Page 111 of Jonas

“Smith and I will go,” Theo offered. “Plan on us being gone all night unless you need us.”

“Zane has Jameson and Holden from Gemini still on standby, so if need be you can call them to rotate in.”

“Copy that,” Smith acknowledged and stood.

Theo followed Smith to the stairs.

“Easton, get ahold of Shep and ask him what he has on Rutte.”

“On it.”

“Nebraska—”

“I already know what you want me to do and I’ll do it, but you owe me big for the ass-chewing I’m gonna get from Zane.”

“Whatever you want,” Kira returned.

“You know there’s no guarantee Dutch will tell me anything,” Nebraska went on.

“You know he’s got a soft spot for you, Dove. He’ll sing like a canary.”

“Who’s Dutch again?” I asked.

“Black Team,” Kira distractedly told me.

“You mean the team Zane said was off-limits? That Black Team?” I asked for clarification.

“One and the same, sister. Learn this quick—when it comes to The Viper King, it’s always better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

I seriously, highly, one hundred percent, doubted that.

“If you say so.”

“What do you need me to do, Boss Lady?” Cash queried.

“I need you and Lore to go through the traffic cam footage I flagged. I need a clear timeline from Anson’s death to Lou Peterson’s. I want to know where they were before they died, who visited the house, and what cars were in both their neighborhoods. All their personal security footage has been wiped clean. Totally and completely gone. No backups. Same with all their neighbors. But the traffic cams in the area are still intact.”

“What did I do to make you hate me so much?” Cash grumbled.

“Stop acting like an overgrown toddler,” Lore complained. “Let’s get to work. I’ll grab my laptop from upstairs.”

“Zane texted me. Penny is thirty minutes out,” Kira informed the room.

“Christ, is she related to Cash?” Jonas grumbled. “Fort Meade is over an hour away from here.”

“I’m an excellent driver.”

“Whatever you say, Rain Man. You’re a freaking menace behind the wheel.”

I couldn’t stop my smile at the memory of Jonas complaining about Cash’s driving. That seemed like a lifetime ago, not just days.

“I’ll wait until after we meet with Penny then I’ll call Natalie and set up a meet,” I offered.

“What’s your excuse for quitting?” Nebraska asked.

“I’ll say I got spooked when I did an audit and saw the resumes were the same. I was afraid I’d be fired for not catching them earlier, or worse I’d be blamed if there was a security breach.”

“You think she’ll believe that?”