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“Right. Gotta be honest. I’m a bit disappointed to hear this because your team is excellent and has been a huge help to us. But I also understand how life changes and how things can be different from when you first committed to something.”
“Appreciate the understanding. How about you tell me what you need, and we can go from there?”
Julian gave him a quick rundown of what was happening with a cult that was starting to get a bit more vocal in finding the way to the eternal light. Many lives were potentially in danger, and the FBI wanted to stem their influence before they had another Waco on their hands.
“Ideally, I’d like all of you to be able to be part of the process, but if not, I’ll take what you can give me.”
Ox tapped his thumb against the steering wheel going over things in his mind. The fact that it was within the continental United States, he imagined Growler would be okay going. Not that the man had said anything about not going on missions, and maybe Ox was making an unwarranted assumption, but he wanted his friend to know that the choice was always his.
“I’m out because of the case I’m working on. There’s too much happening that I don’t feel right leaving. But I think the other three will be on board. I’m also looking at hiring more people. Maybe.” Ox paused, and an idea formed in his mind. “Hmm, I’m thinking a specialized team whose only job is to help you out. They can pick up the odd job here with me, but that’s their purpose with Alliez.”
“Man, I’m not one to tell you how to run your business, but whatever you can give me will be appreciated. As you know, you eliminate one asshole, two pop up to replace him.”
“You’re speaking the truth. I’ll get back to you by the end of the day and confirm my men’s availability.”
“Sounds good. Speak soon.”
Ox disconnected the call and hauled his laptop, to his knees from the passenger seat. He had some work to do and the more he thought about setting up a team just for the type of work that Julian needed, the more he liked the idea. He’d oversee it, but he wouldn’t necessarily leave on a mission, and he’d make sure he had one guy who could lead the team.
Time to get started.
Chapter Twenty-One
Checking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being watched, Eveline slipped into Gerald’s office. When she’d gotten in that morning, she poked her head in and said hello to her boss. He’d jumped and quickly moved some papers over the book he’d been writing in.
When she’d returned with his morning coffee, the book wasn’t anywhere to be seen and that had piqued her interest. Gerald was old enough to like to do things the old-fashioned way—writing them down. Unlike emails and word documents or spreadsheets, there was no digital footprint left behind and even though the information could be deleted, a good computer hacker would be able to find it somewhere on the computer or on the cloud.
Paper though, could always be shredded or even better, burned so no trace was left behind. Gerald going down that avenue seemed entirely likely to Eveline.
Where would he hide it?
There was no safe in the room. Then again, if there was one, and Gerald didn’t want her or anyone else to know about it, he wouldn’t tell a soul. It could be in the floor. Or maybe he had a secret drawer in his desk. A compartment that only he knew about.
Now Eveline was bringing in her favorite movie franchise into her musings. She loved the hidden compartment in the desks in National Treasure 2. Somehow, she didn’t think Gerald’s desk had one of those, but there was still a possibility she could be surprised.
“I’m in Gerald’s office looking for a book he was writing in earlier today,” she murmured, knowing that the miniscule microphone in her earrings would be able to pick it up.
She was extremely glad it wasn’t a two-way communication system. If it were, she had no doubt Kyle would be yelling in her ear to get the hell out of there and get back to her desk.
She wanted this to be over as quickly as possible, to be able to quit her job and find another one, where she wasn’t worried that her boss had dubious business practices.
Those thoughts were for another day. Now she needed to focus.
Be aware of what was going on around her and ensure she wasn’t going to get caught by anyone.
Luck had been on her side, when Gerald and Paul had gone out together and a couple of the other guys had taken advantage of the boss being away to slip out as well. There were another two men working in their offices, but they were more than likely watching something on their computers, like Eveline had caught them doing in the past.
Really, why had she stayed there as long as she had? Because it had been a steady paycheck and comfortable and easy. Now, not so much.
Eveline slipped on the gloves she’d shoved into her pocket. She’d worked for Gerald long enough to know that gloves were worn when no one wanted to leave evidence they’d been in the room. Carefully shaking them out to remove any evidence of fluff, she slipped them on.
She also made sure that her phone was in her other pocket so she could take photos of the book when she found it. Kyle may be fuming at her right now, but she wasn’t so stupid as to take it.
Eveline started at the back of Gerald’s office, scanning his bookshelf and hoping to see if she could recognize the book. Problem was, it’d been open so she couldn’t see the spine or the color, but it did have gold metal corners.
She even pulled out some books in case Gerald had a compartment built into the bookshelves. There was no click to prove her theory correct, so she moved to his desk.
The tabletop was clean, which wasn’t normally the case. Usually, Gerald left papers lying around whenever he went out to a meeting or lunch.
