Page 44 of Don't Let Go

“As much as I hate it, I also think that’s wise.” McQuade nodded. “Give us a list, Sugar Bear.”

“A list?” She raised both of her eyebrows.

“Yes,” Remy said, as though picking up the thread. “We need a kill list. Eliminate the potential threats until those that know about you are gone. Then they can’t threaten you anymore.”

Though she didn’t dismiss it completely, she did frown. She was thinking about it. When she flicked a look toward me, I shrugged.

There were worse plans.

“Whatever you want to do,” I told her. “I’m in.”

Chapter

Fifteen

PATCH

“We need a kill list.”

I turned that statement over several times as I settled in behind the computer screen. The fact I “knew” all the logins and security challenges quieted some of the earlier unease. I tended to use a series of different passwords for different things. They followed a pattern, but it was a kind of pattern that usually only I could follow.

The squirrel code worked for me because I would set the passwords based on my mood. The only set of codes I could have used for this particular setup had to be tense and annoyed. Kind of like when I was PMSing. Sure enough, the codes worked.

Four layers of encryption. Each layer required a new passcode. The first set the pattern for the rest. No single one I used formed any kind of phrase. They were the result of gibberish, or mental rhymes I created based on the numbers, letters, and symbols. I used all of the above along with varying the upper versus lower case letters.

If nothing else proved what they’d told me, the fact my codes were here, unfiltered and ready to work, did. Did I test to make sure that it wasn’t justanypassword being used? Yes, yes I did. It wasn’t about not trusting them, so much as not being able to fully trust myself.

Midway through doing a full system check, I paused. It really wasn’t them that I didn’t trust. Somewhere in all of this, I had begun trusting them. If I hadn’t, I’d never have gone to bed with Locke. My body hummed at the memory. There was a distinct, sensual ache between my thighs and I had to fight the urge to clench everything.

It had been long enough since I’d been intimate with anything beyond a toy, that I’d forgotten how good an enthusiastic round of sex could leave you. Endorphins for the win. Follow that up with Remy’s hedonistic promise and the intense look in McQuade’s eyes and my core temperature seemed to rise.

Rubbing a hand against the back of my neck, I tried to blot out all the arousing images cascading through my mind. I needed to focus on the tasks at hand.

First task… track down Section Five. They were the ringmasters of all my problems. It wasn’t just the employees of the organization. Many would be a great deal like I’d been, fooled into believing we were working for the country. It would take too long to convince them otherwise, or I’d attempt that.

If I hadn’t discovered the discrepancies and started to put the disparate puzzle pieces together on my own… Would I have believed anyone else bringing me this story? As much as I hated to admit it, I didn’t think I would.

I sighed just before a single drag-step alerted me to someone behind me. Glancing up, I found Remy’s even gaze resting on mine. He also had a cup of coffee in hand. The smell of itwrapped around me like a lover and I indulged in an inhale to savor it.

With care, Remy set the large mocha—oh the chocolate was heavenly—with its rich foam and cream atop it, down on the desk next to me. I wrapped my hand around it and let the warmth chase away the apprehensive chills rippling through my system.

Pulling up a chair, Remy joined me. He didn’t have a coffee of his own, but then he did prefer tea. “I hope you guys installed a kettle on board.”

“We did,” he said easily enough. “I’ll make a cup in a bit.”

I sipped the coffee, then chased the whip cream off my lip with my tongue. The heat in Remy’s eyes tracked the motion and sent another shudder through me. “You should get some sleep.”

“You first.” The volley was easily returned. While I might have not had a lot of sleep, I suspected that neither Remy nor McQuade had gotten any at all.

“I sent McQuade and Locke to take some rack time. Three hours…” He consulted his watch. “It’ll be dawn by then. One of them can drive and I’ll get some sleep in.”

That still seemed like a long time. Rather than comment, I took another sip of the coffee. It was— I closed my eyes and just let the coffee fill me. It was damn near perfect. Not too sweet, more than warm enough to get rid of the ice reality left in its wake.

That and it was justgood.

“Want to tell me what the really long sigh was about?” Remy asked when I finally stopped making out with my coffee. I was more than half-done. It definitely tasted like more.

“Thinking about how stupid and foolish I was,” I said. “I know we need to track down these heads of Section Five. You guys want a list. Finding the directors will be harder than the worker drones. I flirted with the idea of turning one of thedrones. But I wouldn’t have believed anyone bringing me this story. It’s too far-fetched and wild. It sounds like something from television or a movie.”

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