Page 117 of Dash

“Shit, man.” He shrugged. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

He sounded sincere, but Elite had found those vials, and until we heard from the lab, Rivera was guilty as hell.

A fist banged on the door. Guzman checked in. “Moving in.”

“Move in,” I called out.

Guzman and King stole into the room, their arms up, their hands doubled over their weapons. They spread out at either side of Rivera, keeping their aims on him.

“So, it’s true.” Guzman sneered. “Colonel Rivera did it, at the office, with poison instead of a candlestick.”

“This is no game of Clue.” A muscle flickered in King’s jaw. “This asshole tried to take out Goddess, several times.”

Fury flared in my chest. I had to fight an urge to turn my hands into fists and prevent them from having a sudden encounter with Rivera’s face. I fought for control. AllowingRivera to stew in his own lies with three guns aiming at his head, I took off my jacket and draped it over the nearest chair. After unknotting my tie, I tossed it over the jacket, and undid my top button. Only then did I return my attention to Rivera. “Is there something you’d like to say?”

Rivera sighed. “I suppose I’m gonna have to prove my innocence.”

“Boss, I’ve got Druid on the line.” Mina’s voice squawked in my ear. “He says it’s urgent. I’m also having some technical difficulties.”

“Fix them.” Leaving Rivera under the guys’ custody, I stalked to the far side of the room. “Patch Druid through.”

After a click, Trev came on. “I’m at Arthur Astor’s place. Everything checked out—”

“Then why the hell are you calling me?” I snapped at my old friend. “We got Rivera.”

“I know, but hear me out,” Trev said. “Everything checked out, until I found a secret room, accessible only through the bathroom’s linen closet.”

That got my attention. “Go on.”

“It was locked and password protected,” he continued. “I cracked the code. Went in. It’s stacked from floor to ceiling with sacks of nutritionally enhanced soy flour, you know, the kind used to provide aid to famine-stricken areas of the world?”

“I guess he brings some of that wherever he goes.” I pinched the top of my nose, an effort to massage the frown tensing my forehead. “But why would he have those hidden in his house instead of in a warehouse or en route somewhere?”

His next words punched me in the gut.

“Because they’re stuffed with millions in cash.”

Chapter Thirty-three

Thena

The blood rushed in my ears. I was caught without recourse. If Uncle Shit was telling the truth, I had a bomb strapped to me. A fucking bomb! My heart threatened to burst in my chest.

Mina was watching, listening. She would warn Dash and transmit the intel to him.

Right?

A glance at Drew destroyed my meager hopes. The box hooked to his belt, the one with the flickering green light? I now recognized it for what it was. A jamming device. This room was cut out of the loop. Perhaps all comms were now scrambled inside the house.

The reason Drew had closed all the curtains in the room struck me: to end Cooper’s overwatch. The sniper couldn’t protect me if he couldn’t see his targets.

Damn Drew. He’d betrayed Dash, his teammates, and me.

I narrowed my eyes on him. “How much did you sell your soul for?”

“Shut your mouth,” he growled as he finished strapping down my left hand to the chair’s arm. He took a step away from me and lifted his carbine. “I’ll put a hole on your face if you don’t. You won’t be so pretty then. Will you?”

“Easy now, Shaw.” Uncle Dickface ambled behind me, and with a grunt, reclaimed his original seat. “Your anger management issues have no place here.” He reached for a napkin and wiped the blood from the cut on his face. “We’ve got some business to attend to. Remember?”

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