Page 35 of Ruined

"This disables alarm systems." She placed it on my outstretched palm.

"Mina is the Sparrow," Reuben said to Caleb, his voice low and reluctant.

Shit.

I probably should have thought of the consequences before I bolted out of the room, but I got an idea and ran with it. If there was a chance waiting might get us killed, then I had no choice.

"How does it work?" I asked.

"It hacks into the Wi-Fi that security systems are run on these days," she explained. "It reads the code and switches the system off."

"So if it hacks, it can be hacked," I reasoned.

"If technology has changed since it was invented," she agreed. "It was supposed to be hack proof. At least, as hack proof as anything could be."

I turned the device over in my hand. In the back were four, small screws. "I don't suppose you have a?—"

She reached into the drawer again and pulled out a small screwdriver. She held it out to me with the handle facing me.

I nodded my thanks and accepted it. She really was prepared for almost anything. How many knives did she have hidden in those drawers and around the room? If I was her, I'd have several, in case anyone got past the security system.

The device balanced on my palm, I carefully unscrewed each of the screws and handed them to her. I had to use the screwdriver to pry off the back of the device, but it eventually came off with a pop.

"Bingo." Sitting in the back of the device was a tiny bug. The kind used to listen in and track people. The kind that crunched satisfyingly under my heel.

"He said I was predictable," Mina said, her eyes glazed as she spoke. "I thought he meant coming here, but he didn't. He knew exactly where I kept my phone and that device. He knew if I ever got out of that basement, I'd go back for those things. That could have been inside the device for years. Waiting."

Her face was pale again. That asshole really knew how to get to her. Fuck only knew what else he'd done that we hadn't uncovered yet.

"Mina DiMarco is the Sparrow?" Apparently it took Caleb a few moments to process that information. "How long until Kurt tells the world that?"

Or maybe he processed it immediately and moved quickly to the implications, conjuring scenarios in his mind. His tone wasn't panicked, or even concerned.

His brow was creased as he made calculations in his head. Planning like someone plans moves in a game of chess. Reuben was commanding, but Caleb was the strategic brother. Often several moves ahead of everyone else.

I turned to glare at him.

He shrugged and raised his hands. "Don't say it hasn't occurred to you, because it would have. If this prick has gone to such lengths to track her, then what's keeping him from pulling the pin on this?"

"What would he have to gain from telling everyone?" I asked. "People would want proof. The only way he could give them that would be to throw himself under the bus."

"I wish he would throw himself under a literal bus," Gianni said.

"People like him don't give away information like that,” Caleb said. "They sell it to the highest bidder. Can you imagine the amount of zeros information like that would go for? That device Damon is holding in his hand is almost as valuable.” He gestured at me.

“The price governments would pay for retribution against her for assassinating their officials would be eye watering. Or better yet, finding out who hired her. Information like that could bring down whole administrations. Hell, countries could collapse. You know the kind of people she was hired to target. I'm not fucking exaggerating." His jaw was set tight.

"We're not letting them torture Mina," Gianni said, his low voice a thinly veiled threat.

"Then we better find Kurt fucking Lasalle before he can offer her up," Caleb said. "Because people aren't going to let any of us stand in the way when there are millions of dollars involved."

CHAPTER 14

MINA

"Pack as much as you can, " Reuben said. "I want to be out of here within the hour."

"Where are we going?" Gianni followed him to the door.

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