Page 62 of Her Defiant Warrior

“Do you want to die? I can arrange that,” Spider said in a jittery tone.

“Shut up, Spider. The man has a point.” A woman with an Australian accent said as she stepped down from the door leading to the house. If that wasn’t surprising enough, she was followed by Braxton.

“So, before bringing these three to our safe house, did you make sure they have the information that we require?” She was a blonde and gorgeous, in that thin, brittle way that always got on Jase’s last nerve.

Spider looked over at the first dumbshit. They both looked scared.

The woman sighed and looked over her shoulder at Braxton. “You see why your resume interested me so much? I liked the fact that not only had you spent time in the field as a Delta Force, but you also did time in cyber security. Tell me, what would you have done before bringing these three to our safe house?”

“One of them would be missing at least a foot in order to verify the veracity of their information.” Braxton said. “Normally I would start with a hand, but we’re probably going to need that for the project.”

“Ken. Spider. Do either of you know what the word ‘veracity’ means?” The blonde drawled.

Again, the two men looked at one another cluelessly.

“Maybe you should cut off one of their feet.” She sounded bored. “Okay.” She pointed at Ryker. “You sounded somewhat smart. Tell me what you have to offer.”

“I know that veracity means truthfulness. As to what I’m offering. I’m giving you what you need. Omari here, was an electrical engineer in Rwanda. Darsh’s father was an electrician in Bangladesh. They worked together on the lighting at the Museum of the Future.”

“For how long?” the woman asked. She didn’t sound bored now.

Neither Gideon nor Jase said anything. They looked at Ryker, as if waiting for his permission to speak.

The woman laughed. “You’ve trained them well.”

“There have been many accidents on the job sites. They know that having a boss to look out for them will keep them safe.”

“Braxton?” the woman nodded her head at their team member.

Braxton came over and hit Ryker in the face, and he landed on his ass. It was a light punch, but the way Ryker bitched and moaned it made it seem like Braxton had broken his jaw.

What a drama queen.

Braxton grabbed Ryker by his shirt and punched him in the gut.

“All right,” Ryker gasped. “I’ll talk.”

“Damn, I don’t even get to use my knife,” Braxton drawled.

“Spider, bring me a chair,” the woman said. “This might take a while.”

“Before I talk, I want a guarantee that I will get a half million USD transferred to my bank account,” Ryker demanded.

The blonde laughed. “You know, just because you understand a big word, doesn’t mean you’re smart. A smart man would understand when he has a losing hand.”

Jase grinned inwardly.

Here comes the bullshit.

“Kill me, and they’ll never talk. They’d prefer to die than go back to the dorms without me. The other bosses know that they’re with me. They won’t die, but we have their passports. Trust me, their families will die.”

The blonde sighed again.

“Let’s see what they know. I’m not promising you anything until I know what I might be purchasing.”

Ryker pushed out of Braxton’s arms and turned to Jase. “Quit speaking Arabic, you fuck. Speak English. You too,” he said, rounding on Gideon. “You answer every single question the lady has about the Museum of the Future. Your family’s lives depend on it.”

Gideon and Jase both nodded.