That lands wrong in my chest.
“You don’t get taken anywhere without me,” I say.
“That may not be your choice.”
“It is my choice. I brought you here.”
She glances at me briefly. Below, the first man raises the phone again.
“This will simplify matters,” he says.
Kat exhales once, then walks toward the stairs offering herself. I grab her wrist and she turns.
“I need to hear what he’s offering,” she says.
“You don’t need to hear it alone.”
“They won’t agree.”
“They don’t have to.”
We reach the bottom of the mezzanine stairs. The first man holds out the phone with a polite smile.
“Your contact would like to speak with you.”
Kat takes the phone.
“Put it on speaker,” I say.
The man’s smile tightens.
“That won’t be possible.”
I step forward half an inch.
“Then neither is she.”
There it is, I’ve set the first boundary. The second man’s posture hardens, but not overtly. I can tell though … he’s ready.
Kat handles the phone, putting it on speaker. The voice that answers is calm, yet controlled.
“You’ve delayed long enough,” he says.
She doesn’t react outwardly.
“I was verifying irregularities,” she replies evenly.
“You were stalling,” the voice corrects.
My jaw tightens.
“You will clear the shipment,” the voice continues. “Now.”
“What if I’m not ready?” she asks.
There’s a slight pause on the other end. Then:
“You will make yourself ready. Once it’s done, you can collect your portion and move on from this. It only takes minutes to transfer … perhaps only seconds.”
