Page 116 of Throwing Fire

“Yes, sir.”

“Implement. Now.”

“Done, sir.”

“Mother Jo, what was the attempted security command?”

“Cancellation of the contamination alarm in Jielt.”

Someone’s trying to undo our fake emergency. And it ain’t me. Either of me.

I sign off and give the eskey back to Payton. Look down into Kez’s worried face. “We got a problem,” I murmur.

She nods.

“We need a moment alone,” I tell Exeter.

Without argument or hesitation, the merc shows Payton and Acker the door. Before he leaves, he pauses. “No one’s listening. If you need something, all you have to do is ask.”

I hold out my good hand and he shakes it before sealing the door behind him.

“What’s happened?” Kez asks.

“Someone tried to undo our fake emergency.”

Kez frowns. “Who?”

“Me.”

“What?”

“Halemano Hauser gave Mother Jo the command.”

“What?” Kez’s voice shoots up an octave.

“From my office in Hemos Tower.”

“I don’t understand.” Kez rubs her hands over her face. “Does Hale Hauser even have access to Mother Jo?”

“Looks that way. I didn’t set up the account, but she’s been taking security commands from someone using my real name.”

“Which Chiara knows.”

I nod. I had that thought, too.

“Damn. What did you tell Mother Jo to do?”

“Send a security team to detain whoever was in my office, no matter who it is. You’re the only one who can order their release. Maybe we’ll catch ‘em, maybe not. Either way, we know where to look now. After we ruin B’s day, I figure we head back to Hemos and catch us an imposter.”

Kez folds her lips together for a moment before she asks, “What if it’s Chiara?”

I lean in and kiss her on the forehead. “We deal with it. What matters is that we know. We got a chance to catch ‘em all today, kitten. B, Jaxon, and whoever’s been fucking us from the inside.”

“And then we can go to Yrillo?” she asks, her voice small and wistful.

I give her a firmer kiss. “Yeah, we got lots of market research to do.”

Acker,Payton, Exeter and his two mercs wait for us on the ship’s open ramp. We’ve landed on the pad at the top of the tower, and despite the time of day and the season, the wind whipping across the platform is already a hot kiss on my face. Payton’s blinking into it, her braids whipping around her shoulders, when I tap her arm.

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