“And from there,” Kynan concludes, “it will take little to no effort with their resources to find out you work for Jameson.”
It’s no secret I work here. We’re an open security company with a professional website, and my picture is on there as the head of Research and Development. None of the field agents are listed, obviously, but I would be easy to identify.
Leaning back in the chair, I tip my head and look at the ceiling. Jess, Claire, and Thea will be safe here at Jameson. This place is locked down like a fortress, unless—
My head snaps up. “They could target this building. If they think she’s here, they could shoot an RPG into the building and take a stab at killing her.”
“Highly unlikely,” Kynan scoffs.
“Incredibly unlikely,” Jackson affirms. “They don’t want to kill her quickly. They want to bring her back to Borovsky.”
“Yes, I’m well aware of what they want to do to her,” I snap at Jackson.
“Sorry, brother. Just keeping it real.”
“This only ends if Borovsky is caught,” I muse as I try to figure out the fastest way to end this. “And if we want to speed that up, maybe we need to dangle bait in front of him.”
“You want to expose Jess?” Bebe exclaims, aghast.
“Of course not. But they’re looking for me too. I let them take me, and you can follow.”
“You’re out of your fucking mind,” Bebe snarls like an enraged tiger. “You’re not a field agent. You’re not trained for that. You’re a goddamn nerd who sits at a computer all day, Dozer.”
I don’t say anything, staring at my friend with determination.
Bebe’s head whips Kynan’s way. “Tell him no, Kynan. Tell him that’s ridiculous and is off the table.”
Kynan’s gaze flicks my way, his expression inscrutable. “It’s an idea.”
“A horrible idea!” Bebe explodes, standing from her chair and slapping her hands on the table. She glares at Kynan as if she could kill him.
“Babe,” Griff says quietly, putting his hand on her lower back.
“Don’t babe me.” She bats his hand away and points a finger at Kynan. “You have a duty to protect your people. If you let Dozer do this, you’re feeding him to the wolves.”
“It’s not his decision,” I say with determination, letting Kynan off the hook. “It’s mine.”
To my astonishment, Bebe’s eyes glimmer with tears. She swipes at them with the back of her hand and storms out of the conference room, mumbling that we’re all a bunch of crazy assholes.
Griff rises, intent on following her out.
“Don’t,” I say, standing from my chair. “Let me handle this.”
I’m not sure Griff would give this up to any other man, but he knows Bebe and I are tight. He also knows it’s me she’s pissed at, and I’ll need to get her to come around to this idea.
His butt lowers to the chair.
I look at Kynan. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to explore this more. A solid game plan we can put in play sooner rather than later.”
“You got it,” he says quietly. I know he doesn’t like the idea of me—with only a year’s worth of training—getting intentionally captured by the enemy, but my brain moves much faster than theirs do. It will take them a few minutes to talk about it and realize this is absolutely the best and fastest way to take Borovsky down.
When I step out of the conference room, Bebe’s not in sight. I know where she went.
Down to the sub-basement Research and Development lab she and I share. No one can get in there except me and her, not even Kynan. The locks are coded to our retinas and our voices, and one of us has to be in there to let someone in. She’s hiding, embarrassed over her obvious emotions, assuming Griff will come looking for her.
She won’t be happy to see me, though.
But I have to make her understand—this is the best play.
CHAPTER 8
Dozer
I head toward the singular elevator that only goes one way from this level, and that’s down into the sub-basement Kynan constructed under headquarters. It’s different from the old freight elevator with its open-face style and iron gate that draws across, which is more for decoration than safety. Most people take the gorgeous floating staircase between floors. In contrast, the basement elevator is small, sleek, and can only hold three people.
At the R&D lab, I see Bebe through the glass doors sitting at her workstation, typing furiously. I lean over to the retinal scanner and wait for the thin green beam to pass over my eyes. Then I state my name for the voice recognition, which isn’t really needed as a security precaution as this place is about as safe as Fort Knox. Bebe and I like dabbling with new security measures, which we can in turn sell to clients, so we’re really just testing out the beta down here.