed over to the delivery person. I’m Ms. Spencer, she said, trying her best to ignore the eyes of all her employees following her across the shared office space. It seemed the gossip about her wasn’t going to quiet down any time soon. I’ll take that.

The delivery guy handed her the vase, then pulled out a clipboard he was holding and flipped through it. You have to sign for it. Make sure the client knows it went to the right person.

Thea nodded, searching through the roses. There wasn’t any card, surprisingly, or a flash drive or anything else Max might use to communicate with her. Maybe it was on the order form she had to sign….

Handing the flowers to Sara, who’d followed her over, Thea took the clipboard and scanned what looked like a perfectly normal order form. Are you sure there was no card? she asked, starting to wonder if she was seeing coded messages where they didn’t exist. Was she really so desperate to hear from Max that she was getting excited by delivery people who couldn’t follow basic instructions?

Yeah. He leaned forward. Didn’t really seem like his style.

Something about the sentence, delivered just as casually as everything else he’d said so far, made Thea look up at him. His eyes were blue, rather than brown like Max’s, his hair was dark brown rather than black, and his skin a few shades lighter than Max’s golden brown. She searched his face for a feature that looked familiar, an obvious reference