“Everyone in this room gets an earpiece. Com system. We'll all be connected on the same channel." Reo swallowed. "Everyone here knows what's actually happening. We coordinate in real-time, silent communication. But. . ."
His gaze landed directly on me. "Your stylist cannot know what we're doing. I believe she brought a cousin with her too. Correct?”
“She did.”
“They can’t know anything.”
“I understand.”
“Zo and Hiroko cannot know about this either."
My stomach dropped slightly. “Of course.”
Reo's voice was firm. "Everything discussed in this room stays in this room. Right now, in this moment, we can't trust anybody outside these walls. Not the Dragon's guards. Not your guards. Not the household staff. Not friends or family."
Reo looked at each person individually and then glanced at Kaoru. “Not even two very loyal girlfriends.”
Kaoru frowned. “Understood, Roar.”
"The only people we trust are sitting at this table. That's it. No one else."
The weight of that settled over my shoulders.
Kenji turned to me. "Can you do that? Keep this from them for an entire day?"
“Yeah.”
“How do you feel about this plan?”
“I feel safe. Claws will be in the room. The Fangs will be hidden and near. Reo and you will be barely three minutes away. This will work.”
Kenji still didn’t appear pleased at all, but he knew the stakes were high. If he wanted the war won, he had to get rid of the snakes.
Hiro interrupted my thoughts. "The stylist won't suspect anything?"
"She'll be completely focused on my head. When she's in the zone, she doesn't notice anything else. There could be a bombgoing off and she'd just ask people to be quiet so she can concentrate."
A few people smiled at that.
Reo looked satisfied. "Good. We announce the movie event tonight. Make it seem spontaneous—'Island Morale Day' or something similar. Sign-ups open immediately. "
"What movies are we showing?" Toma asked.
Kenji's voice was sharp. "Does it matter?"
"Just curious, boss."
"We'll pick popular films," Reo turned off his tablet. "Action, thriller, maybe one comedy. Things that would naturally draw different crowds."
Everything was falling into place.
The trap was being set.
Now we just had to wait for the spies to walk into it.
But. . .just as the tension began to settle into focused determination, Hiro spoke, "And after we catch the spies. . .we celebrate. With the dinner and cocktail party Nyomi promised the Claws."
Everyone blinked.
