Page 22 of Coup De Grâce
“Playing both sides,” Jack surmised, reading through another file. “Look at this. Brett was watching the whole time when Izzy was taken. He has photographs of the kidnapping.”
“What?” Jason asked, storming over and snatching the file from him. The rage grew in his eyes with every line he read, every photograph he flipped through. “Son of a bitch. This asshole knew she was taken, and he didn’t fucking care.”
“Because it played into the Shadow Government’s plans,” Jack said.
“How’s that? How does taking Isabelle help anyone?” I asked, not understanding a single part of this.
“It keeps Michael in line,” Jason snarled. “Take his daughter and it ensures he doesn’t do anything the Shadow Government doesn’t want.”
“Wait, so you’re saying Brett had a hand in this?” I asked incredulously.
“Either he orchestrated it or he watched it happen. Not sure it really matters. This guy is fucking dangerous.”
“I’m in!” Johnny called out, drawing our attention.
We all hurried over as Rae walked him through what to do over the phone. He had linked up to her, allowing her to take over the computer from her end. I watched as the cursor moved,though Johnny’s hand was nowhere near the mouse. File after file opened until finally, we found what we were looking for.
“Holy shit,” Rae muttered as Johnny put her on speaker. “Do you see this?”
“What are we looking at?” I asked, not understanding what I was seeing.
It was an email, but since I wasn’t familiar with what was going on in their lives, I didn’t understand it.
“It says that President Codi is the target,” Jack said, pulling out his phone and dialing.
“Okay…Target for what?” I was so fucking confused.
“The Peace Summit. It’s today,” Johnny answered.
I read the words in the email, about the target, about the plans for the Peace Summit. It was all there in black and white.
“It’s a fucking setup. Cash is going in to take out Al-ahmar, but the real target is President Codi.”
Okay, I knew this was bad, but I didn’t understand enough of what was going on to put the pieces together.
“So, they’re sending Cash in to do a job, and then?—”
“And then they’re changing the target,” Rae finished. “If he doesn’t pull that trigger, he’s fucking dead. It’s a test.”
“He’s not answering,” Jack snapped.
“Because he’s already on the job,” Johnny said. “The Peace Summit is today. He’ll have gone dark already.”
“So, what do we do?” I asked, sure there was some way we could contact him.
The screen went on the fritz, and Rae’s concerned voice came loud and clear through the speaker. “Uh…you guys might want to get out of there. I’m locked out. They know you’re there.”
“Well, no shit,” Jack snapped, stomping over to the file cabinet. He started ripping out files, tossing them on the ground. I didn’t know what his intentions were, but I joined him, pulling every file this asshole had gathered on us.
Jason already had a lighter out and was setting fire to all of it, setting off the smoke alarms before we were even finished.
“Time to go,” Johnny said, pulling his gun and firing the whole magazine at the glass wall. Jack grabbed a chair, flinging it through the glass wall. Shards sprayed everywhere as Johnny took a running leap for the window, covering his head as he jumped through the broken glass and landed twenty feet below on the adjoining roof.
“Your turn,” Jack said, shoving me toward the window as he pulled out the last of the files and tossed them on the heap.
I followed suit, landing in a roll and jumping to my feet. I was off in seconds, heading for the next roof. It was our only way out, and the end would be a giant leap of faith that we would all get out of this alive. My feet pounded across the roof as I leapt through the air, pulling the cord on the parachute attached to my back. I held my breath as the landing rushed up all too quickly.
My jaw clenched hard as my feet hit the ground. I was nearly free when the chute caught wind and started dragging me toward the street. Luckily, Jason grabbed my arm and prevented me from flying into traffic. The line was cut and I was free.
