Falcon: The Quiet Professionals Book 3 by Ronie Kendig Page A

apart. But still, Kiew had been much nicer on the phone. “Of course—can’t believe we’re both in Afghanistan at the same time! And for me to be sent up here for business while you’re here.”
    “Quite a coincidence.”
    Okay, enough. “What’s wrong, Kiew?”
    Kiew leaned away, her face an impassive mask of civility. “What could possibly be wrong?”
    A waiter appeared like a gust of wind with her glass of water and a china cup of black tea for Kiew.
    “I will have the bok choy. My guest will have the salmon and rice.” Kiew gave Cassie a measured look. “You still like salmon, yes?”
    “I love it.” What she didn’t love was the change in her friend. But Cassie had never been the confrontational kind—in fact, she’d walked a wide mile around conflict to avoid it. She laid the linen napkin across her lap and lifted the small water glass and sipped.
    “How long have you been in Afghanistan?” Kiew asked as she raised her steaming tea.
    “About three months.”
    “Aren’t you scared?”
    Cassie frowned. “Why would I be?”
    “The attacks.”
    “How do you know about those?”
    Kiew sniffed. “It is all over the news. Local outlets take great pride in the damage done to the Americans.”
    “I’m sure they do.”
    The chatter between them did not improve before the food arrived, forcing them into silent eating. Something was wrong. Or maybe Kiew had just changed. A lot. This wasn’t the same girl she’d known and considered a blood sister. Sure, Kiew had always been quieter and more reserved than Cassie, but not cold and aloof.
    “You have changed,” Kiew finally said quietly.
    Yes, that was true, too. “Life has… challenged me.”
    Kiew laughed. “That is a good way to put things.”
    “I could be angry and bitter about what I’ve been through, but in the end, that only makes me miserable.” Cassie couldn’t help but think of Sal’s anger and bitterness. She could understand his anger, but what… what happened to Kiew? “What about you? How have you been?”
    Kiew’s gaze fell to the table and silence blanketed them. A chilled silence. “I’m…” She breathed in and then exhaled. “I have changed, too. Life has, as you say,
challenged
me.” Her eyes sparkled and, for a brief moment, the old Kiew peeked from behind the reserved facade. “I am not sure, however, that I have conquered where it threw me.”
    Cassie set her plate aside. “I’m not sure I can say I’ve conquered it either, but I’m fighting to have the life I want.” Why did Sal just leap into her mind with his handsome, brooding eyes? She had to change the subject. “So, what do you do for work? Do you travel a lot? Do you think we can see each other again?”
    Kiew laughed again. Cassie remembered loving the sound, so much that she would make up things to say so Kiew would laugh. “One question at a time.”
    With bunched shoulders, Cassie grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. So—job. What are you doing here?”
    The stony mask slipped back into place. “Protecting interests for my… boss.”
    The words seemed as carefully picked as plucking roses from a thornbush.
    “That sounds… mysterious.” Cassie wrinkled her nose. “When you were in school, you said people teased you because you were so smart.”
    “No.” Kiew glanced down at the napkin she folded and smoothed. “I said, because I was too smart.”
    “There is no such thing as
too
smart. Crazy smart? Maybe.” Cassie laughed. “That was you—I always envied your brain.”
    “And how happy you were.”
    Now it was Cassie’s turn to look away.
    “But I see that you are not quite as happy.” Kiew considered her. “What happened? I see a wound behind those eyes, and I do not mean the injury on your temple.”
    Cassie’s hand almost went to the knot. How ironic that the knot and her subdued happiness were both connected to the same person. “Things happened. I let my naïveté and gregarious nature get me in trouble.” She lifted her