Page 48 of Heartless Legacy

Two percent comes down to half a percent per year for four years. That’s an insult, but of course my dad’s favorite thing to do is to insult people. Just like lately, my favorite thing to do is to annoy the shit out of him. Which I’m succeeding at if the twitch in his eye is anything to go by.

My gaze swings to my grandfather, who is also staring in my direction, and I straighten in my seat. He’s not the Malcolm I have an issue with. If anything, he’s the one protecting me from my dad’s scheme. I can’t believe he added a clause to act as my proxy.

The threat to frame me for murder wasn’t just a threat. Remembering that, I smile at Mr. Charles and become a perfect future son-in-law. As miserable as I am, and as much as myfriends hate me, I still love them and I won’t do anything to put them in danger.

Parker stands and makes a speech. “It’s been an interesting year. We’ve had a lot of successes, but these last few months we’ve had way more failures than I’d like to admit. It’s been hard to deal with and I’ve considered walking away, but then you get a day like today.” His hand sweeps out. “Standing here looking at your faces reminds me why I do the job I do. I’m doing my part to make this country a better place for our families.” He meets each of our gazes, finally landing on my father when he says, “And so I am thankful for each and every one of you at this table for being here and reminding me of my greater purpose.” He raises his glass and says, “Happy Thanksgiving.”

We all toast him a Happy Thanksgiving in return. He’s facing the table so we all see how widely he’s smiling when he hugs his wife, kids and J.R, and when he shakes hands with my father and tips his head in respect to my grandfather and the other council members at the table. Too bad he doesn’t know that my father should be on his suspect list.

All the other fathers go around the table saying what they’re thankful for. Parker’s smile never slips. He’s just a nice guy like that. So genuine, and he feels things deeply. Holden’s a lot like him, but he keeps his feelings to himself. I know how much Parker and J.R. value their Trium. How much they honor their oath. They’ve been best friends forever, and my father has never given them any reason to distrust him. He plays the game well.

How hard would it be to call the FBI tip line and report my father as a person of interest in their trafficking case? Do they trace those calls? Holden would know how to cover my tracks, but I can’t ask him. I’ll have to look into it myself.

I take another sip of my drink. I’m still trapped in my head, working through the fantasy of turning my father in, so I know it’s me projecting my issues, and my alcohol addled brain thatmakes me imagine I see Parker’s eye narrow slightly in my dad’s direction when he climbs to his feet to speak.

Chapter 31

Thea

The Phoenix agents live in a residential community a short drive from the headquarters. The building is a four story structure outfitted in bulletproof glass. It looks like a normal office building on the outside, but the inside is just as tech heavy as the ship. I feel like an Avenger sitting in the ergo dynamic chair in the conference room. The touch screen tablets on the table and video screens all around the room add to the feeling.

I’m slowly acclimating to my new surroundings and falling into a routine of waking up and coming to work, even though I don’t really have a job here. I just walk the halls and people watch while Alexz goes to meetings and mission briefs and Wolfe goes to help the new hires train. He has an apartment on the same floor as mine, but he spends a lot of time at my place. I flip-flop between being comforted and annoyed that he’s around. When I get annoyed, he goes to his place. No matter how much of a bitch I’m being, he makes sure I eat.

My stomach picks this moment to growl. We’ve been here nearly three weeks, and slowly, my appetite has returned. I can’t stuff my face like I used to, but I’m no longer repulsed by the idea of consuming food. No matter where we are, I wait forWolfe to eat first, then take his plate. Is it wrong that he’s my official taste tester?Sure,but it’s progress.

“Hungry?” Wolfe asks, as if my loudly rumbling stomach could mean anything else.

“I could eat.”

He smiles at me, and my stomach reacts again, but not in the way it did before. It’s a warm feeling. Tiny. Barely there. I chew my lip and look away as the feeling slowly fades. “I’ll feed you as soon as we’re done here.”

I nod. I can wait. I’ll just sip on the bottled water that’s on the table in front of me. Alexz walks in with assistant number one and assistant number five. Yes, I’ve given them numerical numbers, instead of trying to remember their names, because he has six assistants in this building. They’re all responsible for something different. He says it makes it easier to track tasks. His Executive Assistant, who is stationed in the DC office, manages all the assistants across the organization. He flies out to meet Alexz when he needs him. Otherwise, they talk through virtual calls. Assistant number one is the officer manager and direct supervisor of assistants two through six. There’s a similar structure at the other Phoenix offices. It sounds confusing, but it makes sense to me. It’s similar to how gangs run their organizations with multiple chapters.

The offices are closed for a week to allow everyone to spend time with their families for Thanksgiving. Two nights ago, Alexz hosted a catered dinner for the staff that don’t have family to go home to. It was nice sitting around listening to them tell stories about the jobs they’ve done over the years. The unclassified ones, of course, because I haven’t met anyone from the teams who have clearance for classified missions. Alexz calls them ghost teams and they’re located all over the world. The staff whispers about them like they’re boogie men, so I’d say the name fits.

He says this will all be mine someday. I can’t even wrap my head around it. Could I plan missions and things? That’s easy. I’ve been doing that for years, with nobody but Sasha as my tech support. But on a global scale? I really don’t know, and how would this fit into my dreams to be an archeologist? Is there a way to do both? Because I don’t want to give up that dream.

I shake the thought from my head. Those are future decisions that I’m nowhere near ready to make. It’s not like Alexz is retiring anytime soon. Assistant Number Five is staring at me. I tilt my head to the side, sizing her up. Is she trying to intimidate me? She turns away when assistant Number One says, “We’re up, sir. The room is secure.”

The video screen comes online and Alexz gets straight to business. “Good Morning, Charlie Team. How’s the weather?”

“Good, sir. We’ve had a lot of rain the last few days, but the sun’s finally out.”

“Glad to hear that. I won’t keep you long because I know you all have plans for the holiday and some of you need to catch flights or get on the road. I appreciate you working down to the wire on this.” He takes his seat and says, “Let’s get started. What have you found?”

The guy on screen says, “Sir, we think we have something we can use to force the council’s hand.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Each year, the challenge is given to second-year prospects and above, guaranteeing the winner the chance to advance two year groups.”

“Go on.”

“The nickname for it is The Impossible Challenge. The tasks are supposed to be so difficult that very few prospects sign up for it. They’ve come to think of it as some kind of hazing ritual.” He checks his notes. “When Malcolm Cox was a second year, heentered the challenge. He’s the only one out of his Trium who thought it was worth pursuing.”

Alexz leans forward in his chair. “Did he find whatever this item was?”

“If he did, it’s never been presented to the council.”

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