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“What?”
“I need a knife.”
“Third drawer down, but then you already know that, don’t you?” he mocks.
My shoulders drop in defeat before I remember that I don’t have anything to feel bad for. Deciding I’d rather go hungry than have to choke on the humble pie these assholes are intent on feeding me, I walk away.
Chapter Eight
Evander
I look around the table at the serious faces staring back at me and sigh. “Look, I get that there’s history between you all, but I believe her.”
“You don’t know her,” Oz points out.
“Exactly. I don’t have an opinion already formed about the woman based on the fact that she hurt your friends’ feelings.”
“She was our friend too until she bailed,” Zig states, leaning back.
“Ev might not know Avery, but I do. And that woman I saw laying in that hospital yesterday is the same girl Creed and Hawk brought home all those years ago. For what it’s worth, I believe her too,” Greg agrees.
“Alright. I don’t want another repeat of how we fucked up with Astrid. Run over everything again, Ev, and we’ll look at it from a neutral standpoint.”
I blow out a breath and nod. I pick up the clicker, which makes the large image on the screen change back to the first shot. “Avery works within a department of the government that has contacts in various alphabet agencies, predominantly DHS, ICE, and the FBI. Now we know these assholes hate sharing, but in this area, it seems they have found a common cause. Sex trafficking, in particular, was what Avery’s department largely focused on.”
“How come Hawk and Creed never told us this before? We’ve probably crossed paths with some of these cases,” Slade asks.
“Honestly, I got the impression they didn’t ask. Avery did say she had signed an NDA and didn’t have the clearance to share, but from what she said, they never pushed for more information either.”
“So, what the hell did they think she did?”
“Hawk told me that he thought she was a social worker or teacher.”
“They assumed but never asked. Not that there is anything wrong with either profession, but their guesses still make them sound like sexist dicks,” Crew huffs. “What were they thinking?”
“I won’t know their take on it until I talk to them.” I rub my eyes.
“Well, that will have to wait for a while. They headed out this morning to finish up the Duggan case. Won’t be back for a month,” Zig warns me.
“They have any issues?” Wilder asks, but Oz shakes his head.
“None so far. It’s just a slow process. Not all bad guys like to launch into a monologue about the crimes they’ve committed. Sometimes confessions take a little finesse.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Jagger chuckles.
“Back to Avery. If she signed an NDA preventing her from talking, how come she’s willing to spill the beans now? These guys won’t go easier on her just because she’s a woman. Fuck, now I sound like a sexist asshole,” Slade curses, making me laugh.
“Little bit. But don’t worry, I won’t tell Astrid.”
“You tell her anything, and I’ll tell her you don’t have time to help her develop her latest game.”
I drop the clicker on the table and turn to glare at him. “That’s cruel, dude.”
I ignore the laughter around me, scooping the clicker back up and flicking to the next screen. “In answer to your question about what changed, it wasn’t Avery, it was the search parameters.”
“Explain.” Crew folds his arms.
“When Avery left here and returned, they offered her her job back, but in a different department. Here, instead of simply searching for children that have been kidnapped and trafficked, they are looking for children who are gifted.”
