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)
“I’m not going to do anything foolish,” she said with a sad sigh. “I never do. I’m every parent’s dream child, haven’t you heard?”
“There’s nothing wrong with following the rules.” He couldn’t stand how helpless she looked. “You’re not trying to get your sister in trouble. You’re worried about her. That makes you a good sister. Not a bad one.”
“Tell it to Kenz.” She sat down on the bench near the window, her keys in hand. “And Kala. She’s awfully good at revenge. After what my parents are going to do to her, she’ll likely have a lot of time to plan it out.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that since he was aware Kala could plot. She could be ruthless and thoughtful in her plans. But she was a teenaged girl, and she could also be reckless, as this evening’s adventure proved. “Keep your head up, Tash.”
She gave him a watery smile that dissolved as Cooper McKay appeared and settled in next to her.
“Remember what I said about staying inside.” He moved to the hallway that led to the security office. The music that floated down from the second floor completely disappeared as the doors closed behind him.
The security office was small, but from here the guards could easily get to any part of the club, including the third floor. He glanced down the hallway to ensure the red light over the back door was still on.
He opened the door to the security office and found West Rycroft sitting at one of the two desks. His brother’s office was behind him, the door closed and the lights off.
“Hey, I was just about to come and look for you,” West said.
So he’d already been informed. “We need to figure out the best way to get MaeBe out of here without picking up a possible tail.”
West’s brows rose. “You’re moving tonight?”
Or he hadn’t been. “We have reason to believe Julia’s going to try to take MaeBe tonight.”
West huffed. “That woman is not one to give up.”
“No. She’s not. She’s obsessed, and she’ll keep going until she gets what she wants or dies.”
“And what she wants is you. Are you sure she’s not moving on you? Why take MaeBe when she can take what she actually wants?”
“She might want to get me under her thumb, but I assure you she wants the intel her father left behind more,” he explained. “From what I’ve learned, her bosses are not happy with her. She wants to use that intel to secure her place with the group.”
“How would that secure her place? Wouldn’t that be bad for her?” West asked. “Or am I misunderstanding what this intel is? I thought this was information on the people who run The Consortium. Wouldn’t they be suspicious of anyone who had that?”
“By turning it in, she proves how loyal she is.” Although there were other reasons she could want the intel. “She could also want it so she can blackmail important people. It’s a perfectly acceptable way to move up in The Consortium. You can’t go by normal reason in that world. It’s different.”
“So she can prove she’s loyal?”
“I know that they would have been angry that her father died. He gave them access to parts of Washington they’ll be lucky to get close to again. He had direct access to a couple of presidents over the years. An everyday CIA agent might be useful to them, but Radcliffe was invaluable. I’m sure they’d intended to place Julia in that position someday, or maybe they thought they could eventually get to Drake, but what happened between Julia and I screwed that plan up. The way I see it, she’s got two choices. She could deliver that intel and prove her loyalty. Or she could use it to try to protect herself. That’s the scenario I worry about. If that’s what she’s planning, then she’ll have no one to oversee what she does. She’ll also be desperate, and when she gets desperate, she gets reckless.”
It was something they should all remember. A cornered Julia could be deadly.
“I’m glad I’m just a bodyguard, man. I hate all the spy crap. I still wonder why she thinks you would be better at finding the intel though.”
“I think she’s counting on Drake finding it. And you know I did work in intelligence for years. I wasn’t terrible at it.” Though he’d mostly been muscle. He was good in a fight, excellent from long range. He could use a computer, but not the way MaeBe or Taylor could.
“Do you think she’ll use MaeBe to find the data?” West asked, proving he could find the right questions when he wanted to. “I would assume at some point you’ll have to figure out passwords or codes, and that’s exactly what MaeBe does. She specializes in being able to hack almost anything.”