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"I've got people in Australia and Ireland. My Dublin contacts should be able to get to the airport in time to intercept the flight. The Australian couple I use for recon...not so much. They're a long way from Sydney airport and I don't know if they can get there before the passengers disembark and scatter. But..." He lifted his hands, spread them wide. "They might have their own contacts closer to the city who they trust with this."
"Do it. Whatever it takes, do it, Att. If we lose track of them, of him, we're gonna be spending the rest of our lives watching for him coming at our backs. What about the Germans? Can we get any help from that quarter?" Jasper eased himself against the raised half of the bed, wincing.
"Already been on the phone. Germany's covered."
"So what else can we do? Follow the bank account and hope they use it again?" Anarchy demanded.
"The bank account is a distraction, kitten. Either it'll go unused from here on out, or all three decoy couples will use it to deepen the trail. It's a waste of resources, but it's also an avenue we can't afford to ignore."
"I've got men on all the angles. This isn't something for you to worry about, either of you. I told you because you need to be aware Dominic isn't off our books yet. Now, while I'm confident he and his wife have left the country, I don't want you to get complacent. Find the balance between stress and ignorance. Don't let it keep you up at night until we know more, but just be vigilant."
Vigilant. She could be vigilant. Archie pressed her back against Jasper as though they were facing a wall of predators she needed to protect him from. "There's got to be something more we can do, Atticus. Please." The job offer. "Were you serious about working for you? What would that entail? Would it mean we could get this over with faster?"
Atticus's gaze shifted over her shoulder as if askingJasper's permission to continue. She felt movement behind her, and her Master's arm slid around her waist. He loved having that control over her, however simple. And she liked to believe he just enjoyed touching her.
"I'm guessing you haven't heard whether or not you've lost your job," Atticus said bluntly.
It was a barb to the heart, but she ripped it out before it sank too deep. "The staff meeting was today. I didn't show up, I didn't call in sick or give them any notice I wouldn't be attending a compulsory event. I think it's a pretty safe bet I'm now in the ranks of the unemployed, sir." She managed to lift her shoulder in a shrug. "They were assholes, anyway."
"Just out of interest...how did they handle employees who called in sick for these meetings?"
Lifting her hand, Archie stuck her thumb up on a count of one. "Anyone who calls in sick usually gets treated like a leper at the next company event." She popped her index finger up for two. "Depending on factors no one but the bosses know, you lose a significant percentage of that month's wage." And her middle finger joined the party as three. "Immediate termination with all access to the company servers severed. Company techs use remote access to hack the workstation involved and wipe any and all files pertaining to the company, their clients, and their projects."
"Huh. All that for being sick. Seems to me that's illegal." He leaned forward, letting his hands dangle between his huge thighs as he braced his elbows. "This job has long, sometimes unsociable hours. You'll be on call unless you've taken vacation time, but I offer a decent chunk of that. Initially, you'd be working from home or our base office, but if field work interested you and your Dom doesn't object, there might be other positions to work toward. I'd ask you to take several courses to get you up to speed on not only the job, but our computer system and some of the techniques we use. Paid by me, unless you fail. You fail the first time, I'll cover the costs. A second time, I'm only paying half. A third...well, you'll pay the full amount and be looking for new employment."
Lucky for her, she tested well. Throw in computers and learning wasn't a chore, but a delight. "I don't think you want me for design work, do you?"
"No. I see something in you that I've watched flourish in the rest of my tech team. Your brain soaks up knowledge, Archie. Drinks it in and figures out how to use it in the best possible way. I think a couple months of working beside my guys would rub off on you quickly. Add in the courses and some small jobs to stretch your fledgling wings, I think you'd be a prospective hacker. If you think design work sates your cravings, wait until that smart brain of yours tumbles into technological wonderland."
A hacker? Her? Come on, like that would happen. She had skills in the graphic design sector, she didn't doubt it. More clients had asked for her services than any other designer in the small but busy company. But to take it up a step? Hell, not just one step, but several flights? That was a huge leap of faith on Atticus's behalf, and while she wanted to jump at it, she needed to be realistic.
No job equaled no income. No income meant no rent in case Jasper got tired of her after a few weeks of living together. No rent came down to sleeping in a cardboard box behind a dumpster, trying not to die from starvation, hypothermia, or homicide.
Not to mention, the full ramifications of her actions hadn't come to light yet. She'd already suffered from an aversion to getting back in a vehicle. Her sleep patterns would likely be disrupted by nightmares, perhaps even night terrors. Lack of sleep could lead to hallucinations, paranoia, depression.
"I understand money might be a concern for you. Quite frankly, a hospital room isn't somewhere I like discussing financial matters, so I'll tell you that you'll be well compensated. We can talk numbers in private. I'm prepared to offer you a signing bonus that is equal to three months' earnings." There wasn't a hint of amusement in his eyes as he said it. "I imagine that would be sufficient to cover the rent on your apartment, plus utilities and groceries, for a year. With some spare," he added.
Her mouth dropped open in shock. "I—"
"One of the conditions of the signing bonus is that you attend counselling with Connie three times a week. Yeah, yeah, I know you think you'll attend religiously of your own volition, but after a while, you'll start make excuses not to go. The bonus will assure me and Jasper that your mental health isn't being neglected." His lips curved in a wicked smile. "Plus, you can help me convince your master that I need his magic healing hands more than any garden does."
"Goddamn it, Att."
"Sorry, J, but I told you, I want you on the team. Bringing both of you into the fold, well...I'll hit the jackpot." He reached out and patted Anarchy's hand. "Think about it, little bit. Last night changed all of us in different ways, but for you, it's opened your eyes to what's really out there. This could be a fresh start, for both of you."
It's opened your eyes to what's really out there.
In silence, Anarchy mulled that over, turning it around in her head as Atticus and Jasper spoke between them. She barely acknowledged Atticus's departure, too busy mired in thought. Erik and Gerald had certainly ripped away the veil of what people were willing to do to get what they wanted. Michael had died so the twins could use him to get to Jasper.
How many more were out there like those two? How many monsters were on the loose, training assassins and ruining lives, desecrating children for their own gain? Hell, that was only the tip of the iceberg, wasn't it? Some killers had no training, they had no need to murder with finesse. Guns, knives, bombs, bats...the list of weapons was phenomenal and never ending. Bare hands could do the job just as well as any physical weapon made of steel or wood.
She supposed the real question was, how much of a difference could the newAnarchy make in this world? Was hacker Anarchy any more prepared to handle the shit than the old version of herself? She didn't feel any different, not really, but now Atticus had pointed it out, she sensed a vague shift inside herself that she couldn't quite place.
It was frightening, coaxing herself from old habits and routines. She'd liked the Anarchy she'd been just twenty-four hours ago. Been content, mostly. Maybe she'd come to love who she was evolving into.
"I'm sorry, Archie. He shouldn't have dropped that on you now." Jasper tightened his arm around her, keeping her in the safety of his presence. "We can always find you a different job if you—"
"No. No, don't apologize. Atticus picked the perfect moment for it. He's right, he really is. Gerald changed me, who I am. Not the person at the heart of me, but how I'm starting to see things. Question things. Last night forced me to grow up, Jasper. There's so much I don't know about the world because I buried myself away from it. Now I can't. Now I don't want to," she corrected. "I want to take Atticus up on his offer. I can be more, Jasper. I can be part of the solution instead of burying my head in the sand."
