Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
“I’m impressed with this whole setup.” Taggart closed the file in front of him. “This is some next-level bullshit, and I mean that in the best way. Who made contact with you?”
“I don’t know her name, but I was offered an enormous amount of money for what was a fairly easy job,” she replied. “And before you ask, yes, I’ve tried to track down the woman. She first contacted me through a group of mercenaries Constance had worked with before.”
Jax held up a hand. “That would be me. This whole thing has been fun. I spend all my time with tourists now, so it was fun to pretend to be a badass mercenary again. Brad got me some killer cutting-edge software that lets me ping signals all over the place. Though Taylor handled most of it. She just needed a male voice when the woman wanted to talk.”
“Even if you hide behind a VPN, a good hacker can figure out where you are.” Drake seemed determined to argue with every aspect of the setup.
“That’s why I worked with a Russian mob group to make it look like the communication was coming from there part of the time,” Taylor explained. “I coordinated with my father’s second cousin. The mob ties are what sold it. Constance was rumored to work with them from time to time and maybe take a little on the side. Never much, but I needed her to be a good-looking target.”
“So you brought the Russian mob in? You know as a group to work with goes, they’re known for being easy. They tend to go with the highest bidder,” Drake replied.
“So where do we go from here?” Taggart ignored Drake completely. “You did the job The Consortium asked. An audition, so to say. This was getting the data from Rebecca Walsh’s lab?”
“Yes, when I realized who they were asking me about, I contacted Uncl…Nick Markovic and he coordinated with me,” she replied. “Thank you for allowing him to aid me.”
“He spoke highly of your dad, and I understand the importance of the op,” Taggart said. “Especially since it’s now on my doorstep.”
“I’m trying to keep it off your doorstep,” Kyle said, his voice tight. “I did everything I could, but you went soft on me and brought my parents right back in.”
“That’s the funny thing about parents. They don’t tend to let the kiddos fuck up all alone,” Taggart shot back. “They tend to want to be there to help out.”
“They are not helping,” Kyle said under his breath. “They are making themselves targets.”
It was time to help Taggart out. He’d been so nice to her thus far. “Do you think Julia is watching us right now?”
Kyle’s green eyes rolled. “No. Obviously.”
“Then it was nice for your parents to get to see you alive and whole,” Taylor pointed out.
“I would think you would want to keep this ship as tight as possible,” Brad remarked.
“I want to go into the field with a support staff that isn’t so worried about their families that they can’t think straight,” she shot back. “I know Kyle is irritated right now, but at some point the fact that he’s been able to see and talk to his mom is going to settle something inside him. I know I wish I could talk to my dad.”
“I wish I could talk to my mom,” Drake said quietly.
“You can pick up the phone and talk to her.” Brad seemed confused.
“She doesn’t know.” She wished he would stop saying things that made her feel for him, but she rather thought that was his point. “His mom doesn’t know what he does, so he can’t talk to her about this.”
“Oh, we talk about it. I lie about it. I tell my mother lies about her dead daughter.” Drake’s shoulders had slumped as though he felt the weight of that secret. “Well, we thought she was dead. Now she doesn’t know her daughter is a murdering sociopath who she likely wouldn’t recognize because of all the plastic surgery she’s had to fool the facial recognition software we use.”
She’d seen the before and after pictures, though the after pics were caught by some grainy security cameras and a detailed sketch. Julia Ennis had a lot of work done. She was still lovely but there was something cold about her beauty even before she’d turned.
How hard was it to have a sister become the enemy?
If she was his enemy.
She forced herself to think the words because she was softening toward him, and she couldn’t afford to do that. Not with Drake Radcliffe. She had to remember exactly what he was capable of.
Making you scream out his name. Doing that thing with his tongue that you still can’t stop thinking about. Topping you in a way no one has before and making you understand how good it can be to submit.