Page 6 of Jonas

“Development and construction,” Garrett corrected. “Safety vests, hard hats, office supplies, pylons, drums, things like that. His last ten manifests are in my report. Derrika’s correct, there are a lot of low amount invoices that add up to millions of dollars and the cargo weight doesn’t add up. I didn’t do the math, but a hundred and fifty safety vests would weigh more than seven kilograms.”

That was roughly fifteen pounds.

“So, let me get this straight, they’re smart enough to ship something,” Easton put in. “But they’re either too stupid or too lazy to make sure the products on the invoice matche the weight shipped.”

Garrett shrugged. “Or they never thought anyone would cross reference the invoices with the shipping manifests.”

“So, stupid,” Easton concluded.

“What else was in Derrika’s report?” I inquired.

“It’s in the file.” Garrett dipped his chin to the stack of folders. “She included a detailed list of the people she works with—and I mean detailed, down to what kind of coffee they drink, their kids’ names, spouses, anything and everything these people have told her about their personal lives. Her daily reports are thorough—she details everything she did, who she spoke to, where she went, she even keeps track of who she didn’t see.”

“Anything we should know about Derrika?” I asked Nebraska.

“Last night I called Charlie,” Nebraska started.

Charlie Michaels was a former CIA officer who adopted Nebraska after her mother faked her death. He also turned her into a skilled mediator known as the Dove. It was Nebraska’s job to negotiate deals between criminals to keep their damage contained. If she failed and the two sides went to war and that war spilled out onto the streets innocent people could die.

“He confirmed what I knew; she’s smart and determined. Charlie’s opinion is the same as mine; her determination turns dangerous when it overrides rational thought. She won’t think twice about putting herself in danger to get what she wants and that will extend to those around her.

“That being said, she won’t sell out an ally or turn on you. Charlie says she’s known for her loyalty. He went as far as to say, it will be her loyalty and ambition that will be her downfall. She won’t think twice about doing something crazy and dragging one of you along for the ride. You’ll need to rein her in or let her go her own way and watch from a distance if she gets a wild hair.”

I thought about the woman I’d met yesterday with those gorgeous cornflower-blue eyes that danced with mischief. I could totally see Derrika Layne getting a wild hair and not caring about the potential danger she was walking into.

With that I glanced down at my watch. If we didn’t leave now, traffic would be a bitch.

Reluctantly I pushed back from the table. “We need to hit it.”

Cash followed, tagging the folder off the table before he stood.

“I should drive so you can go over⁠—”

“Nope,” Cash denied. “I won the coin toss. Besides, I get car sick.”

He was full of shit. Nothing made Cash Philips sick, except the thought of commitment and children.

With a resigned sigh, I snatched the folder from Cash and started for the door.

“Don’t be silly, cover your willy,” Kira called out.

Cash nudged my shoulder. “She’s still talking to you.”

“She could be talking to you.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, visions of Cash and Derrika together had my gut tightening.

What the hell was that about?

CHAPTER TWO

“Have a good night, Amy,” Natalie Albright called out as I passed her desk on my way to the elevator.

She was one of the few people I truly liked at Delcon Data Center. The rest of my coworkers were decent enough people, but like in any corporate environment there were office politics at play. Everyone had an agenda and was out for themselves. Except for Natalie. She couldn’t care less about moving up the corporate ladder. Her job as an HR coordinator was nothing more than a paycheck to pay her bills while she finished up the new plugin that would help businesses link CRM software to their invoicing, accounts receivable, and accounts payable. The improvements she had planned to the applications that were already available were impressive. Not only was she book-smart but she was also people-smart. A trait I didn’t see very often. In my experience the higher the IQ the dumber they were. Natalie was no dummy—she knew the women and men in our department would chew her up and spit her out if it meant a pat on the back from upper management. Which made her a good resource for information. It also made me feel a little guilty for lying to her about who I was and what I was really doing.

“You, too, Nat.”

“I hope it is,” she chirped. “Date number two with the bartender I met last week.”