Zephyr sits back down, and I scoot closer to her and turn the tablet so we’re both on screen. She reaches for my hand, just out of the frame, and holds on tight. “Um, hi?”
“You can’t tell anyone she’s here. Dax gave me until tomorrow afternoon…”
“We know.” Wren splits the screen again. “Dante Lambert joined the security service a year before Yoden’s assassination, but he’s never been attached to the investigation. His personnel records indicate he’s been reprimanded a dozen times for general…”
“Fuckery,” Ryker supplies.
“Hush.” A new photo appears on screen, this one grainy, but very obviously Zephyr. “Stockholm, the day of Yoden’s murder. Pretty safe to say Zephyr wasn’t anywhere near São Paulo. Unless she figured out how to teleport, in which case, Ry and Dax are going to hire her on the spot.”
“Will that stand up in court?” I ask. “Is it enough?”
“I can send this to Peter Niehaus right now.” Wren angles her gaze at Zephyr. “If you’re okay with that. If not, I’ll keep it between us.”
“You’re askingme?” Zephyr shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”
Wren smiles. “Second Sight and Hidden Agenda—that’s the K&R firm Ry started out here in Seattle—we don’t keep secrets. And we don’t go behind each other’s backs. I realize you don’t have any reason to trust me, but it’s the truth.”
“Ronan’s the first person I’ve trusted in…years. It’s not…easy for me.” Squeezing my fingers to the point of pain, she sucks in a long, slow breath. “If Niehaus gets that photo, how do we know Dante won’t see it too? If he finds out I have help…”
“Leave that to me,” Ryker says. “I’ll call Pritchard. Have him make contact with Niehaus. Wren can send him the photo on a backchannel.”
“Pritchard?” Zephyr shoots me a fearful look. “Who’s…Pritchard?”
“Stars and Bars was the head of the Joint Special Operations Command. He’s got clout. Even now.” Ryker’s about to get up, but Wren stops him.
“Hand on the bump, tough guy. You can wait five minutes to call Austin,” Wren says. “This baby is going to kick soon and you’regoingto feel it. End of discussion.”
Ry grumbles something unintelligible and with his free hand, pulls out his phone and starts texting.
Wren moves his fingers slightly lower before returning her focus to us. “Zephyr? Ronan said you had information that could take the cartel down. I don’t need to know what it is or where it is, but is it safe?”
“Yes. I have an encrypted cloud storage account with a sixteen-word passphrase. One fully mirrored backup storage account, same level of security, but different passcode.”
Wren’s jaw drops for a split second. “Spitsnacks. Ry? You, Dax, or Austin need to hire her right flipping now.”
“Spitsnacks?” Zephyr asks. “What the hell?”
“Wren doesn’t swear. Much. You get used to it. And I told you she’d love you.” Bringing our joined hands to my lips, I brush a kiss to her knuckles. Fuck hiding. Wren and Ryker guessed my feelings for her in under a minute, and I’m not wasting any more time.
“You’re hired,” Ryker says. “You can decide who you work for when this is all over. Or tell us all to fuck off. After the cartel’staken care of, your life is your own.”
Zephyr swallows hard, and her eyes crinkle with pain. Shit. I didn’t even think her neck might be sore after Theo tried to strangle her earlier today. Her voice isn’t steady, but she meets Wren’s gaze through the screen. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Right now, all you have to do is come up with a contingency plan for that data.” Wren fiddles with her keyboard and initiates a file transfer to my tablet. “I’m sending Ronan a temporary passkey to a file share only I have access to. Full disclosure, Cam, who’s married to West, who works for Ry, ismycontingency should anything happen to me.”
“Contingency?” Zephyr asks.
“If I die. Or for when I have the baby and have to be out of commission for a few hours.” She’s so matter-of-fact, but Ryker’s eyes harden.
“Sweetheart—”
“Ry, I’mfine.The baby’sfine.But you know it’s stupid not to plan for this stuff. Calm down. Now, Zephyr, if you decide to upload a copy there, be aware it’ll log your IP address and location unless you mask them, but I’m guessing you know how to do that.”
“I do. You’ll make sure it gets to the right people? If…”
“Shh, luv. Nothin’ is goin’ to happen to you. We’ll go to Dax with all of this tomorrow. Wren? Can you check traffic cams in a three block radius around Harold and Monroe? We’re lookin’ for Zephyr’s brother, Oliver, and a piece of shit named Theo. Theo and Zephyr had a dust up in an alley at 2:45 p.m., and Theo ran off, presumably toward their car. We need to know where they’re hidin’ out so we can put an end to them.”
“On it,” she says, scribbling on a piece of paper. “It’ll take a bit. Doctor doesn’t want me working more than eight hours a day, but I’ll do what I can tonight and then pass it off to Ripper or Cam. I won’t tell them what it’s for, Zephyr. I promise.”
