Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 516(@300wpm)
“Kyle.” Ian was suddenly serious again. “Do not kill the Canadian dude in here.”
“Tarp,” his aunt said sharply before turning back to her call.
MaeBe’s eyes rolled again. “He’s not killing anyone. We talked about this. You yourself said he was either really bad at stabbing or really good at it.”
“Good at it.” Joseph leaned against the back wall of the office, as if he wanted to make sure no one could come up behind him. “The key is going for the upper left quadrant. Not a lot there. You have to go low enough that you don’t hit a lung and far enough over you don’t nick the pancreas. Neither of which I did, and she did not make it easy on me. She moved a lot.”
“Well, I was trying to avoid getting stabbed altogether. So you weren’t trying to lift Vanessa’s handbag.” MaeBe was taking the news with her usual aplomb.
He was not. “No, he was trying to hurt you.”
“I was trying to fulfill the requests of my employer, who is also my target,” Joseph replied. “Trust me. She’s made a study of you, Ms. Vaughn.”
“You can call me Mae or MaeBe,” MaeBe offered.
“Ms. Vaughn works great.” He didn’t like the way Joseph looked at her. It hadn’t escaped him that the other man was roughly their age and beyond fit. He actually looked a bit like Kyle himself, which was probably Julia’s attraction to him.
Joseph ignored him completely. “Most of that study was based on my work. When Julia wanted to send a message, I planned it out. I had been shadowing you for a couple of days and realized this was going to be your first time doing something physical for an op. I took into account that you would take note of me. That’s precisely why I followed Ms. Hale into that alley. I knew you would be worried and follow me.”
“That was a ridiculous gamble.” The man obviously had no idea what he was doing. “She could have left early. She could have gone a different way. She could have ignored the situation entirely.”
Joseph’s head shook. “No. She was always going to make sure Vanessa was safe. It’s who she is. She couldn’t have made a different choice.”
He felt a low growl threaten to begin. Perhaps he didn’t need a knife. He could rip the man apart with his bare hands, and then Joseph would know not to shadow his girl.
The man needed to understand that just because they had a few things in common didn’t mean they needed to share anything. Including the earth they were both walking on at this moment.
“There’s one problem with this scenario. Canada doesn’t have a foreign intelligence agency.” Taylor watched the man warily.
“Not one we recognize in the public.” Joseph had been polite the whole time. “I know we have a reputation as the naïve children of the world, but don’t think we won’t protect our country. We know how good we have it, and we won’t allow ourselves to be stepped on. A few years back we realized the US wasn’t as stable as we’d once believed, and that relying on the CIA for our foreign intelligence was a mistake. I was one of the first agents recruited. Someday we’ll have a formally recognized agency. I’m going to build it on the back of the work I’ve done here. I’m going to take down The Consortium, and they’ll hand the reins over to me.”
“Will they pay you in maple donuts?” His uncle was grinning again.
“Only if I’m lucky.” Joseph gave his uncle a thumbs-up.
Kyle was planning on taking this guy seriously. He was either lying or he wasn’t, and either way they had problems. “Taking down The Consortium is your mission?”
“A few years back my government realized that certain companies were colluding to keep prices high. They used the pandemic to destabilize markets and send corporate profits soaring. Beyond that, these companies are manipulating politicians and attempting to set policy that is favorable to them, not to the public. They use their media conglomerates to spread disinformation and keep the public on edge so they don’t see what’s actually happening. My country wants it stopped,” Joseph explained.
“Everyone wants it stopped.” Drake sat down on the couch, keeping his eyes on Joseph.
“Do they? Has the Agency made it a top priority? Or are they all playing the stock market?” For the first time, Joseph sounded a bit savage.
“Don’t question my motives,” Drake retorted.
“Hey, you know he’s right.” Ian sat back in his chair. “There are forces in the Agency that would rather see the stock market rise than ensure it’s being done fairly. You’ve spent your whole life in politics and intelligence.” Ian chuckled. “See, I did it, too. Put together two words that do not match. Just like you, buddy.”