Giles, immaculate as usual in a navy pinstriped suit, white shirt and cravat, gave a pained sigh.“That’s a matter of opinion.I only dragged myself up here to tell you that we are back in the conference room today.We need more space and Warden wants to join us.He’s had better kit set up for Emmett and rescheduled other meetings that were booked in there.”
“Probably wants to make sure we don’t kill each other,” Bryn said.
“Aren’t you all sunshine and flowers before your coffee?Where’s Detective Ericson?”
“Dunno.He often runs at this uncivilized time of day.”
“Hmm.You still can’t lie worth a damn.No matter.Try to be quicker than the average sloth.”
Giles turned on his heel, leaving Bryn scowling at his back.“There is not enough coffee in the city to give me the will to deal with him.”He shut the door.“Shower.Coffee.Food.Giles fucking Delacourt can wait.”
Within half an hour, he and Gunnar were fit to face the world.Giles had already commandeered the conference table, spreading documents across the available space.Warden sat at the head of the table, his expression unreadable.
“Ah, you’re here,” Giles said without looking up.“I trust you both slept well?”
Bryn ignored both the stated question and the implied one.“What’s all this?”
“Your new life, dear boy.”Giles slid a thick folder across the table.“For the next three days, you’re Bryan Reid-Cobb, my indispensable executive assistant.Yale educated, ruthlessly efficient, and devoted to the success of my business.”
Emmett hurried in.“Sorry I’m late!But I found something about their hiring patterns that you need to see.”He headed for his computer set up next to Warden.
“Hold that thought, Emmett.First,” Warden said, “let’s be clear about the timeline.The investor event is Thursday morning.That gives us three days to transform Bryn into a convincing executive assistant and ensure our cover story will hold up to scrutiny.”
“Which is why,” Giles said, “Bryn and I have an appointment later this morning with Boston’s finest tailor.It’s not Saville Row, but needs must.I can’t have my assistant looking like he shops at…thrift stores.”
Bryn gritted his teeth.“There’s nothing wrong with thrift stores and I’m not your dress-up doll.”
“No, you’re a professional about to infiltrate a highly secured facility where the slightest mistake could get you killed.”Giles’ voice had a steel edge.“So you’ll wear what I tell you to wear and learn what I tell you to learn.Unless you’d prefer to explain to the next victim’s family why we failed?”
Bryn put a restraining hand on Gunnar’s arm.“He’s doing it deliberately.Ignore him.”
“Tone it down, Delacourt, or you and I are gonna have a problem.”Gunnar gave a warning growl.
“How sweet.Shall we continue?”
Bryn shrugged.“Get on with it.”
Giles smoothed his cravat.“After the tailor, we’ll need to address that hair.”
“What’s wrong with my hair?”Bryn’s hand went to his head.
“Nothing that a proper stylist can’t fix.”Giles’ smile didn’t reach his eyes.“Bryan Reid-Cobb wouldn’t be caught dead with that mess.”
“You’re enjoying this way too much.”Gunnar gave Warden an accusing glance as if to say ‘this is all your fault’.
“On the contrary, Detective Ericson.I’m simply ensuring our success.”Giles turned to Warden.“Speaking of which, have you made any progress on the security protocols?”
Warden nodded toward Emmett, who pulled up a series of diagrams on the screen at the end of the room.“Their system is state of the art, but the IT geeks have identified several potential weak points.The investor event will give you the best chance to get close enough to exploit them.”
“Show me,” Bryn said, grateful for the change in topic.He studied the building schematics on the screen while trying to ignore how Giles’ presence made his skin crawl.
“The main security hub is here”—Emmett pointed—“but there’s a secondary system that operates independently.That’s where it gets interesting.”
“And complicated,” Warden added.“One wrong move and—”
“And I end up dead,” Bryn finished.“Yeah, I got that part.”He felt Gunnar tense beside him and wished, not for the first time, that they could reach for each other openly.But that would give Giles too much ammunition, and they couldn’t afford any distractions.Not with so much at stake.
“Once you’re in, it shouldn’t be difficult to get reads through introductory handshakes,” Warden said.
