Page 54 of Being Bold
And she’d know that how?
Bo wasn’t the only one wondering as everyone gave her a hard stare. Of course, it didn’t faze Yumi. She chose not to bother elaborating, simply stating, “The auction is your in.”
“Why auction it now if it was operational four years ago?” Herc bit into an apple after his question, and the sound of his chewing filled the silence.
Yumi shot him a look. “He was developing Sentient Shadow for Beijing. The government wants it incorporated into all aspects of the military.”
“But Dao wants to profit from it himself?” Duke cut in.
She shrugged. “The black market does pay more.”
While this information was interesting, it wasn’t helpful. Bo shifted on his feet, scrubbing a hand through his beard. “What’s the demonstration—exactly?” He wanted to know so they could stop it. If the weapon failed, then no one would want to bid on it.
“Chaos.” Yumi shook her head. “He’s going to show it can stop a train, create a fuel leak, and blow up several city blocks that happen to be the spot of a popular night market.”
Selene’s gasp of horror made Bo’s stomach roil. Her face blanched, and he took a comforting step toward her as she whispered in horror. “That’ll kill thousands.”
“We won’t let it,” Bo growled.
“Yeah, well, how do you plan to stop it?” Yumi’s voice wasn’t unkind, but she didn’t sound hopeful either.
When no one had a good answer, she sighed. “We have to destroy it at the source—the servers.”
“Have we found them?” Victor directed the question to Yumi, which meant TOP hadn’t had any luck locating them yet.
“Ihaven’t,” Yumi said, answering Victor with a challenge in her voice.
His frown was hard enough to make your gut quiver. “Okay. Until then, we take precautions. We can shut down the station and cancel the market. Clear the area of civilians.” Victor’s confidence shifted the team into action mode until Yumi took the wind out of their sails.
“He’ll just choose another location.”
“Dammit,” the former Delta Force leader cursed. “We have to do something.”
“If we don’t know where the weapon is, what about its handler?” Bo’s question had all eyes on him. He was as frustrated as the rest but kept his expression stoic. “Can we find Dao? Take him out before he gets a chance to use it again?”
“Now, that’s not a bad idea,” Romeo’s grin held a sinister glint.
“It’s worth a shot,” Victor weighed in.
Yumi looked skeptical. “He’s not stupid. You’d need something to draw him out.”
“Orsomeone,” Duke smirked and nodded toward Selene. “Use her as bait.”
Before he realized what he was doing, Bo’s hands fisted, and he was about to pummel the cocky bastard into the dark coloredcabinets until Herc gripped his shoulder, forcefully holding him in place. “Think, Bo, Dao’s the kind of guy who doesn’t like loose ends, and she’s a big one.”
Always the voice of reason, Victor said, “Herc is right. But anything like that would be up to her. Selene?”
Herc might be right, but that didn’t make Bo more comfortable with the idea. He needed to protect her. Putting her in harm’s way again was completely counter to that objective. He begged her with his eyes to say no as everyone waited for her answer.
She’d caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she thought about it. It made him want to kiss her. Taste the spot with his tongue. Distract her so she wouldn’t have to consider placing herself in danger. But while he wished for a different outcome, her eyes fired with a steely determination. Letting go of her lip, she spoke with a confidence he certainly didn’t feel. “I’ll do it.”
Fucking fuck!
He broke free from Herc’s hold with an angry grunt and shove. Not caring that Victor hadn’t dismissed him, Bo stomped through the house, heading for the door and some air that didn’t smell like bad fucking ideas.
He didn’t like this. He might have a death wish, but taking Selene down with him wasn’t part of the plan.
???
