Page 38 of The Last Strike

She had trouble holding his gaze. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

Theodora looked down, shaking her head softly. “They’re my family, biologically. I know what needs to be done—what should be done—but it’s still harder than I thought it would be.”

She sighed heavily, chewing on her cheek—and then it was like a switch flicked in her mind. “The water supply. He poisoned the water reserves that supply our poorest region. He said they were too much of a burden, that they were slowing Adani’s progress.”

“I know about the poisoning,” Asher said. “We’ll release that, but I need something else too.”

“You do?” she asked, her eyebrows weaving together.

Asher nodded.

“Hmm ...” she mused, looking to the right corner of the ceiling. Her eyes darkened.

“Can I have access to a computer?” she asked.

“Probably, but that depends. What do you want it for?” Asher asked. He was no tech guru, but he thought Samuel would be able to create a secure connection that couldn’t trace whatever site she wanted to log into and wouldn’t alert anyone tracking her online activity. He would also need Samuel to control what she was allowed to type so she couldn’t leak her location if she was indeed playing Asher.

“I want to show you a video,” Theodora said. “Or, rather, I want to show Abi a video. I think she’ll find it very interesting.”

Asher’s eyebrows lifted and the pit of his stomach churned. He didn’t want Abi involved in this mess. He wanted to protect her—from everything.

He shook his head. He also knew he couldn’t do that with Abi; she didn’t need him to protect her. Abi was one of the strongest people he’d met, one of the most fearless ... but that didn’t quench his need to protect her.

Protecting her was also about protecting himself though. If he lost her, he would spiral. He didn’t know if he’d be able to get up in the morning. He didn’t know if he’d be able to live with himself if there was something he could’ve done to protect her, and he hadn’t done it.

Asher’s mind reeled, but he couldn’t go there, not right now.

“Why would Abi find it interesting?” Asher asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.

“My father started hanging around with an interesting crowd. I don’t know for sure, but I think Abi might know them from her work with IFRT. There’s money in trafficking, and my father is an opportunist—he’s always looking for new prospects to increase his wealth and control over the region. He doesn’t care what the opportunity is, as long as he benefits.” Theodora looked to Asher. “He has become so confident in his control over the region that he’s grown bold. Too bold. He’s let it consume him, and he’s lost himself in the process. He wasn’t always like this,” she said, shaking her head sadly. “At least I don’t think he was. He used to be an ally to this region, to your father. Then he became greedy and let his love of money and power make his decisions.”

Asher nodded understandingly. “I’ll organize a computer for you,” he said, wondering if Samuel would object to this. Surely he could disable the laptop if he thought she was attempting to do something she shouldn’t be doing, such as making her location known.

When one of the guards came forward with a laptop, Asher assumed Samuel didn’t share his concerns.

“Thank you,” Asher said, pausing when he saw Theodora’s face. She looked like she’d just seen a unicorn.

“Efficient,” she said under her breath.

Asher passed the laptop to her.

She hesitated. “I suppose it doesn’t matter,” she said in a hushed whisper.

“What doesn’t matter?” Asher asked.

“That I’m putting my password in your computer,” she said.

Asher shook his head gently. “Doesn’t matter,” he said, knowing Samuel could almost certainly hack any account she had, password or not.

She typed for a few seconds, tapped another key, and sat back for a moment. Then she leaned forward, hitting various keys until she turned the laptop to face Asher.

An image displayed with a white triangle on it. He pressed the button, and the video began.

King Khalil was surrounded by perhaps ten other men. It wasn’t immediately obvious if they were guards or acquaintances, but if they were guards, they were doing a poor job. They were drinking and eating and acting like they didn’t have a care in the world. The image quality was poor, and the sound poorer.

But it didn’t take long for Asher to see why Theodora had shown him this video.

A young girl—surely no older than twelve years of age—walked into the center of the room, like she was participating in some kind of fashion show, but she had no clothes on.

---