Page 31 of Wicked Sin

“This isn’t a social call. I’m here because someone planted a bomb in Ms. Reid’s car yesterday and nearly killed us both.”

His sharp features break into a pleased expression. “And you think Cole did it? That’s fun.”

“Not fun,” his colleague growls. “A pain in the ass.”

“Yeah. Exactly. Fun.” The bundle on his chest squirms and lets out a frustrated cry. “Well, fun for me, anyway. Come on, little bug. Let’s get you some milk.”

He leaves, and Taylor looks at Cole. “Wilson has a baby?”

“You’ve missed a lot.”

“No kidding. I didn’t even know that he had sex.”

Cole gives her a disapproving look.

She just shrugs. “Okay, well, I’m going to leave the two of you to talk about…whatever, and I’m going to follow that adorable baby.”

Cole’s look gets worse.

“What? I like children.”

“For brunch, with a nice chianti.”

She growls and turns on her heel.

I pull out my phone and double-check that the GPS tracker I stuck on her is still working. It is. Good. I don’t think she’s going to run again, but just in case, I’ll find her.

“So,” I say, turning to the ex-commando turned Washington fixer. “I take it you didn’t try to kill her.”

“No.”

“Scare her?”

“No.”

“And PRISM is what?”

“PRISM is theProjectResponsible forInternationalSecurityMeasures. An extra-governmental organization with unlimited funds and shadowy purpose.”

And we’ve taken a left turn into some James Bond shit. “You’re shitting me.”

“I wish I was. Amelia Dashford Reid is a major principal player in it, and they’ve invested heavily in America First. They got Victor Best elected president.”

“He’s a Democrat,” I say dumbly. Though I know as well as anyone else that means nothing. He’s also a billionaire who cares more about money than what’s right or wrong. I voted for his Republican opponent, but she didn’t have a chance in hell of winning California anyway.

Cole shrugs. “Everything has changed.”

I’m aware of the political upheaval in this country.

I wasn’t aware until this moment that it had anything to do with Taylor Dashford Reid, resident of Glendale, California for the last three years.

“So what does Taylor know that makes her a liability to her mother?”

“That’s for her to tell you. Or not. To be honest, Detective, I’d assume that she’ll pick not. The secrets she knows could get her killed if she’s not careful.”

No. That’s not fucking acceptable. “I don’t like anything about this.”

“That makes two of us.”

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