Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Nina’s jaw went tight. “And you’re sad. You’re in love with a man who doesn’t want you. Put down the gun.”
Deanna’s eyes narrowed. “I do not want JT. I couldn’t care less about the man, but I do want the fucking job I was promised, and apparently I have to do it all. I have to be the most organized human being on the face of the planet, smile while I’m being marginalized by every man in the room, and now I have to hunt down corporate spies. If you’re looking for your friend, Nina, tell him I took back our prototype and he can pry it out of my cold, dead hands.”
She’d done what? He was about to ask the question when there was a pinging sound, and he watched in horror as Deanna slumped to the floor.
Patrick stood in the doorway. His plan to give Nina a heads-up had worked against them and allowed the snake into the room.
Nina turned and slammed into JT right before the gun went off again. Patrick fired wildly, trying to take them out. JT dropped to the floor and his head smacked into the side of the couch so hard he would have sworn he could see stars.
“Deanna, you stupid bitch,” Patrick said with a snarl. “That will teach you not to steal from me. Sorry, JT. I didn’t mean to kill anyone, but a man does what he must.”
Chapter Eleven
Nina shoved herself up and cursed under her breath as she tried to tuck JT closer to the base of the couch. “Don’t move.”
She wasn’t sure where Patrick was and she’d completely lost control of the situation. Hutch had said something about Patrick in her ear as she’d rushed into the room, but she hadn’t paid attention to him. All she’d been able to think about was JT and getting to him in time to save him from Deanna.
It turned out Deanna had been trying to save him from her. Apparently the assistant had figured out something was wrong and had decided to fix it all herself.
Now she was likely dead, and if Nina didn’t calm the fuck down and think like an operative and not a crazy scared girlfriend, they would be dead, too.
“I want that prototype,” Patrick was saying.
She had to stall him long enough to either take a good shot or give time for Hutch to get here. In her panic to get JT out of the line of fire, her earpiece had dislodged so she had no way of knowing how far away he was.
“So the fiancée is really a bodyguard.” Patrick sounded like he was moving into the room. The suite was huge, and he would have to move past the sofa they were using as cover if he wanted to get to the table where Deanna’s bag lay.
She glanced down at JT.
He winced but gave her a nod that let her know he was all right.
“I guess that means you knew something was wrong,” Patrick continued.
She shifted to a crouch and realized there was a mirror over the bar. She could see Patrick standing warily at the edge of the room, as though he hadn’t decided if he was going to go for the prize or run away.
“Keep him talking,” Nina whispered.
“You couldn’t think we wouldn’t realize the prototype was gone,” JT said.
“I was hoping you would think Bill had hidden it somewhere. I thought I would have a little more time,” Patrick replied. “Where is it? Deanna obviously stole it out of my room earlier tonight. I’ve got a meeting in thirty minutes and I don’t like to think about what will happen if I don’t make it to the beach.”
Probably the same thing that happened to Bill. But at least she knew where and when the drop was supposed to be. All she had to do was survive and she could catch the spy.
“I don’t know where it is.” JT moved so his back was to the couch. He watched in the mirror, too, as Patrick started to inch his way toward Deanna’s body. “She hadn’t gotten to the part where she told me what was going on. I thought she was upset I was engaged.”
A nasty chuckle came from Patrick. “Yes, we’ve all thought she was pathetic, hanging around when it was obvious you weren’t ever going to fuck her. Or promote her.”
Nina kept her eye on the mirror. She could feel JT behind her. She wished there was some way to get him out of this, but he needed to stay down. If he moved for the bedroom, he would be exposed, and she didn’t trust that Patrick wouldn’t shoot anything that moved. She studied him carefully and his arm was already shaking. He wasn’t used to holding a gun for so long. She would bet he’d had minimal training at best. It was dangerous since he wouldn’t know how to control himself or the weapon he held.