Page 323 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

Chapter

Twelve

“You want me to do what?” Thom Lyndon asked, his eyebrows arching high.

“Break the code on that chip. Smart as you are, it should be simple enough. When you’re done, you can go home.” To his credit, Fariq was doing a remarkable job keeping himself together, but there was something seriously wrong with him. Thom was one of his nearest, dearest, and most dangerous adversaries. At the very least, Fariq ought to look at the man, but he only paced, looking at the time, looking at the window, glaring at the door. It was the closest Reid had ever seen the man come to unraveling, and it wasn’t hard to guess why.

Something had happened while he was gone. There were men on Aliya’s balcony now, as well as outside her door. He hadn’t seen her, couldn’t talk to her. Even her cellphone, which Fariq had locked down with so many child restrictions to make it practically useless, had been revoked.

What had happened, he didn’t know yet, but as soon as he got out of here, he was going to find out. Designed to pick up everything sent or received on any device within these walls, hopefully, there was something on the computer hidden in the floor under his bed. But first, he had to get Thom working oncracking the cipher on the computer chip Fariq had found and hope the code was strong enough to confound the computer wizard long enough for Avery to launch her rescue. Otherwise, he would be exposed.

“What’s on here?” Thom asked, sitting back in the chair where they’d put him. Not touching either of the two computers on the desk in front of him, he kept his hands on his thighs.

“Financial information,” Fariq lied. “Why do you care? It doesn’t concern you. Just do as you’re told.”

Thom blinked once, then laughed. He wasn’t amused, but neither was Fariq, and when the dark man rounded on him, closing the distance in two steps, Reid quickly stepped between them.

“I’ve got this,” he quietly told Fariq.

The other man glared from him to Thom and eventually back again.

“I want that information.”

“I’ll get it,” Reid said, and he honestly couldn’t tell anymore if he was promising or lying.

Fariq left, but his men stayed.

“Awfully high-strung, your boss,” Thom drawled.

“Just get to work,” Reid ordered. “I’ll let you call your woman.” Lowering his voice, he bent low over Thom’s desk, making it more difficult for anyone still in the room apart from Thom to hear him as he said, “I’ll even let you pass your little code to ‘baby girl.’ I know you’re going to delay cracking it for as long as possible.” Thom’s brow quirked, his eyes narrowing in surprise and speculation. “I honestly don’t care how long it takes you; the longer, the better. Just make it look good enough to keep him off both our backs. Until morning, at least.” When Thom still only stared at him, gritting his jaw once, Reid capitulated, and even more softly than before, added, “Please.”

“Dude,” the computer man said as if somewhat surprised that he had to point this out, “you’re going to kill me. Why the hell should I?”

He didn’t have time for this. Hands braced on the table, he hung his head, feeling only the creeping exhaustion of the last two days and his need to find out what was happening with Aliya.

“Someone very important is depending on you. You have no idea.”

Thom stiffened, his face hardening. “Are you threatening my girl?”

Shaking his head, Reid shoved off the desk. “Like I said, you have no idea.”

The two men stared at one another, then shifting a disgruntled glance around the room, Thom gave in.

“Fine. You’ll be damn lucky if I don’t wipe whatever I find.”

“I can’t protect you or your girl if you do,” Reid said bluntly.

That won another glare from Thom, one that pointedly said, ‘since when did you ever.’ He really had no idea, but in the end, he opened the laptop, plugged in the chip, and started working.

Take your time.

Reid waited only long enough to be sure Thom really was going to try, then he was down the hall with hurried strides, taking him back up through the fortress. He took the back steps, hurrying up to his room, where he first checked the balcony. Yup, still men out there. Two, stationed at the open doors.

Shit.

He retrieved the computer set up from under his bed, sitting on the floor as he searched through the minor mountain of correspondence that had come in and out of here in the last twenty-four hours, the phone calls, the emails. Who the hell submitted to Niantic that there should be a Pokestop in themiddle of the damn fortress? There were three of them here now, for God’s sake, but nothing that mentioned Aliya by name.

He checked the time. He’d been gone from Thom’s side for twenty minutes, and he knew he needed to get back. He also needed to prepare for Avery’s inevitable rescue attempt. That woman’s arrival was as certain as the minutes ticking away on the clock.

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