Page 7

7

CONOR

Reinier stopped staring at the parking lot and turned around to face me. His gaze flickered over Black. “How long did it take him, agent?”

“Around one hundred and sixty minutes, director.”

“That’s… disappointing.”

Still with my feet on the desk despite my discomposure, I shrugged. “I thought my work was superb actually.”

Reinier’s mouth twitched—less in humor and more in annoyance. “I’m sure you’re aware that we’d have preferred the platform we’ve been developing for months to be more difficult to penetrate than it was.”

“When you terrify a bunch of kids into making software for you, what do you expect? And what the hell were you thinking about giving them the go-ahead to work on a multicast transmission? What are we? Back in the days of Myspace ?” I scoffed.

Reinier’s nostrils flared. “Agent Riggs warned me of your manners, Mr. O’Donnelly?—”

“I’m sure I lived up to them.”

“She certainly didn’t downplay them. Still, you’ve been of great service to your country today. The nation can’t thank you, but I can.”

Like I gave a fuck.

Bored, I drawled, “Do I get a medal?”

“I’m told that Agent Black gave you pizza.”

I snorted. “Funny.” I kicked my legs down from the table. “Why’s the whole place dead?”

“That has nothing to do with you.”

“It doesn’t? Is Black going to kill me when I get back in that black, nondescript car?”

“No. We still have use of your services.”

“Reassuring. Why does the government never ask me to build software for them, only crack it?” I mused aloud.

“Because we live in hope that we will craft something that even the great aCooooig can’t crack, and we’d prefer for you not to have an in.” Reinier raised a hand, clearly indicating that he wanted me to shake it.

Somehow that, more than anything, had me freaking the fuck out.

Star wanted this man dead.

She wanted him to suffer.

I wasn’t even armed.

My only weapons were two fists, the laptop case in my hand, and the pizza that was curdling in my gut which was making me nauseated.

None of those options would satisfy her. But God, though she’d cut me off her team when she’d ghosted me, I was still on her side.

My hesitation was too long. The director cleared his throat at me in a silent command.

Rattled, I strode forward.

In the back of my mind, I became aware that Agent Black was following me. For every step I took, she took one too.

Was this it?

Was she going to shoot me when I was otherwise engaged?

Was the HQ a ghost town so they could sweep my body from the building with no one the wiser?

Confused, on edge, and torn, I held out my hand to take his, but before I could, something brick-like was in her grasp as Black swept my arm aside.

When the tool collided with the director’s abdomen, I blinked in shock then watched as the electrical current zapped through his veins, bringing him to his knees.

My own experimentations with electricity let me know this was double the voltage normally used in a Taser gun.

His expression of surprise would have been hilarious if I wasn’t perplexed as fuck.

I jerked back, unsure what the hell was going on, and watched as Reinier face-planted into the carpet, still twitching as she continued to tase him. Twice as long as usual.

Bewildered, I turned to Black, half-expecting the same treatment, but instead, she’d produced a gun from inside her boxy jacket and was holding it out for me.

“Though she’s ghosted both of us, I know Star would prefer it if you did the honors.”