Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
But it could be. It was all about finding the right leverage. She’d thought it would be that crybaby of his, but maybe she should go younger.
After all, she’d accrued an enormous amount of information about Kyle’s family and extended family. It had been a long-term project. Up to this point, she’d used the information for minor annoyances. It had been fun to give the Taggarts some hell. She’d caused some social discomfort for Carys Taggart after finding out about her teenaged threesome. She’d fiddled with some gym equipment and put Luke Taggart in a cast. That had been fun. She’d fucked around with Top’s reputation. But now she needed something serious.
She would go after his brother, but the wife was surprisingly well trained and kept an eye on her prized professor. Kyle’s younger siblings were with their parents and a whole lot of security. His primary family was out of reach.
But there were others. One silly girl who thought she was smarter than everyone else.
One dumb girl who thought she was a spy. She was excellent at sneaking out of her parents’ house to meet a boy at his house once a week. Always on Saturday night when her parents were at their club. This week she just might have to meet the girl along the way.
Taggart could fuck himself. If he wanted to play, she could play. He’d promised to take her down. She believed him. What he didn’t understand was that if she was going down, she would try to take them all with her.
It was time to go to war.
* * * *
“Okay. As prisons go, this isn’t so bad.” Joseph stood in the lounge looking out over the quiet dungeon. He had a whiskey sour in his hand.
MaeBe wasn’t worried about the Canadian fitting in. He seemed to have taken his early retirement with something close to relief. She’d overheard him talking to his superior back in Toronto. They were shifting his focus to working with Drake and Kyle. Drake had already promised Joseph they would share any intelligence they found in his father’s work that impacted Canadian interests.
Drake had also spent a decent amount of time on the phone with the head of CSIS.
“Don’t think of it as a prison.” Taylor was busy playing bartender. “It’s right there in the name. Sanctum. It’s a sanctuary from Julia’s evil.”
“So I can leave?” Joseph’s brow rose as though challenging Taylor to give him a different answer than the one they all knew was correct.
“Of course not.” MaeBe wasn’t going to mince words with him. “We don’t completely trust you. You could go right back to Julia and tell her everything you know about us, including where we’re going next.”
“She knows you’re going to DC.” Joseph sank down on one of the comfortable chairs. “It’s the best bet as to where he hid the data.”
Where had Kyle gotten off to? Since he’d pulled her into his arms and she’d felt how much he genuinely needed her, he’d been quiet. Though she wouldn’t call him withdrawn. Drake had driven them over while Big Tag and Charlotte had brought over Joseph, likely discussing how they would work together going forward. Kyle had been quiet, his hand in hers. When they’d gotten here, he’d gone to talk to the security guards and he hadn’t come back yet.
“If she shows up, we’ll deal with it.” Taylor sent MaeBe a look that told her that was all they should say about that.
Collaboration would only go so far with this man. They’d talked about it in the car on the way over. She’d identified a couple of places around town where Drake’s father might have left sensitive data—the most important being with the law firm he’d used for many years. Drake had explained he’d talked to them and there was nothing left in the estate to deal with, but she wasn’t so sure.
“She could be harder to handle than you expect,” Joseph mused. “Right now she doesn’t want her bosses to know there could be information out there. If she gets desperate, she could play that card with them, and they will open up the armory, so to speak. Especially without me there. She’ll get another John, you know. She’ll have one in a few hours. It’s not like she’ll sit around mourning me.”
“Do you honestly believe you could have walked back in without her suspecting a thing?” Taylor asked.
“I think it would have been easier if I brought MaeBe in with me,” he admitted. “But apparently she has a daddy.”
It was the first bit of bitterness she’d heard from the man. She felt none of it. In the moment she’d wanted to do the job. She’d wanted it over with so she could move on with her life.
Now she kind of didn’t feel the same need. She knew she should be upset. A man had pulled a runaround on her and she was pushed to the side again. So why did this time feel different?