Page 88 of Pride
“We get the biometrics,” Parker said. “That’s still the plan. But the charges are backup. If we can’t get back there, then we can remote detonate. It sounds harsh, but this might be our only chance of eradicating this threat.”
“You would kill innocent people?” Mary said, frowning at her son.
“Innocent is debatable.”
“Flint was innocent,” Mary stated. “He had no idea what went on behind closed doors at the lab.”
“These people do. Even the guards in Columbia spoke about the boss’s big plan. But it won’t come to that,” Parker insisted. “We’ll get their biometrics.”
“How?”
Parker’s cell phone buzzed again. He slammed it on the table, irritated. Alice surreptitiously checked the caller ID. The office. Alarm bells prickled. He’d said everything was fine, but his pride had made him stubborn. Maybe it wasn’t fine. Without waiting for his permission, she picked it up.
“No,” he said, eyes wide, but she turned her back and answered the call.
“Parker Lazarus’s office. Can I help you?”
The caller hesitated before speaking. “Miss Montgomery?”
“That’s right.”
“I need to speak with Mr. Lazarus. It’s imperative.”
“Whatever you have to say to him, you can say to me. I will pass on the message.”
A frustrated grunt, a curse word, and Alice prepared to go to bat for Parker, but the man himself took the handset from her.
“Lazarus speaking.” His face turned to stone as he listened to what the caller said. He looked at the files still open on the table and then met Alice’s eyes. “Fine. But on one condition. I leave on a bang. I want an exit party. My assistant will handle the guest list. At the end of the night, I’ll sign.”
He cut the call, oblivious to all the gaping faces around him.
“AIMI,” he said, bracing his hands on the table and frowning at the data.
“Yes, Parker.”
“Start my succession planning protocol for Lazarus Tech.”
“On it.”
“You going to fucking fill us in, bro, or are you going to leave us all standing here with our dicks in our hands?” Liza cocked her head.
“Dicks?” Sloan snorted. “You have multiple dicks?”
“Shut up,” Liza shot back. “You know what I mean.”
Alice wanted to laugh. She’d always liked Liza, but even more when she talked like a trucker. Raven would get along with her like a church on fire.
“We’re going to have a party,” Parker declared.
“Are you kidding me?” Wyatt’s brows slammed down. “I don’t think this is the right time for a—”
“Wait!” Evan held up his tattooed hand. He looked down, his eyes darting about as he tried to recall something. “I had a dream about a party. A big one. A rooftop somewhere. Fancy. I thought it was just a dream because Julius was there. One of those party-with-all-your-enemies dreams and then you walk in naked.”
Tony snort laughed, but Evan had psychic dreams. Some of it could be true. Still, none of this explained what Parker had said—that this was his exit party. A coldness spread over Alice, and the walls closed in.Exit. The board had asked him to resign.
“They’re blackmailing you,” she whispered.
He gave a wolfish grin, as though this was just another Wednesday at the office.
