Page 9 of Elliot

“That’s where you’re wrong, Ms. Callahan. Whoever sent that dead rat is deranged. Escalation in these cases happens all the time, but if you’d prefer to take your chances, I’ll leave.” Reaching into his suit jacket, Elliot pulled out the letter that was found on her desk. “Would you like this and the rat back?”

The shiver that ran through her couldn’t be concealed. “Fine. You can sleep here,” she said as she opened the door to her room and slammed it shut behind her.

Elliot rolled his shoulders and called, “Good night, Ms. Callahan.”

The groan he heard from inside the room made him smile. His assignment wouldnotbe easy. His client was used to having her own way. He’d work with her as much as he could as he worked for her, but above all else, her security was paramount. In that, he wouldn’t compromise.

CHAPTER 4

Elliot stowed his bags and then made his way into the kitchen. He sat down at the table with his notes and called Guardian.

“Operator Two Seven Four, how may I route your call, Lima One?”

Elliot chuckled. “I’m not Lima One anymore.”

“According to all our paperwork, you are. Archangel was very insistent you don’t change call signs.”

“Probably for the best, old dog and new tricks being what they are.”

The operator laughed. “I don’t believe that for a moment.”

“Well, thanks. I need to talk to whoever is assigned to this case in CCS, and then I’ll need to talk to logistics.”

“CCS coming up. Con is your assigned operator.”

Con?Wow, that was way above his current pay grade. Jewell, Con, Brando, Ring, and Ethan were the elite CCS operators who served the hierarchy of the Guardian echelon, not personal security operators like himself.

“What’s up, Elliot?”

“Why are you my CCS specialist on this case? A bit of overkill, isn’t it?”

Con laughed. “Normally, I’d say yes, but when my mother is the one who called in favors for your client … not so much.”

“Your mom is?—”

“Yeah, let’s not dwell on that, okay? And don’t say her name. If you do, she magically appears, and then I have a bad day.”

Elliot chuckled. “You got it. I need some help. I need any camera feeds you have in front of the following address. I’m narrowing the dates and times down due to contextual clues from conversations with Ms. Callahan and her personal assistant. So, maybe expand the search parameters by a couple of hours either way?”

He could hear Con typing. “What are you looking for?”

“For the first address, the courier, license plate, or any information on the person who dropped off a dead rat.”

“The what now?”

“A dead rat sent in a gift box with the knife still through the thing’s body.”

“Fuck, so not your run-of-the-mill crazy, huh?”

“I’m not taking anything for face value on this. I need Dom Ops here in New York to process the box, animal, and knife. She also received a letter. I haven’t looked at it yet, but it’s part of the case.”

“I can initiate that. Pick up in an hour at your location?”

“Downstairs in the lobby. I’ll meet them there.”

“You got it. What else?”

“Do you have access to the cameras in the parking garage at this location?” Elliot was hoping he did.

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