Chapter 23
Luke Saber Security Logs: worker reported a Samoan Hulk loose in the lab. Officer found Acting DirectorFlint Mendota, then decided to un-find him.
I had miles to go before my head hit the pillow. Celia was dead on her feet when I dropped her off at her townhouse. And I knew she wouldn’t stay awake long after crawling into bed.
Weariness sunk into my bones, but I had two more things to do today before I could sleep.
I banged the door open in Rand Kestrel’s lab. He nearly jumped out of his chair.
“Jesus, man,” Rand grabbed notebooks and beakers that tumbled away when I entered the room.
“Nope. Just going by Flint these days.”
Rand smirked. “Har. Har. You made a mess!”
I inspected his lab. “That mess is always here. I didn’t do a darn thing, except make it better!”
“Is there a reason you’re lurking in my lab at this time of night?”
I tossed the baggie at him. “Yeah, I need you to run some tests on these.”
“What are they?” Rand’s mind was already on the case, puzzling over the bottle and the capsules inside.
“That’s what I need you for!” I winked as I left.
Tatiana called right after I left Celia and told me she had some news. I was much gentler entering T’s domain than I was with Rand. Even though Rand had a good hundred pounds on our resident hacker, Tatiana could fuck my shit up with one keystroke. We knew better than getting on her bad side.
“The Bossman Cometh!” Tatiana yelled as I slid into a visitor’s chair.
I screwed up my face. “That’s a hard no, T.”
She tilted her head at me. “You’re right. Ew. It sounds dirty when I say it out loud.”
I laughed. “Whatcha got for me?”
“I did the deep dive of Echo Cruz’s life,” Tatiana turned to her keyboard, then filled the glass monitor walls with files and photos. “An interesting gal, to say the least.”
I nodded.
“Did you know, Echo was set to join the LPGA?”
I frowned. “Lady golfer?”
“Good enough for the pros,” Tatiana brought up articles about Echo. “Echo Englehorn, her maiden name, was a golf phenom at the University of Mississippi.”
“Ole Miss?”
“Yep. Another good ‘ole SEC school,” Tatiana nodded. “Just not as good as Florida.”
I smirked. “You know my people are from Ole Miss.”
“Oh yeah, you walking giant,” Tatiana snorted. “I know. I just don’t care.”
I bit back the trash talk I wanted to hurl her way. Tatiana and Lou were Gator Nation through and through. But, now was not the time. “Why didn’t she go pro?”
“She got married.”
“Octavio?”
