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)
“How are you monitoring Julia?” Drake asked.
“The Dark Web,” he replied. “I’ve been working with MaeBe. I showed her a couple of the accounts I’ve grown over the years. I started one of them when I was barely eighteen. That’s the key. You can fake a lot of things, but time is not one of them. Back then I was working with local law enforcement to identify militia groups in the area. I’ve since moved that persona into black ops around the world. I try to keep an eye on any mercenaries Julia might hire. It’s been handy because I want to know who I’m going to have to work with. I know Julia’s habits. I believe she’s moved. I think she’s in DC, but I also believe she’s working off The Consortium grid. About an hour ago I found out she’s hired a group of mercenaries I ‘work’ with. They’ve been hired to kidnap a girl here in Dallas. I think they might try to take MaeBe again tonight.”
“At Sanctum?” He knew he should be more upset, but he wasn’t sure why Julia thought a group of mercenaries—even good ones—could get through Sanctum’s security. There was a reason so many high-value targets had been safe here over the years. “Please tell me she’s coming along.”
If this could be over tonight, he would thank the universe. If they took out Julia, the mission to find Don Radcliffe’s intel wouldn’t feel so fraught with danger. They could take their time and do it right.
“I don’t think so. Julia never risks herself if she doesn’t have to.” Joseph glanced around. “I don’t think she understands what she’s up against. She can be arrogant. It’s a weakness you can use against her. But I also worry that Julia is at her most dangerous when she’s desperate. I don’t like to think about what she’ll do to MaeBe. I’ve come to like her quite a bit. Julia won’t play around with her this time. Or rather she will, but in the nastiest way. If she gets her hands on MaeBe, I don’t think she’ll come back whole. I wanted to make sure you know I think she’ll be waiting for you in DC, and she wouldn’t do that if she wasn’t sure she’ll have leverage.”
“My mother is secure,” Drake promised. “We’ve changed all her guards, and the new ones are Taggart approved. If Julia tries something here tonight, we might be able to keep one of the fuckers alive and figure out what she’s planning.”
Joseph’s head shook. “They won’t know. Half the time she didn’t tell me what she was planning until we were almost ready to go. And I’m sorry to spring this on you now before your…play time. I only verified the intel right before I left the office. Do you want me to talk to Mr. Taggart or do you want to do it?”
“I’ll handle it.” Kyle nodded Joseph’s way. “Thank you. And I promise I will keep you updated, and you will get the information you need.”
“Consider yourself our ground crew,” Drake added. “You’ll stay in touch and monitor the Dark Web for any intelligence about Julia and what she’s planning. In exchange, you can remotely monitor our missions. You can work with MaeBe as technical support.”
“I appreciate that.” Joseph gave them what seemed like a genuine smile. “I think I’ll grab a beer and hang with the guys for a while. I like this group. They’re fun to be around. It’s been a long time since I had any fun at all. I like the way Taggart runs his teams.”
“Please send him back here.” His play tonight might have to wait. If Julia was coming for Mae again, it would be prudent to move her now. The security was excellent here, but nothing was foolproof. His uncle had already had to rebuild this place once because an enemy had blown it up.
Joseph nodded and walked out.
“Where do you want to go?” Drake asked. “We can let Ian fortify the hell out of this place, but I know you. You’ll want to move her.”
“I want to move all of us. We can go to Julian Lodge’s building. It’s closer to the private airfield anyway.” They might need to get tricky about this. “We should change up our plans. I think heading to your dad’s golf club in South Carolina might be a good idea.”
Drake seemed to think about that for a moment. “Yeah. He still has a locker there. We’re supposed to clean it out, but he’d paid for the year. It’s a logical place to look. Or rather a good distraction. One she’ll believe.”
“Then we get in a car and drive to DC.” He could go old school when he needed to. “It’ll be a long day, but we can still meet your mom and get those keys.”