Page 86 of Jonas

“Got an update from Myles.” Theo’s declaration garnered everyone’s attention. “He’s in the wind.”

“Not our problem,” Zane muttered. “We need to get to Lou Peterson and Karen White before they find themselves on slabs next to Anson in the coroner’s refrigerator.”

“How’d he die?” I asked.

“Multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and face. It’s being investigated as a home invasion gone wrong.” That was a crock of shit. “I got in touch with the detective who caught the case—he’s a friend of a friend. The place was tossed but whoever did Anson knew better than to leave without actually stealing shit. Wife’s jewelry drawers were cleaned out. Anson’s watch collection and six porcelain sculptures all valued over twenty-five K are gone.”

“Professional hit,” Cash surmised.

“Someone’s cleaning house,” Zane confirmed. “Theo, Easton, you’re on Karen White and her husband. Jonas, Derrika, you’re on Lou Peterson. Smith, Cash, you’re on Lou’s driver. We need a real name for Keith Mitchell.”

“I can go with⁠—”

Zane cut Lore off. “You and Nebraska are with me.”

Well, damn, it didn’t look like I was going to get to meet the president after all.

“I know this is a touchy subject and I don’t want to shake the hornet’s nest, but has Dutch gotten anything out of John Wu or Liam Gagnon?” Nebraska inquired.

“No, and before you ask, the Wus have been picked up in Canada, and they’re being questioned. So far nothing out of them, either.”

Frustration laced Zane’s tone. It was easy to read that irritation as two-fold—the first being obvious, we needed them to talk. The second part of that was, Zane Lewis was not a man who was used to not getting what he wanted.

“Anything on the bridge or power outage?” Theo probed.

“No. Though I’ve moved on,” Kira said. “I’m tracking down the other transformers that were made in China and installed into the grid.”

It sucked, but what was done was done, and hopefully the power would be restored in Phoenix before there was any loss of life. Kira looking into stopping future attacks was time better spent.

“Do we have any new intel on Bolin Chen or his brother?” Easton asked.

“Shep’s on that and he’s looking into Senator Rutte,” Kira answered. “And Garrett’s still running down the NSC to make sure there are no leaks.”

I wanted to know how Garrett was able to look into high-ranking officials that made up the National Security Council but I didn’t ask.

“We’re back here tonight,” Zane announced.

Smith and Easton both pushed their chairs away from the table.

I guess that meant the meeting was dismissed.

I glanced at Jonas. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“Yeah. KK’s intel’s on the server.”

Cash was already jogging up the stairs, Smith and Easton following him. For some reason, I looked over at Lore. She was watching Cash—not just watching; she was watching with unconcealed interest.

I startled when Jonas’s arm went around my back and his hand landed on my hip.

His mouth was close to my ear when he whispered, “Steer clear of that, baby.”

I was pretty sure he was talking about the fireworks sparking between Cash and Lore. I pegged Cash for the fun-loving, devil-may-care playboy of the group. He had the same air of rough and ready and up for a good time that Jonas had, but I didn’t take him for an asshole. Nor did I take him as the type of man who wouldn’t be upfront about what he wanted.

“You think he’d⁠—”

“No, Dee Dee, not him.”

He thought Lore would chew Cash up and spit him out.