Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Which could be the point.
She glanced up at the security camera and then pulled the hat over her forehead in case Julia or John looked back. They were both excellent at avoiding the cameras, but now she thought Julia’s sunglasses had some kind of tech in them since she’d briefly taken them off outside and then made sure they were securely on again before they entered the hotel.
What kind of tech did a Consortium operative get? Likely way better than government agents.
The good news was she had four guys on her side, and they would all be watching those CCTVs, and they now knew where she was and who she was with.
She wanted Drake to be one of those men, but she trusted Kyle and Brad and Jax and Tucker. It was going to be okay. She would get in, steal something that didn’t matter, and get out. Drake and Kyle would have good intel on Julia, and she could be done with the op.
One hour tops and this would all be over and it would be fine. Drake would be pissed but the anger would truly be fear, and she would let him top her until that fear subsided.
The lobby was still filled with people milling around.
“The conference is having a big party in the ballroom,” Julia said as she walked around the elegantly appointed lobby, sticking to the outer edges. “It’s two floors up from here so we’ll avoid that entirely. We’re going to take a service elevator to where we need to go. John, my darling boy, please take out the CCTV there and on the fortieth floor.”
They turned down a quiet hallway, the lights dimmer than they’d been before.
John had his cell in hand and pressed a few buttons. “Cams are off now but they’ll show the loop I locked in earlier today, so we’ve got an hour.”
Jax would likely figure out something was going wrong. He wasn’t planning on taking control of the cameras, but he would notice someone else had.
“Oh, I won’t need an hour,” Taylor promised. “It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to download Dr. Walsh’s laptop.”
John frowned as they made it to the service elevator. “Uhm…”
“Of course,” Julia assured her. She slipped the glasses up on top of her head, pushing her hair back. “I’m glad Cleo went over that with you. And we’ll get to that but first I need to take you up to meet my boss.”
A cold tendril of fear crept up her spine. “Your boss?”
She shrugged. “We all have one. Mine’s just been around longer than most.”
Her gut tightened. “I don’t like surprises.”
Julia chuckled. “Well, then you should probably get out of the spy game because let me tell you, sister, it’s one surprise after another. Like we’re a whole industry that runs on shocking the fuck out of people.”
“I get shocked all the time,” John agreed as the elevator doors opened and he hopped inside.
Out of the corner of her eyes she saw something moving in the background.
“You get shocked because you lack imagination,” Julia shot back as she entered the elevator.
“I do not,” John argued.
They were distracted enough that Taylor felt comfortable glancing over to her left. She saw Brad with his back against the wall. His whole body was tight, as though he wanted nothing more than to join them on that elevator.
She wasn’t alone. Brad understood the plan was going awry, and he would watch to make sure he knew exactly where she was going. He would work with the other guys to keep an eye on her.
She could do this.
She put on a breezy smile and got on the elevator.
“I have a great imagination,” John was insisting.
“He doesn’t but he’s attractive and excellent at what he does, which is anything I tell him to do.” Julia reached over and hit the button for the fortieth floor. “If you work hard and prove yourself to the group, you’ll get one of him, too. Think of him like a coworker and a party favor all at the same time.”
John snorted. “Party favor. I do like to party.”
Julia leaned over. “They’re pretty and flexible morally, but loyal enough to trust. I like to think of the men of the group as golden retrievers who’ve been taught to kill.”
“I tend to work alone,” Taylor replied because it seemed like Julia wanted to make this a whole discussion. She could do that. Any information Julia wanted to give would be helpful.
“That’s such an Agency thing to say,” Julia replied with a sigh. “Come on. You’re failing the ‘would be fun to kill people with’ part of this test, and for me that’s really a thing.”
“Somehow I doubt you have a lot of girlfriends.”
“Well, other women don’t like me. I can’t imagine why. It’s probably because I’m too honest with them. And I sleep with their husbands sometimes. Usually that’s because they’ve either been mean to me or I like them and I need them to see that their husbands are cheating jerks,” Julia said with a sigh. “You have to find the right partner. Too many women find the first man to pay attention to them and give it all up. You have to find your soul mate.”