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“She’s been on the government’s watch list for some time. Since, what… you were sixteen?”
Byte was steaming now. Skylar’s cover obviously hadn’t been blown because she’d openly admitted to knowing about the watch list.
“Well, holy crap-o-rama, isn’t this just perfect!” Byte said and flopped down onto the floor.
She hadn’t thought things could get any worse, but boy, had she been wrong.
Just to recap… Byte thought.We have a minor being held against his will… We have a ticked off and judgmental brother just chomping at the bit to strangle her. Throw in a drug-dealing street gang, and now a rogue ATF agent who was playing both sides, and don’t forget the bounty on her head.
Byte just wished they’d brought her chocolates. She needed a platitude that only Doves could give her.
Something like what Grace V. from Ohio said.After every storm, there’s a rainbow, no matter how long it takes to show up.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Byte’s hands were balled into fists. Skylar freaking Hines was there. Everyone will have to duck for cover when Ivy finds out they’d been wasting their resources on a fraud, a double agent. Byte had read the after-action reports. She knew Bench, Ranger, and Archer were all familiar with the special agent. She’d had the audacity to reach out and ask that they check and make sure her cover wasn’t blown… which apparently it hadn’t been. It appears that the only ones who had truly gone undercover was ECP. No wonder the ATF had washed their hands of the agent. As of that moment, Byte had absolutely no confidence in the ATF, not with Skylar and her mother being the only two agents she knew. Neither had stellar qualities to admire.
“I guess introductions aren’t needed,” Roberto stated as he moved further into the room.
“Isn’t this room getting a little tight?” Byte snapped. The two-hundred-and-fifty-square-foot office currently held three hostages, one crooked Fed, a motorcycle enforcer, and the president. “We have less than forty square feet each. Personally, I want more than three feet of personal space. According to the CDC, we should always maintain a six-foot distance between ourselves. So fifty percent need to leave. I vote for me, Kyle, and I guess his brother too.”
Roberto glared at the enforcer when he chuckled. He’d spent nearly an hour listening to Byte babble, and he found it entertaining to see that she hadn’t let her situation curb her wicked tongue.
“Don’t encourage her,” Roberto snapped.
“Hey, don’t blame him. You’re the one who ever so rudely invited me to the party.”
Roberto was about to snap, when Byte held up her hand, demanding his attention.
“Just so you know, Mr. Whoever you are, your man there is loyal to you, or perhaps your cause. I tried to bribe him with cash and a new identity, but he refused it. So either he’s on your side, or he’s biding his time to take you out. Who knows?”
Hunter listened in disbelief. She was going to get them killed, not that he’d expected to walk out of here, but Jesus, she was nuts. He’d always heard about ones who poked the bear… Well, he’d finally met someone who found joy in doing just that.
“Byte, let me introduce myself, just so you know whose face you’ll see just before your life flutters away.”
“So poetic,” Byte said.
Ignoring her interruption, he continued. “I’m Roberto Gomez, and I’m the president of the Black Spades. Does that name ring a bell?”
Byte tapped her left index finger against her chin in a steady staccato before finally shaking her head. “No, you don’t seem familiar. Why? Did I steal something of yours? It couldn’t have been too much since I can’t remember you.”
Hunter dropped his head in defeat. He’d spent less than half an hour with the vixen, and he was ready to put a muzzle on her. That was an image he wasn’t sure he wanted to dismiss too quickly.
“You stole four million dollars from me.”
“That’s all? That’s usually not worth my time.”
Seriously?Hunter raged inside.Stop harassing him!
Byte, however, made eye contact with him and winked. She winked! This was a game to her. She wasn’t afraid or worried. Maybe she was right and they would be saved soon.
He looked over at Kyle and saw he was dreamy-eyed. The boy had a hard fascination for the blue fairy. In all truth, he could see why. If she would stop taunting the bad guy, she would be ethereal-looking. However, her snippy words and smart aleck attitude made him wonder if she was ever serious. Then he remembered she was only twenty-one. He wasn’t decades older than her, but even those seven years seemed to be vast. She’d already labeled him as boring, but he wasn’t. He obviously didn’t have the same interests as she did. He couldn’t ever imagine the need to hack into someone’s business or personal life, and yet that was her profession, if you could call stealing a career choice.
Hunter’s internal dialogue ended when he heard Byte say his name.
“You can’t kill him or Kyle. I need them.”
Of course, they couldn’t kill them.
