Page 133 of Making Choices

Something’s going down.

“What did your search on her boss show up?”

“Exactly what I told you—eldest son of Seamus. He’s a born and bred Maddison stooge.”

“Look deeper. Maybe check his wider net.”

Four or five clicks erupt in my ear, then Cub blows out a noisy breath. “What if I told you that Jameson Jack St. James is married to a tiny redhead? Unfortunately, his wife doesn’t have an easily accessible digital footprint so I can’t find any better pictures.”

My initial meeting with Jack all those months ago bursts back into my head.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but Bebe is my—”

She’d cut him off, interjecting to make it clear that she was his registrar, and I hadn’t thought anything of it. Even when he’d taunted me later on. Even when she’d almost slipped up the night that I called in my marker for Cherub.

My saviour complex has been my undoing.

I hadn’t protected Bebe from a handsy boss.

I walked straight into a carefully laid trap.

Now, the question is why…

“What’s the wife’s name?”

“Gráinne Squire.”

“As in the Squire family? Kristoff’s advisor.”

“I’ll find out. Gonna have to break about thirty-seven laws, but if she’s findable, I’ll track her down.”

More typing and another series of mouse clicks.

Holding my breath, I wait for the hammer to drop.

Cub’s fingers move at warp speed.

He sighs.

“Yep. Eldest daughter of Tadhg and Mamie Squire.” When I go to speak, he shushes me. I wait, bracing myself for more bad news. “Here we go—Gráinne Beatrice Squire. Born October 30th, 1995 in Dublin, Ireland. Relocated to Perth as a three-year-old. Married to Jack St. James since she was eighteen. It gets worse… Mamie Squire’s maiden name is Du Bois. Fuck me, Slash… this shit’s been under our nose the whole time.”

“She played me.”

“She played us all.” He sighs again. It says everything the quiet man will never speak out loud. My call to halt his investigation into Bebe was a bad choice. “Venom’s callin’. Should I—”

“No! Tell him nothin’.” Even though Cub doesn’t speak up, I can feel his disagreement. “Let me deal with her tonight, then we’ll talk about bringin’ everyone on board.”

“She’s at your place, ain’t she?”

“Yep. Up in Cherub’s room, right now.”

“Fuckin’ hell… I’m gonna skip the concert. Work on this—I wanna find every Maddison in our midst before we fill Venom in.” Another patented Cub sigh fills my ear. This one is heavy with worry. “He’s gonna kill me.”

“It’s my fuck up.”

“My job is to uncover this shit so we’re not blindsided.”

“Kinda hard when your SAA tells you not to worry about it.”

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