Hell on Wheels (Black Knights Inc. #1)(24)

“Say what?” Ozzie turned away from the computers. “I don’t remember getting any authorization for that.”

“It didn’t come through the usual channel. It was on his personal computer. He was only gone for one evening. Came home early in the morning. I just figured he was doing some off-the-books work.”

“The hell you say,” Nate barked and Ali jumped. She totally forgot about trying to ascertain what dark secrets they were still keeping from her, what chilling knowledge had caused them all such immediate anguish, when she turned to see Nate’s livid expression. “He never told me anything about that.”

“You were away doing that Colombian job with Mac and Christian,” Becky supplied, wiping the last of her tears away with the back of her hands.

“How do you just happen to know what’s in Grigg’s personal correspondence, Rebecca?” Frank growled.

“Uh,” Becky nervously glanced toward Ozzie. The young man’s face was totally covered in oh-you’ve-done-it-this-time.

Frank glanced back and forth between the two. “What? What have you two been up to?”

“Okay,” Becky said, chewing on the soggy stick of her last sucker. “See, the thing is, me and Ozzie have an equitable little exchange going. I teach him how to disassemble, clean, and reinstall a carburetor, and he teaches me how to code. I teach him how to fabricate an oil tank, and he teaches me how to hack.”

“And that hacking includes personal email accounts?” Frank asked, his expression like a thundercloud. “Rebecca! Damnit!”

“Hey,” she yelled back in defense, “I thought he might’ve been in trouble! We were supposed to order pizza and watch a movie that night. But after he checked his email, he suddenly said he had to bail on me. He grabbed up his go-bag and a fistful of extra magazines and made tracks like the hounds of hell were baying at his heels. I got worried, so I,” she shrugged, protectively wrapping her arms around herself, “I peeked.”

“You peeked? At personal files? That’s not okay, Rebecca. Sticking your nose in the wrong place could very well get you killed one of these days. Do you understand me? Say you understand me,” Frank pressed and Becky dutifully nodded her head, but then she opened her mouth. Before she got a chance to say whatever it was she was about to say, Frank angrily waved her off. “No. Absolutely not. That’s the end of the discussion.”

Becky snapped her mouth closed and settled back in her chair, her face a mixture of defiance and misery, and Ali couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy. She understood the need to keep close tabs on those she loved and knew from first-hand experience how frustrating it could be when she couldn’t do that. She also knew that, like Becky, if she’d had a way to inconspicuously dig around in Grigg’s business, she’d have used it and not thought twice.

Maybe it had something to do with that extra X chromosome. Something about having a uterus and set of ovaries just made a person intrinsically more curious and infinitely more nosy. Whatever it was, she did her sisterly duty and flashed Becky a brief look of alliance. Becky smiled shakily in response.

“He never mentioned the job to you?” Frank asked Nate.

“Never.”

“Huh.” The big man rubbed his stubbled chin, shooting one last disgusted look at Becky, before turning toward the wall of computers. “Ozzie? You mind accessing Nate’s account to see just what Rebecca’s talking about?”

“Already on it, Boss.” Ozzie said.

Something was obviously…off about this entire scenario.

Ali’s stomach—never a reliable organ—turned over again. She grabbed her Coke and took a hasty sip.

“Is it unusual for one of you to take an off-the-books assignment?” she asked, some sixth sense telling her she wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Yeah,” Frank emphasized. She gulped more soda. “Unusual in that it’s just not done. Ever. And even if we did agree to take on independent work, we’d never accept a job without letting at least one member of the team know about it. You know, in case backup’s needed.”

Crapola.

“See,” Becky grumbled. “Now you know why I was so worried and why I…”

Frank flung her a look so ferocious the young woman’s shoulders hitched up around her ears as she trailed off, dutifully fixing her eyes on the table in front of her.

“Huh,” Ozzie interrupted, and Ali decided she was beginning to hate that word. “Simple and concise. Someone from the FBI, a Special Agent Jordan Delaney, asked Grigg to perform a private security detail for a party Senator Aldus threw for the Pakistani Ambassador to the Vatican. Dude,” Ozzie groused, “there’s a goddamned official for everything.” Shaking his shaggy blond head, he continued. “Anyway, according to this, more specific information was supposed to be forthcoming upon Grigg’s arrival in DC.”

“Get Special Agent Delaney on the phone,” Frank commanded. “Let’s figure out just what the hell is going on here.”

Ali couldn’t help but wholeheartedly agree.

“Uh-oh,” Ozzie murmured, and she decided that was another phrase she could do without. “No go on talking to Delaney. The man’s dead.”

“Dead?” Frank bellowed. “How? When?”