Page 199 of The Vigilante's Lover

An elderly lady at the end of the table taps her cane against the edge. “This is no meeting for a special,” she says. “She’s untrained and a distraction from the work we must discuss here.”

“Thank you,” Jovana says.

“Aren’t you a special?” Mia shoots back.

“I’m a trained Vigilante who was given special dispensation,” Jovana says smoothly. She makes eye contact with the room, as any commanding speaker should.

I have to hand it to her. She’s got this committee listening.

Jovana’s voice is practically a purr now. “This puts me in the perfect position to carry out Sutherland’s vision with competence and skill. Unlike this messy business he’s gotten us into.”

I scan the room. Sam’s intel was wrong, or else the second exit he mentioned is invisible. The War Room is lined with perfect steel, no seams, no lines, as if it was formed right here. The only break is the door. The roof curves upward in a dome shape, the banks of screens angling down.

As far as I can tell, no one can get in or out except through that single door.

Not that I’m interested in leaving. This has been a highly engrossing half hour.

Mia comes close to me and tugs at my hand. Several committee members take note of the gesture. I don’t let go, even though she is telegraphing our allegiance.

Another committee member, a strong-jawed man in his late fifties, speaks up next. “What should we do with the special and Mr. De Luca?”

Jovana leans into the table again. “We should continue this hard line against Vigilante murder,” she says. “We’ll execute him properly, as should have been done to begin with, and then we’ll clean up this mess we have overseas.”

The room quiets.

“Who was next in line for Sutherland’s command?” the elderly woman asks.

Jovana smacks the table. “It doesn’t matter! This is a new order for the Vigilante code. The old ways have not grown and expanded to managethe new information superstorage we have at our command. We need a global network, and we are perfectly suited to manage it from here.”

The committee members start rumbling among themselves.

“What should we do?” Mia whispers in my ear.

“Just hang tight,” I say. None of this has played out the way I expected.

“But they said they would execute you,” Mia protests.

“I’ll be fine,” I say.

Another elderly lady stands up with slow, easy grace. “Ms. Lukova, while we appreciate the vision you have presented to us, I see no reason to go off on this venture half-cocked. We’ve had significant strife in the past twenty-four hours. I propose we delay this meeting until we can sort through the chaos.”

The other members of the committee murmur in agreement, other than the cane lady at the end of the table, who scowls.

The gentleman who spoke earlier says, “I say we bring this to a voice-authenticated vote. Every action of this committee regarding structure and leadership must be unanimous.”

More murmurs.

“System,” the man says. “Prepare the vote.”

The screens above show seven photographs matching the committee members at the table. Next to them are large green and red boxes with “Yes” and “No” inside.

“Nay,” says the man. A digital audiowave checks his voice, then a check mark appears next to “No.”

The poised older woman is next. “Nay.”

Her voice is authenticated as well.

“That’s enough,” Jovana snaps.