Page 27 of Knot Innocent

One eyebrow shoots up, and Chelsea gives me a dirty side-eye. “That’s funny. Sadie didn’t list us as ineligible.”

I shrug, keeping my eyes forward. “Sadie doesn’t know everything.”

“Ok. Next up,” Sadie calls out. “We’ve got a group of celebrities going to dig wells in Africa next week, and they want security. My team will take this.”

She nods to one of her own teammates, Dani. “We’re bound to be dealing with shit tons of press and entourage. Being former secret service, Dani has the most experience dealing with that zoo.”

Finally, Sadie looks our way, glancing back and forth between Chelsea and me. “Your team is to join crews from several other organizations to provide security for some rock.”

The contractors in the room laugh, given the description of the rock currently displayed on the screen. “The Blue Moon of Josephine is a fifty-million-dollar diamond going on display at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum the week after next. The idea is to mix people from the different security companies to prevent espionage and any attempted theft of the stone.

“Each company has been contracted for the whole week, even though you’ll likely only see two days of duty each. Operatives will be chosen randomly, and only the owner’s team will know the security schedule, which will change daily. You’ll basically be on call for the week and show up when told.”

Shit. Birdie and I only have nine days to find the bastard in the blue car. That’s not a lot of time. It’s a good thing that I’ll be working with the best in the business.

Sadie dismisses the meeting a few minutes later, and I’m the first one out of the room. Swinging by the cafeteria, I grab a ready-made ham sandwich and eat it during the walk back to the executive area. Only an hour has passed since I was last here, so there’s a good chance Birdie’s not back yet.

Fortunately, she is. I walk through her open door and take one of the seats across from her desk. “If this keeps up, I’m going to have to start billing you for chocolate.” Birdie turns away from her computer screen, and her eyes widen when they land on me. “Oh. You’re not Sadie.”

“Afraid not. How late are you working today?”

The unexpected turn and fast pivot leave Birdie befuddled. She struggles to gather her thoughts but eventually stumbles over an explanation. “Um. I don’t know. I usually work until I hit a good stopping point.”

“Ok. When is your next stopping point?” I ask.

Birdie never gets the chance to answer. “How did it…” Knot waltzes in Birdie’s office, his voice freezing when he notices his audience. Head cocked in curiosity, he continues, “… go today?”

“Fine,” Birdie squeaks. Then, finding her voice, she adds, “Apparently, all the big guns were drawn for this target. Cle Maxwell from Pantera Security joined the meeting via video conference. All involved gave their reports, and as of now, I’m officially finished with the project.”

“Good. Two more counterintelligence requests came in today but can wait until next week.”

Seeing an opening, I insert myself into the conversation. “Can Birdie cut out for the rest of the day?”

Bastien

Knot’s questioning glare swings from me to Birdie, softening the slightest amount when landing on her face. “I suppose that would be fine since there are no pressing matters. Why? Is something wrong?”

“No,” Birdie answers a little too quickly. “I have to—”

“She’s helping me with something. Sort of my own counterintelligence thing.”

Knot crosses his massive arms, shooting me a glare that calls all kinds of bullshit. But seeing that Birdie doesn’t object, he relents with a threat. “If Birdie ends up on the news or in the hospital, there won’t be a body to bury, Laurent.”

“Yes, sir.”

Birdie groans. “Um. Hello. I’m sitting right here in case anyone wants to ask me what I need to do with the rest of my day.”

Knot chuckles and walks out, shaking his head. “Strike one, Bash.”

The man’s such a hard ass, I wouldn’t have guessed he had a sense of humor. That’s also the first time he’s ever addressed me using anything besides my last name.

Birdie clears her throat loudly, pulling my attention to her pouting face. That plump bottom lip of hers sticking out is not helping my resolve. Stern Birdie is causing an unwelcome reaction in my dick, so I stand to relieve the sudden tightness in my pants. “I’m sorry, Birdie. Since we already had plans to find the blue car, I just thought I’d see about securing some extra time to do so.”

“Oh. Right,” Birdie backpedals. “On that, after you left last night, I pulled footage from all the cameras around the businesses in your neighborhood. None of them caught the car.”

Shit. That’s not good news. “That means he parked in the public lot at the end instead of on the street.”

She nods and adds, “There aren’t too many businesses between there and my house, but I plan to check for cameras along the route anyway. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

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