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Comply or die. Can’t say I wouldn’t do the same.
“Did you catch her name?” I ask.
“She never said it and I didn’t ask,” he answers. “The others just kept calling her boss. The next morning, she put me on a helicopter and flew me down here with her two goons and two other hackers she hired to do the same thing. About a week went by and then…”
His voice falls and I see fear in his eyes.
“What?” I ask.
“I guess they got what they wanted out of us,” he says slowly. “They lined the three of us up and I watched as they shot the others dead.” He points to his eyes. “One bullet through each eye, like a damn execution.”
A chill runs down my spine.
“At that moment…” He exhales as if he can’t believe it himself. “A bomb struck our building and I ran like hell. I didn’t get very far, just hid out in another warehouse in the compound but then that one got hit, too. When I couldn’t get out, I sent that fake intel.”
I nod. “And three days later…”
“You and Fox showed up to dig me out.”
I sit back, wheels spinning in my head. “That’s quite the story.”
“It’s all true, Caleb,” he says. “Every word.”
“It sounds crazy.”
“You don’t believe me?”
I pause, studying his deep, green eyes, looking for any tell I can find that will show me if he’s lying but I come up short.
“It’s not completely unbelievable.”
“Then, you’re gonna love this,” he says, opening his laptop again. He brings up the security footage and pushes play. “Meet the two goons who brought me down here.”
I stare at the footage, watching as the bald man and the bearded man pass by the cameras. “They’re the ones who killed the other hackers?” He nods. “Are you sure?”
“I wouldn’t forget those faces. They’re here… somewhere.”
“You’re safe here, Carson,” I tell him. “No one’s going to find you out here.”
“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about the next poor boy who gets caught in their crosshairs.”
“You should go to Rhys with this.”
“I’m not about to admit to stealing government documents and handing them over to a very obvious terrorist organization.”
“Then, why tell me?” I ask.
His eyes grow softer. “Because you asked. And…” he pauses to lick his dry lips, “your trust is important to me.”
Not one damn tell to prove he’s lying.
“Why?” I ask.
He hesitates. “Just… is. Also, you’re my bodyguard, right? You have a right to know what to look out for.”
A short smile crosses his lips, caving in the dimples on his chin. The desert wind strikes my face, but it just makes the blood in my cheeks tingle a little more.
I look away, clearing my throat. “We should get back inside.”
