JJ frowned. “Yeah. Why?”
“Trey said he’s helpin’ them with some research.”
That cold that had filled her marrow flashed hot for a moment, then froze over again.
“That rat bastard,” she muttered, turning away from Baz, and for the first time since she woke up in her blood-sprayed house, something other than fear slammed into her.
“You don’t like Luca?”
“I’m not talkin’ about Luca,” she snapped back, staring out the window as though that might possibly help. “I’m talkin’ about Brantley, the rat bastard traitor. I should’ve known he’d do this.”
Baz’s voice sounded closer when he said, “Dowhatexactly?”
“Replace me.”
“I … uh… JJ, I don’t think that’s what he’s doin’.”
She spun around, grateful for the energy that came along with all those emotions beginning to churn through her. “I am damn good at what I do, Baz. No, I’mbetterthan damn good. I’m … I’m brilliant.”
A smile pulled at his mouth. “Modesty’ll get you everywhere in life.”
JJ ignored his teasing. “And I know a lot of brilliant people who can’t quite do what I do.”
“Okay. We’ve established you’re brilliant. What’s the point here?”
JJ narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Luca Switzer is … the asshole’s a freaking genius.”
Baz’s eyebrows dipped low. “I’m confused. You’re brilliant, but Luca’s a genius.”
“Yes, damn it. And Brantley traded me in for an upgraded model.”
Now Baz laughed, a sharp echo in the enormous room. “I seriously doubt that’s what happened. I think he’s just trying to figure out what’s goin’ on, and he doesn’t want to put that burden on you.”
“I deserve that burden,” she argued, her tone that of a petulant, bitter child. “It’s mine to have if I want it.”
Baz continued to stare at her, amusement glittering in his otherworldly eyes. “And I assume this means you’re gonna take it?”
“Damn right I am.” JJ yanked the blanket off her shoulders, tossed it onto the bed as she strolled toward the door. “I need a computer.”
Chapter Eighteen
It was déjà vu.
The first and only time Brantley had come to the governor’s mansion had been when Dante called at his mother’s request because Katrina Greenwood believed her daughter had been kidnapped.
She’d been right.
When William Dugan felt the Off the Books Task Force was getting too close to figuring him out, he’d resorted to drastic measures. Corinne had been taken right out of her apartment by a man who had a penchant for keeping young women, sometimes girls, against their will, brainwashing them into believing he was their husband, then murdering them when they were no longer of use.
Katrina’s instincts had been spot on, and because of that, they’d managed to find Corinne as well as Lauren Tyler, a girl who’d gone missing from Coyote Ridge ten years earlier.
“It sucks that we’re doin’ this again,” he muttered to Reese and Trey as the three of them stepped into the house using the back entrance. Brantley had brought his brother along to ensure someone was able to stay with the Greenwoods throughout the ordeal.
“That it does,” Reese replied.
Instead of Dante greeting them, this time they were met by Corinne. She looked tired, not even close to her usual vibrant twenty-four-year-old self.
Brantley could see the concern and fear etched on her pretty face as she greeted them with hugs.
