Page 66

Chapter Eleven

Davis

Jolie has been worried for the last few days. Melinda hasn’t returned her messages, and she insists that something isn’t right, so Brennan and Chester have gone to check on Melinda to ease Jolie’s worries. Ziyon is back, so we think he is just being a dick.

Melinda was honest when she said she wasn’t trying to spy on us. I didn’t need to feel her pulse to see it written all over her face. I really want this to work out for Jolie—she deserves to have one parent that cares about her. Most of us have at least one adult in our lives who gives a shit about us, besides Laughn and Creed. My parents are around, but usually absent—always have been. It’s the downside of the wealthy being part of an experiment. They wanted to be involved, but they didn’t care for the ongoing responsibility.

“Maybe we should check on them,” Jolie says, biting her thumbnail. “They’ve been gone for ages.”

“They’ll be fine, and it hasn’t been that long. You need to get ready for class.”

“Class? I can’t get ready for class. My clothes don’t fit anymore. Brennan was ordering me new ones, and he isn’t even back yet.”

I smile at her rant. “You’re the boss now, and you can abolish the uniform rule.”

Her head whips to me, and she cocks a brow; clearly she hadn’t thought about that until now. Pulling out her phone, she quickly types something and then puts it back into her pocket. “Done. Now none of the pregnant students have to wear a uniform. We are all getting too damn big.”

“Why don’t you get ready, and I will call Chester and see what’s up.”

“Fine,” she huffs, storming off to her room.

We still have a few weeks until the house is done, and that’s with Creed throwing extra money at the builders to finish it sooner. We are all more than a little cramped down here. Most people would be fine, but we have never had to all live this close together before. It’s only a matter of time before Chester and Boston kill each other. Boston doesn’t know how to not push Chester’s buttons. Laughn has also taken to stirring him up to get a reaction.

“What?” Chester growls when I dial his number.

“How far away are you? Jolie is going to castrate me and come looking for you.”

“Tell her if she so much as comes in this direction, I will spank her ass until it’s blue,” he snaps.

“Do you really think that would stop her? It would turn her on, and she would run there. What’s taking so long?”

“Brennan set up some external cameras. Ziyon is back, and his men wouldn’t let us through. We couldn’t get a visual on Melinda, so Marlow is working on hacking into his home security system as we speak. We are leaving now. Tell her we will meet her at Olympia and to get her ass to class.”

“Fine, see you at Olympia.”

He cuts the call, and I pocket my phone. Jolie comes back out, and I raise my eyebrow and give her a questioning look.

“What?” she asks.

This takes “no uniform” to another level. Jolie has on a pair of grey sweats—pulled to her knees—paired with one of Marlow’s oversized shirts tied at the side, and some weird-looking sandals that are a cross between crocs and slippers. She has finished it off with her hair in a messy bun.

“Nothing, just admiring your beauty.”

She flips me off with a huff. I jump up from the couch and follow her into the kitchen, where she pulls out a drink bottle and a packed lunch. Petra packs Jolie food every day since there are certain foods pregnant women are not allowed to eat. Even though the rules don’t apply to her, she wants to be careful anyway.

“Ready?” I ask once she puts her lunch container into her backpack.

“Yes, I’m meeting Jimmie in the library to study since we have a spare session first up this morning. Our chemistry teacher is MIA.”

“He said he is on his way. They are trying to hack into Ziyon’s security cameras.”

“Wait for me,” Kai calls, walking into the kitchen. “My car is in the shop, so I need a ride.”

I look him over and shake my head. Kai isn’t a morning person. His shirt is buttoned crookedly and half tucked into his pants.

Jolie walks over to him and unbuttons his shirt. “Oh, I like where this is going,” he drawls. “I think we have time.”

Jolie chuckles at him. “I have a bra on, and that required effort, so we’re going to class.”

“Boo,” Kai pouts as Jolie steps back. His shirt is fixed, and he tucks himself in. “Fine, let’s get to campus so I can get a caffeine IV and be ready for class.”

We all head out to the garage; everyone’s cars are gone besides mine and Creed’s hearse.

Jolie and Kai argue over the front seat. Kai finally relents and slips into the back—he never stood a chance, and he knows it. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and Brennan’s name flashes up on the screen.

“Hey, everything okay?”

“Yeah, a guard caught us, and Chester messed him up. I need you to drop Jolie at school and get someone else to watch her. We need you in the basement at Olympia.”

“Kai is with us, so I will be there shortly.”

Ending the call, I take a deep breath in. I don’t want to alert Jolie that there is something wrong or she will insist on coming with me. Luckily, Jolie and Kai are still bickering, this time over the music selection. Kai wins and “Jet Lag” by Simple Plan fills the car. He starts to hum and play air drums in the back.

I reverse out of the garage and drive normally all the way to Olympia. I don’t want to speed and alert her. Making eye contact in the rear-view mirror, Kai raises a brow at me, and I shake my head. He knows something is up.

The gates to Olympia open as I pull up, as security already know who we are. Once I’m parked, Kai jumps out of the car and opens Jolie’s door. “Come and get some coffee with me. I won’t even tell anyone if you want one.”

“See you in class later.” Jolie waves to me and walks off with Kai. As he looks back, I mouth, Thank you . I wait until they are out of sight and jump into my car, pulling back out onto the road that leads to the main building.

