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I nodded. "I noticed that. Strange that a private company is less efficient than a government entity. It's usually the other way around."
"Maybe Dagen owns them," Ben said. "That would explain their inefficiency."
I snorted. "Yes, it would." I started back towards Crimson, keeping an eye out for Cooper or anything out of place. I had so many reasons to be on edge, I couldn't even figure out which it was right now. Maybe all of them all at once.
I reached Jake just as the gas company finally arrived.
"It's about fucking time," he snapped.
They gave him a look, but got out their equipment and headed into Crimson to check it out.
13
"Of course the place is clear,"Jake said. "What did they fucking expect? They'll probably send us a bill for coming out."
"And we'll pay it," I said calmly. I sipped my water and leaned against the back of the couch. They gave us the all clear an hour ago. Only the five of us, the cleaners and a handful of sex workers came back in.
Cooper's hair was still damp from the shower he had to wash all the blood from his skin. He hadn't stopped smiling since he reappeared from wherever he took the cops.
Jake muttered something and went on pacing. He’d pulled on a pair of worn jeans over his boxer shorts, but the rest of him was bare.
I tried my hardest not to appreciate the view.
I looked over to Ben, who was stretched out on the other couch, sleeping lightly. His head lay at an uncomfortable angle that would probably hurt later. I didn't have the heart to move him, in case he woke. It was almost dawn and he had been up for twenty-four hours.
Hutton and Cooper sat in chairs opposite each other and watched Jake stalk back and forth across the room.
"The security cameras near Scarlett justhappenedto be broken last night," I said. "Asshole must have planned this in advance."
Jake stopped and looked over at me. He snapped his fingers. "You're right. Accessing Crimson's sensors remotely wasn't something he thought up at the last second. Or if it was, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off that quickly."
"So he might have had access for a while," I said slowly. I resisted the reflex to look around the room. There were no cameras in my apartment. Not that I knew of anyway. If Jake put them in without my knowledge…
"That's a cheerful thought," Hutton said dryly. Hedidglance around. "Any chance our private conversations were overheard?"
"No," Jake said firmly. "This place is clean unless he snuck someone in with a listening device or some shit." After a moment he added, "Which is unlikely, but possible. And a very good reason I should get Ivory out of here." He looked toward me. "I'll take you home for a few days. You could use a break."
"Do I get any say in this?" I gave him my best ‘I am not amused’ face.
"No," he replied lightly. "The whole building was evacuated and Scarlett is a burnt out ruin. The gods know what he’ll pull next. He's trying to get to you." He hesitated for a moment. "He kept you both alive for a reason."
I closed my eyes and scrunched up my face. I didn't particularly want to talk about Dagen, but this was a conversation we needed to have.
"He wanted me to hand over everything to him. Just… Sign it over. He thought he would break me until I did what he wanted." I opened my eyes and exhaled out my nose. "I think that's what this was. He's trying to make me crack."
Jake looked disbelieving. "He just wanted you to sign all of Ivory Claw's assets over to him? Did he have any idea that's impossible?"
"I thought it was best not to let him know," I said. "He would have gone after you even harder."
Cooper looked confused. "Why is it impossible?"
Jake looked over at him, then glanced at Hutton. His jaw twitched. "In order to make any big decisions, any documents have to have three signatures on them. Mine, Ivory's and a third-party we keep tightly under wraps for just this reason. She couldn't sign anything over if she wanted to. Neither could I." He ran a hand over his head. "It's probably just as well he didn't know that. He probably would have killed you and declared war on the rest of us."
I placed my empty water glass on the table in front of me. "Another very good reason for me not to tell him. But what he did is as good as declaring war on us. So as far as I'm concerned, game on."
"After you take a few days off," Jake said firmly. "You can get dressed, or I'lltakeyou like that." It was obvious by the way he emphasised the word, that he had more on his mind than driving me to my house.
"Is this where you'll throw me over your shoulder and carry me all the way if I try to refuse?" The idea was both aggravating and kinda hot at the same time.
