Page 17 of Rising from the Ashes

Focus Shado. This girl has gotten under your skin too fast.

“Intel,” she calls over her shoulder as she opens the doors leading out of the basement.

“Don’t we have Tavish for that?” I arch my eyebrows at her.

“I use the little nerd just enough to play by Everly’s rules. Otherwise, I gather my own,” she says.

The defiance in this girl is fucking hot, but also stupid if she gets caught.

She walks over to her motorcycle leaning against the tree. Grabbing her helmet, she places it over her head.

Looking at my van parked across the street, she chuckles, “You really need another mode of transportation.”

Mocking offense, “It gets me around just fine, thank you.”

She shakes her head. “Follow me,” she says, before she cranks the key into the ignition. Her bike roars to life and she kicks the stand back, taking off down the road.

Now that we are officially assigned as partners, I have her location on my phone, so losing track of her is prevented. I no longer have to hack into which hits she is being assigned to, either. Something Drake will be pleased to hear.

Sliding into my driver's seat, I curiously follow her route, wondering who we are gathering intel on as Everly hasn’t assigned us a new hit.

Pulling up to her father’s newly claimed estate, I park in a shaded area on the outskirts of the property, while Calista pulls up behind me.

I get out of the driver’s seat. “It’s broad daylight, Cal,” I say, looking up at the stone mansion, concerned that I don’t see any armed guards at their posts.

“Trust me.” She smirks as we make our way along the property line.

Closing in on the house, I grab my gun from my holster, cocking it, prepared to use it should anything go awry.

When it clicks, Cal looks at me and rolls her eyes, “You won’t be needing that.”

Staring at her, I let her continue.

“My Father’s not here. He’s at the auction for the docks. He left his laziest crew here to watch over the estate, they left for some…entertainment.”

Not convinced we are a hundred percent in the clear, I keep my gun drawn, following behind her into the house to which she uses a digital key to unlock the door.

“A skeleton key? Where the hell did you get that?”

“Let’s just say I now owe Tavish some chips and a solid.” She nods toward the set of stairs to the left. “Go.”

Advancing before her to make sure the coast is clear before she enters, I nod signaling for her to come inside.

When we reach the top of the steps, we are greeted with a long hallway with multiple doors. Concentrating, it looks as though she is counting the doors on the right before choosing one.

“If this is your dad’s new house, how do you know it so well?”

“Do you think this is the first time I’ve broken into ol’ Daddio’s house?” She giggles, turning the knob. “I’ve planted bugs everywhere.”

Walking into an office, she begins rummaging through files. Her eyes light up when she finds what she is looking for.

“What is that?”

“My father’s back up plan if he can’t control the docks.”

She spreads the file open on the desk and I notice it is blue prints to the city’s tunneling and rail system.

“He’s going to take over the railway and the tunnels.”

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