Page 74 of Assassin's Game
It took me a moment to pull myself away from the fantasy of lifting her fully onto the desk, stripping her clothes, spreading her legs, and fucking us both senseless. Mikaela waved her hand in front of my face, a spark in her gaze telling me she might have guessed the direction of my thoughts. I wheeled my chair back and turned off the music before I stood to stretch. “I found lots of good stuff, Beautiful, just like I always do.”
Diesel came fully out from beneath the desk to lean against her leg, brown eyes begging for affection. I’m not even sure Mikaela realized what she was doing as she rubbed his ears. “You always find good stuff, huh?” she asked, grinning.
“Always.” My voice dropped as I stared at her mouth, turning the word into a growl.
Remi slapped me on the back as he joined us. “For fuck’s sake, quit the sex talk and get on with work.”
“Who said anything about sex?” Mikaela asked.
She wasn’t wrong, but Remi smirked. “I’m practically an old married man. I know sex talk when I hear it.”
Mikaela laughed, a blush painting her cheeks the faintest pink.
“So?” Levi asked, arriving as well.
“So”—I pulled my mouse closer and planted a fist on the desk, leaned in to look at the screens—“I think I found some things that might help us.”
“Like what?”
Reaching behind myself with one foot, I blindly scooted my chair forward and sat despite clicking on various screens and programs. “Like this.”
The two wall-mounted screens above the desk came alive. On the left was the system operations I’d managed to capture, data streaming back to X’s compound via the line the drone had hacked through our jammer. Levi cursed as he recognized the aerial view of the mansion. “Is this live?”
“It’s not,” I said and gestured to the right-hand screen. “That is.” That screen showed continued data collection, but being fed back to us, not forwarded to X. A closed loop he wasn’t aware of.
“What are we looking at?” Remi asked as he stared at the video of land flying by.
I grinned my best shit-eating grin. “I have the data X was collecting on us set up to loop, over and over, in a continuous stream. Video programs, systems, everything. That’s what you’re seeing on the left. When we’re ready to shut down the drone, that stream will die.”
“I’ve never heard of any system capable of doing that,” Mikaela said.
“A little program I wrote,” I said. Mikaela snorted, muttered, “Show-off.” I bumped my shoulder against her hip.
On the right screen, the rapid progress of land below the drone slowed. “This screen is current land coverage from the drone. It’s approaching the location it was launched from, hopefully X’s location.”
“Why is it slowing?” Mikaela asked.
“Based on what we know about X, we have to assume he’s a paranoid bastard. I programmed the drone to hover no closer than a hundred yards out.”
“Anti-drone tech?” Remi asked.
“Oh, most definitely,” I confirmed. “I’ll skim the outer edges of the property, get as much video and intel as I can. This baby also has thermal and infrared capabilities, so we might even be able to get a body count.”
Levi smacked me on the back. “Great work, bro.”
Remi raised his eyebrows. “High praise indeed.”
“He’ll make me pay for it later, I don’t doubt.”
“Leah just called down to say dinner is ready,” Levi said. “Want us to bring you a plate?”
“Not coming up?” Mikaela asked. Was that disappointment I heard?
“Can’t.” I pointed to the screen. “Time sensitive. Got to stay here and watch this.” I raised my voice so Levi could hear. “But a plate would be nice, slave driver!”
Levi shot a bird over his shoulder as he stepped onto the elevator.
“I’ll bring down some food,” Mikaela said.