Once I’m at the Olympia headquarters, I show my ID badge to get through the gates. I park in the underground parking and go to the elevator, taking it up to the first level. At that point, I switch to the internal elevator to go down to the basement, where again, I scan my ID badge, as I am moving to a prohibited area.

Once the door opens, the initial room is clinical—there only for show. I make my way through large double doors, down a long hallway, and to the interrogation room. Chester and Brennan both turn and look at me when I enter. A man in his mid-thirties also looks up. His face is busted, and his nose appears broken. He is tied to a chair and looks seconds away from pissing himself. I crack my neck side to side and walk further into the room.

“What do you need me for?” I ask Brennan.

He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “I need you to make sure he will do as we ask,” he replies.

“I can just kill him,” Chester adds, pulling out a long blade he had strapped to his leg. The guy in the chair thrashes around, trying to free himself.

“We can’t keep piling up bodies,” Brennan chastises, ever the leader.

“Why the fuck not? That’s what we have Creed for. He makes bodies turn to ash. Problem solved.” Anger laces Chester’s tone at the thought of not being able to kill this son of a bitch.

“A spy would work more in our favour, and we pay well,” Brennan says, turning to face the man. “You haven’t worked for Ziyon long enough to have any loyalty to him. We can also offer you an ongoing job here if you don’t double-cross us.”

The man nods at Brennan, and I walk over and pull the tape from his mouth. “I don’t even know him,” he croaks out. “I will do whatever you want. Please, I have kids.”

“You have kids?” Chester asks and cocks his head. “How old?”

“Don’t hurt them,” he cries.

“I’m not that much of a monster. I don’t kill children.” Chester has the audacity to look offended, and I laugh at him.

“Dude, you look like a maniac, not exactly child friendly,” I quip.

“How old?” Chester demands, looking for an answer.

“One and three. Please leave them out of this, and I will do whatever you want.”

Chester crouches down in front of the man. “Is being a father everything you expected it to be?”

“Um, I don’t know what I expected, but the second they were born, everything changed. I live for them. I will do anything you ask.”

Chester looks at me and nods.

“Do you have any loyalty to Ziyon or anyone on your team?” I ask and study his face. I watch for the telltale signs of him lying.

“No, I just needed the job. My old boss was an asshole and fired me.”

“If we send you back to your job with Ziyon, will you tell anyone about being here or working for us?”

He shakes his head.

“You need to use your words,” Chester says, running the blade of the knife down the man’s collarbone.

“No, I won’t tell anyone.”

“He’s telling the truth,” I confirm, and Brennan nods at me.

“Good, untie him and we can talk about money in my office.”

Chester stands and uses his knife to cut the ties from the man’s hands and legs, then puts his knife away. The man staggers to his feet, and Chester throws his arm around his shoulder and pulls him close, like they are old friends.

“Just a warning in case you’re in a similar situation and thinking of spilling your guts... I won’t hurt your woman or kids, but I will kill you and leave your children fatherless. Who knows, I might even fuck your wife and be your kids’ new stepfather.”

His dramatics cause me to roll my eyes. He would never step out on Jolie, but this guy doesn’t know that. The dude’s eyes go round as saucers, but he doesn’t say anything, just nods his head.

“Good talk. Do you two have this handled? I need to find Jolie before she chops my balls off.”

“We have it handled,” Brennan says with his usual cool confidence, and Chester takes off.

I follow Brennan to his office, where he leads the man—whose name I still don’t know—to a seat in front of his desk. I take the one to his right, and Brennan sits in his seat behind the desk.

“Corey, I’m sorry things had to be done that way, but we have trust issues. Davis here is the best at detecting if people are telling the truth. If he says you’re not lying—then you’re not lying. Now I have a job offer for you.”

I watch as Brennan pulls out his notepad and pen and scribbles something down. He folds it and slides it across the table, giving a little nod to Corey to check it out. Corey leans forward and opens the paper. His mouth falls open.

“You’re seriously going to pay me that?”

“That is the starting salary. You would need to sign a contract and an NDA—the work we do here at Olympia is top secret, and we can’t have people talking about it. Not even to their partners. You can tell your wife you work at Olympia as a personal security guard, but that’s it. After your probation period, you can negotiate your salary just like everyone else who works here —just don’t insult my intelligence with your request. You better have evidence to back up your worth.”

“When do I start?”

I lean back in my chair. I’m really not needed here; this guy is no threat.

“You will be taken back to where we picked you up, but you need to make up an excuse as to where you went. I will come for you again soon to do your preliminary induction, and we will run through what your job expectations are, and what we do here at Olympia.”

“And what do I need to do when I’m back there?”

“I’m glad you asked.” A smile takes over Brennan’s face as he steeples his fingers on his desk, looking almost like a villain. “Once you sign the contract today, I will take you down to the lab and get you some contact lenses. You will wear them to work, and we will see and hear what you do. The woman in the house is very important to us. Her safety especially.”

Brennan pushes a contract towards Corey. He doesn’t even read it, he just signs in all the places that Brennan has used sticky notes to mark.

“You can go back to school, Davis. Let everyone know we will have a meeting tonight.”

I push back from the chair and stand, saluting him on my way out.