Page 129 of GAF Factor

“No problem there.”

“And don’t blow anything up.”

He snorted. “Dude, we’re underground. What do you take me for, an idiot?”

I slowly turned and glared at him.

“Yeah, okay,” he nodded, “but only in an emergency. There’s a ventilation system that would suck all the air out of the room and kill the fire.”

“And us,” I pointed out.

“There are oxygen masks,” he said as if I was stupid.

“I might just hide them from you.”

The elevator jolted to a stop and the doors opened.

“Yeah, right,” IRIS snorted.

I just shrugged as I stepped off.

“That’s just mean. Even after all that shit with Jane, I would still save your life,” he rambled as he chased me down the hall. “Hell, I stayed with you when you were down and blue.”

“And when was that?”

“When you were all mopey outside Isla’s house.”

“And who asked you to do that?”

“Nobody,” he said proudly. “But a man knows when another man is down.”

I strode down the dimly lit halls of the tunnel, peeling off my suit jacket. I was ready to get to work. I handed it off to IRIS. “Don’t get that dirty.”

“I’m not your butler.”

I removed the cufflinks, slipping them into my pockets for safekeeping, and rolled up my sleeves.

“If you wouldn’t mind grabbing a hanger, that shouldn’t really be creased.”

“Would you like me to steam it, too?”

I pulled my silk tie loose and smiled at him. “That won’t be necessary.”

“How magnanimous of you.”

“I’ll take it to the dry cleaner when I’m done. You can’t be too careful with a suit like this.”

His eyes narrowed at me, and he would have taken a swing at me if I hadn’t opened the door and stepped into the room where Shawn was being held. IRIS followed, tossing my jacket onto the table in the corner, where it fell onto the floor in a heap.

Shawn stood immediately from the chair in the corner of the room, his eyes flicking between IRIS and me. “What’s going on?”

“You know who I am.”

He nodded.

“Shawn, why the fuck are you running?” I sighed, walked over to the table, and picked up my jacket. I glared at IRIS as I brushed off the dust from the material and gently folded and laid it on the table. The man had no respect for fine things.

I turned back to Shawn, giving him my full attention.

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