Page 3 of Barely Breathing
“I know you put together dossiers on the group at Midnight, Inc.More importantly, they know, as well.I doubt the head of the company is real happy about it.”
She held her silence.She’d never meant to piss off people, but that just seemed to be another skill she possessed.
“The head of the group is Jack Madigan,” her dad stated as if she didn’t already know.
“Midnight himself.”
“He’s not a man to tangle with, Honor.”
He knew she’d put together Madigan’s file.Did he think she hadn’t read it?She knew what all the people employed at Midnight were capable of.And, as far as she was concerned, Madigan wasn’t the most lethal of the group.She was confident they were exactly what she needed in her current situation.
“Are you listening to me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Damn it, Honor!”
She softened, just as she almost always did.
“Yes, Daddy.I’m listening.”
Okay, soDaddywas a sneak attack.The word got to him like nothing else could.She found it funny how he’d brought her up to be the way she was and now wanted to change her.
“You can’t go waltzing onto their turf and expect them to play nice.Not with them knowing you researched them.”
“It’s important to research prospective employers.”She hadn’t really thought about a job, but it might be exactly what she needed.
“Over my dead body.”
“You fired me, remember?You can’t get mad at me for job searching, using the only skills I have.”
“One phone call and you won’t make it in the door.”
“Make that call, and there’s no telling where I’ll be when you make it back.”
“Are you threatening me, little girl?”
She snorted.Yet, another habit her dad had taught her, one he took offense to, now.
“I was taught never to make a threat I don’t plan to back up.”
He sighed again.He seemed to sigh a lot when he spoke to her.“Think hard about the choices you’re making right now.Be sure you can handle the consequences.”
She wanted to be alive to handle them.She decided to try to bluff her way through the conversation.Her father wasn’t anywhere nearby.He didn’t know for sure where she was going.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid.”Technically, it wasn’t a bald-faced lie.She’d already done something stupid.Sometimes, semantics mattered.Besides, he was drawing conclusions from her research.She didn’t need to admit to anything.“I’m taking a vacation.Going to get some R&R for a bit.Stop worrying so much.You sound like an old woman.”
Her dad laughed, and she smiled.His laugh conjured all sorts of great memories.
“You’re heading straight into the lion’s den, Honor.I can see the dot on the map.At your current speed, you’ll be in Legacy by early evening.”
“Son of a bitch!”she exploded.He had a fucking beacon on her car!“Where is it?Where did you hide it?”
“I’m not telling you.Searching for it will keep you busy for a while.”
“I’ll just ditch the damn car.”
“The car you’ve had since you were a kid?The one you’ve tweaked and computerized as much as you can.Not a chance.You’ll take it apart and put it back together to find the tracker, but you won’t get rid of it.”
