Sawyer goes to step forward and I hold my hand out; I have to handle this.
I point for him to go and stand by Frost, and I take the chair in front of the desk.
“I understand that you’re frustrated but let’s get one thing straight, you will not call me a bitch. Ever. It’s either Boss or Miss Rossi. Otherwise the only thing that will happen when we get you out of here is an extraction team will take you out with your first breath of freedom. Do we understand each other?”
His nose screws up and his lips purse together. I hold my hands around my ear and lean forward slightly.
“Understood, Boss,” he snaps and I hear someone behind me snort.
“Now I apologise that things have not been running smoothly, and that’s being rectified. I’ve read over your file, and we will have you out by the end of the week.”
“End of the week?!” he yells, thrashing himself around.
“Beast, the way I see it is you were sloppy and got caught. How is that my fault?”
“The backup team never arrived. They were supposed to be at the meeting point. No one else knew where I was besides them.”
“They said you weren’t there, that you radioed in that you’d be working alone.”
“That’s bullshit! I was there and ambushed by the cops.”
“Shit,” Sawyer swears softly behind me and I turn back to look at him. He’s pulled his phone out, which I’m sure he shouldn’t have in here either.
“Dad, pay the bail and organise a transport team, we’re extracting Amelie now.”
“What’s going on?” I ask as Frost pulls his gun and Sawyer moves to my right.
“Harold, I’m presuming. He must still have access to our servers. I need to get us out of here just in case he has something planned. We can’t risk your safety.”
“What about me? I’m a sitting duck!” The Beast complains.
“You will be released within the hour and brought to our headquarters. I will see you there.”
We’re ushered out of the room and back to Frost’s car. Sawyer is on the phone talking to the analysts and computer specialists, instructing them to do an overhaul of the system and to find out how Harold is still in.
“Where are we going?” I ask Frost, who’s speeding through the streets like he is on the set of The Fast and the Furious.
“To take you to the safe house,” he answers without looking at me.
“No, I’m going to headquarters.”
I can see the indecisive look wash across his face and he briefly glances at Sawyer.
“Don’t look at him, this is an order. I’m coming with you.”
He nods his head and changes direction, just as Sawyer ends his call and looks back at me.
“That’s not a good idea, what if he targets headquarters?”
“I doubt he’s making a move yet, he’ll be messing with us just to let us know that he still can. When he rears his ugly head, he’ll want everyone to know. He’ll want an audience, too, no doubt. Today is not the day. Message your brothers and get them to meet us at HQ, and I need an ETA on the new board. We need to make some permanent changes, and soon.”
“Already done, the new board will be announced after your inauguration.”
We soon pull up to the gates of the headquarters building, and they open automatically. They were obviously expecting us, though, because three beefy guys greet the car, and Frost immediately starts to brief them. Sawyer and I walk into the building and he leads me down to an office.
Kalen, Slate and Onyx are already here, standing over a very scrawny guy who is typing away at a computer.
“Any update?” Sawyer asks, and everyone looks at us.
