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I wasn’t a fan of riddles in general. Most especially not when I was woken up after a few hours of sleep. In my exhaustion I tried to remember if the name Badger had come up in any of the files Kira had given me on Nebraska. I was coming up blank.
“He’s an assassin?” Smith pressed.
“Assassin. Mercenary. Take your pick. Though he’s not a killer for hire. He lives and works by a moral code that cannot be bought. And will only step in when all other forms of negotiations have failed.”
“Are you saying your daughter negotiates deals for a merc?”
I couldn’t be bothered to hide my disdain at the idea.
“No. What she negotiates is behavioral change. If she’s successful and the party agrees to the sanctions or abandons their actions she doesn’t call Badger or someone of the like.”
Words. So many words floated around in my head begging to be shouted out of my mouth.
Words like: are you fucking kidding me all the way to what kind of man allows his daughter to consort with the types of criminals whose crimes are so egregious the only way to stop them is death.
“What’s Badger’s concern?” Zane rejoined.
“Maddon contacted him under the Peter Brady alias to tell him he had proof the Dove had turned.”
Fury etched into Zane’s features, his study of Charlie became razor sharp.
“Who’s Dove?” I asked when it became obvious Zane didn’t plan of sharing whatever had tweaked him.
“Nebraska’s the Dove,” Charlie answered
I felt my muscles seize as the bitter coffee in my stomach turned rancid.
I could hardly recognize my own voice when I asked, “Maddon’s called in a hit?”
“Attempted to call in a hit.” Charlie’s variation did nothing to still the conflicting emotions warring in my head. “What Maddon doesn’t know is, Badger’s in the know about his alias. Not that Badger would ever believe Nebraska turned and Maddon has to know that. Yet still he reached out to deliver a warning.”
“And that is?” Zane asked.
“Nebraska’s going to warn Amani has a show of loyalty in hopes he will return the favor and keep his eyes and ears open to Maddon’s movements while Nebraska makes the moves she needs to take out Maddon.”
No.
Fuck no.
Hell to the fucking no.
Again, how in the actual hell was this man okay with the danger his daughter was putting herself in?
Before I could stop the words they spewed from my mouth, giving away more than I would’ve liked. “That’s not going to happen.”
“It very much is, Mr. Spears. Nebraska is highly skilled. She will—”
“No, Charlie, you misunderstand. Her skill set is not what’s in question, the insanity of the operation is. Your daughter is out there alone playing a game of cat and mouse. She thinks she’s the cat. Maddon thinks he’s the cat. In a game like this it’s a crapshoot who’s actually the fucking cat. The odds aren’t in her favor. They’re fifty-fifty at best.”
Charlie nodded, “That’s where you come in.”
Yeah, this was exactly where I came in.
To put a stop to this recklessness.
To do that I needed to pack.
Which meant Charlie needed to leave so I could speak to Zane.
