“Security put everything up on your FTP site. You can download at will.”
“Thank you. Next. Are you listening carefully? EnactPlan Juno.”
There was dead silence on the line, then a deep intake of breath. “Come again?”
“Everything you need is in that file. Most of the money transfers are set up to be automatic. Call our lawyers.”
“But, Jack. We’ve got promises outstanding. Doctors without Borders, Big Brothers, Red Cross.” Her voice rose a couple of octaves as she spoke. “We can’t just pull the plug on all those people.”
“Everything Janice. Make it safe. Now.”
“What kind of danger are you in?”
“There’s a challenger.” Acid burned in his empty stomach, enhanced by worry and last night’s booze. “I need to make sure that he doesn’t get wind of the true value of our clan’s assets.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Just being prudent. We both knew that this might happen someday. I’ll call you as soon as I have more. Keep everything business as usual.”
Jack hung up and downloaded the file on Zoe. There was damn little there except for her hacking career. Not good. He needed more for what he had in mind.
He waited at the top of the dune until he saw Zoe’s lithe figure jogging back down the beach. He watched as she dove into the frigid ocean. She ducked under a large wave, hopped up with another, and let out a shout when one almost knocked her over. Her joyful squeals made him chuckle.
It wasn't long before she toweled down, donned a tiny yellow sundress, and climbed the warming sand dunes towards him. A wet tangle of black hair cascaded in ringlets over her face, momentarily hiding her exotic features and thick soft pouty lips.
Her carefree walk changed to a cautious prowl when she spotted him. She came close, bent at the waist, and shook her head wildly.
“What’re you doing here? How did you find me?” She paused and screwed up her face. “Damn it. Olivia told you where I was, didn’t she? I’m going to kill her.”
The breeze picked up and whipped her hair around her face and the sun ducked under a dark cloud. He wondered if she even knew how she affected the weather.
“I want you,” he growled, trying to keep his demeanor casual, but even he could hear the dark hunger in his voice.
She dismissed him with a wave of her hand and bent at the waist to wrap a towel like a turban around her hair. The sun’s rays came out again and sparkled on her still damp skin.
“We stopped. I want to try again.” He took a step towards her.
“Where was that footnote, page two hundred and ninety-eight?” Her frown started to crack at the edges.
“You’ve been studying our clan?” It was all he could do to hide a satisfied smirk. He raised his eyebrows and stepped a little closer. Sand, salt water and a sexy scent assaulted his nostrils.
“I stayed up until two in the morning with the biggest book on sex sinceMasters and Johnson. You guys have an awful lot of mating rules. How do you keep track? It would seem to me like a little sex should be a lot easier than a three hundred page book.”
Put like that, she made his chances sound slim.
“Those are just the rules for a few days out of the year. The rest of the time we’re pretty much like everyone else.”
“I highly doubt that,” she scoffed. “Tell you what. I’ve got a suggestion. Why not subtract a few pages from that bible this year? Excuse me. I need to give one interfering-healer-witch a piece of my mind.”
She turned on her heel and headed smartly towards the street.
Jack put his hands at her waist to hold her back. They gasped simultaneously and stared mutely, as fire and wind ran through them. Good God, when they finally got together, they were going to spontaneously ignite.
He waited for his racing heart to slow, but he couldn’t let go.Patience. Stakes are far too high to fuck up now.
“Don’t touch me,” she whimpered, fear blazing in her eyes.
Shit. He let go and held his hands up in surrender.
