Page 45 of Remote Access

“Skedaddle?” Lane grinned. “Good word. And what do you mean byall of us? You’ve met the others?”

“I have. Not all, but I’ve met three others. Two like you who do a lot of the legwork and another who works out of his house. She’s the one who manages all the contacts, the travel plans. She’s the other computer nerd, only she is actually being used for those skills.”

“Unwillingly?”

“Are any of us willing?”

“Rasputin seemed to be.”

“Rasputin?”

“The one I turned into a human torch. That’s what we’ve been calling him.”

“Yeah.” He seemed to inhale more than speak the word. “His real name is Fallon. He’s hired muscle and a real nasty character. I’m surprised you got the drop on him.”

“Twice,” Quincy pointed out. “Letsen needs to hire better muscle.”

Penetrating brown eyes narrowed on Quincy. “Mostof the people who work for him didn’t start voluntarily.Most of usstay because we have no choice.”

Quincy knew good and well he wouldn’t get any secrets out of the guy so he didn’t bother to ask what Letsen had on him. But man, he could see what Lane meant by this guy’s humanity hanging on by a thread. He wondered what he’d been like as a young teen. What kind of person he’d been before Hayrick Letsen had gotten his greedy, sadistic paws on him. He eyed the burn scar at the base of his throat.

This man had suffered, too.

“So will you tell us how to get in?” Lane asked, jumping up off the bed again. He came up on his toes, doing that stretching thing he often did, like it was a ritual to calm himself when his nerves were getting the jump on him.

“On one condition: I go with you. I’d like to get my hands on that computer of his. I’ve never seen the actual room it’s in, but I know it’s in the basement with the goods.”

“So, he is keeping some of the collectibles at his place?”

“Oh yeah. Old Hayrick has also been double-crossing a few of his clients. Substituting fakes where he thinks he can get away with it.”

Lane looked at Quincy. “We figured that out after lifting one of those fakes. He’s playing a dangerous fucking game there.”

“Well, I think old Hayrick gets off on danger. Danger and blackmail. The more power he feels he has, the better in his fucked up world.”

“I know he has something on you. Will you be putting someone in danger by helping us?”

Helix looked away, but not before Quincy caught the bleak flash of something heartbreaking pass over his expression. In that moment, his humanity was no longer in question. “Yeah. Give me a day to try and move things around on my end.” He looked back at Lane and this time, his look held real affection. “I should have known you’d be the one to muster up the courage to get something started for us all. Always knew you had it in you. Little as you are, you took what he dished out with more courage than I could have imagined.”

Quincy had to shut his eyes at the thought of what Lane must have dealt with. The low knot of fury living constantly in his gut clenched harder. He needed some air. He stood and squeezed Lane’s arm to get his attention. “I need to call Isaac and check on something. You all right in here?”

“I’m good.” Lane balled up his shirt in his fist to pull him down. He pressed a long, firm, closed-mouthed kiss to Quincy’s lips and whispered, “He’s a good guy, Quincy.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Still, he aimed a fierce warning glare at Helix and knew the man got his message when he nodded and smirked.

Quincy grabbed his phone and walked outside to tell Isaac to hold off releasing the paperwork. Just for now.

* * *

“Got yourself a live one there, don’t you?” Helix asked with another smirk when Quincy left the hotel room.

“For now.”

One brown eyebrow went up. “The connection I’m picking up is a lot more than afor nowsituation. And a cop to boot? Temporary insanity?”

“Something like that,” Lane muttered. “But you and I both know I’ll have to disappear, so whatever I have going on with him can’t last.”

“He’s going to turn us in?”

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