Page 49 of Coordinates of Death

“Aurora would never compromise a case.” Kordell positioned himself in front of the entrance.

“Stand down, watcher.” Wheeler clutched Aurora by the arm. “Did you set the explosives that killed Murphy?”

“No! Why would I do that?” Aurora’s voice quivered. Why was this happening to her? “SBK called me and told me he rigged the caves.”

“Did anyone else hear this fictional conversation?” Dirk picked up the laptop and edged toward the door.

Kordell shoved him against the wall. “Rory would never take a life on purpose. Stop with the ridiculous accusations.”

Wheeler released Aurora and latched onto Kordell’s arm, yanking him off Dirk. “You need to leave before I charge you. I don’t care who your father knows!”

“Kord, it’s okay. I’ll go with them. They’ll realize I’m innocent soon enough.” Aurora brushed past the men in the room and strutted into the hall. The conference room had too much testosterone for her, especially after their grueling day.

SBK had obviously gotten into her laptop. What other chaos would he inflict? The case grew creepier by the minute, spiraling Aurora deeper into a pit she had vowed to stay out of.

A dark dungeon within her mind.

I leaned back and resisted the urge to roar laughing. The cameras I had secretly installed picked up the entire exchange between the men and Aurora.

It was abundantly clear to me that Dirk and the watcher have a thing for the corporal. Sure, Dirk was married, but he obviously still wants to control her life.

And Kord, as she calls him, definitely has a crush on the pretty officer.

Not that I blame him. Who wouldn’t?

I peeled my orange and broke off a piece, popping it into my mouth. The juice squirted and dripped down my chin. I wiped it with the back of my hand. Oranges have always been my favorite, ever since Santa left one in my stocking all those years ago. Oh, I knew it was my mom, but I played along. I was good at that. Good at playing games with the mind. Oranges were the only memory I had left of Mama. Her presence has faded into the distance, a shadow of my past that will remain there forever.

Ever since she took it away. She never allowed oranges in the house after Dad died. Said they weren’t good for me and would rot my stomach. Another reason I could no longer bear the sight of her. She took everything away.

Everything good.

And left the bad.

Get her out of your mind. I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared at the boardroom. I love that my resources came through for me even when both Kordell and Aurora tried to hide their pasts.

I leaned forward. “You can’t hide from SBK.” I spoke into the screen as if they could hear me. “Yes, I know all about the Roche family and what they did.”

And I planned on using the information against this duo.

Taunt them.

Mess with their minds.

My first plan involved keeping the station busy, so I could change my original plan, and the best way to do that was to throw suspicion onto Aurora. The game changed and now includes new players—the Canadian Watchers Squad. I still have work to do. See what each watcher brought to the table and use it against them.

I closed my laptop and stuffed it into my bag. Time to check in on her and implement the next clue.

I rubbed my hands together, visualizing how they’d react.

I can’t wait.

Chapter Nine

“Mic, have you been able to get into the station’s code yet?” Kordell paced the hallway by the interrogation room where Wheeler was questioning Aurora. The gall of Wheeler and Dirk even considering her planting explosives.

“Once I had Hill’s approval, I was in within moments. What do you want me to look for?” Tapping filtered through the phone.

He explained what had happened. “I need you to prove someone planted that in her browser history without physically being on her computer. Is that possible?”