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)
Big Tag sniffed the air. “What is that I smell?”
Kyle leaned back. “Sure as fuck not lemon tarts now. You can eat the oatmeal raisin cookies Sandra insists on putting on the menu.”
Big Tag shook his head. “Nah. Sean’s working on something for dinner. It was payment for selling your ass out. It’s the faintest whiff of douche. The Agency suit is definitely here.”
Drake chuckled. “Yeah, it’s a combo of drug store body spray and desperation.”
Brad shook his head. “You know I know what a douche is, and that’s offensive. Also, when you think about it, it’s nice because I’m a heterosexual male, and I like being in vaginas. And I bought this body spray at a department store, thank you, and the women in my office assure me it smells good. So fuck all of you, and I’m serious about classified shit.”
The big guy’s lips curled up slightly. He obviously didn’t mind being called out. “Sean’s not going to talk. Neither will Grace. They needed to see Kyle. I promise you won’t have any leaks on that end, Body Spray.”
“I do not need a nickname,” Brad said with a frown.
“And yet the universe provides,” Big Tag assured him and then sat up. “So where’s Julia Ennis and how soon can we kill her? This whole op thing can be avoided. Give me a location and I’ll send my sniper out and the problem is gone. His name is Boomer, and we need to work fast because he’s got a girl now and when she finds out I pay him in tacos, she’s going to insist on actual cash, so his price will be going up.”
“That’s going to be pricey because Boomer can eat a lot of tacos,” Jax explained.
“I would like to do a study on that man’s cholesterol,” Tucker mused. “You would think it’s super high, but it’s not. I watched him eat a whole buffet once. The owner of the restaurant cried. Grown man, just sat in his lobby and cried. Then Boomer cried. Sensitive guy.”
“We can’t let Boomer snipe her until we know more about her organization.” Drake seemed to get serious again. He was sitting next to her. Not her choice. She’d sat down first, and Drake had come in later. When she’d thought he would take the seat at the head of the table, he’d slipped in beside her, and by that time it would have looked bad for her to change seats.
But she’d wanted to because she hadn’t wanted to.
He was turning her upside down, and it wasn’t a place she needed to be. She needed to be in charge.
That obviously meant impressing the big dude. Taggart hadn’t had a problem taking a place at the head of the table. He occupied that chair like a king on his throne.
Taggart reminded her of her dad. There was a deeply engrained authority about him but also a warmth that could likely go cold when he wanted. She intended to not see that side of the man.
“I wish it was so simple, Mr. Taggart,” she said. “But I’ve built this op around the idea that if we can get an agent on the inside, we’ll have a far easier time of mapping out the organization. An agent who is working for us, not against us. It appears we already have a couple of crossovers, but none that have worked to our advantage. I understand your group took down the first iteration of The Consortium.”
“Yup. The fuckers called themselves The Collective back then,” Taggart replied. “It’s good to know they have a thesaurus and not a creative bone in their bodies. Next time they should go for something cooler. I would take them way more seriously if they called themselves The Killer Piranhas or Bloody Wild Cats or something.”
She’d heard lots of stories about this man from her father. It looked like he was as sarcastic as she’d been told, but he was selling himself short. “I think you took them very seriously. You put the group out of commission for years. I’d like to do the same. I’m not naïve. There have been groups like this since business was invented. But the new world of hypercapitalism and politicians for sale has made these groups more dangerous than ever. I’d like to deal a blow that forces them back into their star chambers for a couple of decades.”
Taggart looked at her seriously for the first time. “Good for you. I’m sure that’s what your father would have wanted, and he would be proud of you.”
“Or he would want you safe,” Drake argued.
Taggart’s gaze went lightning focused. “Seriously?”
One of Drake’s shoulders shrugged. “You always told me it would happen.”
Taggart groaned, and his head dropped and hit the table. “Fuck me.”
She wasn’t sure what was happening. “Is there a problem?”