Page 56 of The Ranger
Plus, he has these ridiculous dimples that allow him to get away with everything.
Ask my vagina.
When he spots me, he excuses himself with anexcuse me ladiesand heads my way.
“I’ll drop you home, seeing as I’m here,” Cole says as I pack up my kit, sliding the scissors into the leather pouch.
It’s not worth fighting with him.
I let him take the rest and put it in my locker while I feel the day pull me under.
We say goodbye and walk to his car.Once on the road, I close my eyes and start to drift off.
“You really going to risk that again?”Cole asks, and when my eyes snap open he’s grinning and watching the road.
Funny guy.
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COLE
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ISTOPPED BY the BHSoffices this afternoon to check in with the team, and afterward, couldn’t help myself.I had to see Scarlett and find out if she was, in fact, catching the damn bus.
I didn’t believe her.
And it was probably an excuse, but I did it anyway, and now I’m not sorry.She’s dead on her feet.
Now I have her in my car, I can relax and focus back on the meeting without distraction.
“Thomas hasn’t been able to trace the attempted leak with a workstation, so while they keep trying, your role inside the organization remains critical.”Aidan had said, threading his fingers together on top of the table.
“It may help convict the spy if we find out who it is and need extra evidence.So, make sure they keep on it.”Josh said.
Aidan nodded, then asked me.“What’s the suspect list looking like?”
Short.
Todd was an open book and complete douchebag, which could be a cover.I wasn’t ruling him out.Sally, Margaret, Kenneth and Kim-Lee, all members of Project Helix, hadn’t given me any cause for suspicion at this point.Honestly, they were all so boring I could snore, but taking my eyes off any of them could be a big mistake.
Chen was still at the top of my list.
He was competitive, narcissistic and either incompetent or hiding something.The information I’d asked for still hadn’t been supplied, and given it directly impacted the timeline of creating the prototype, that negligence was a major red flag.
I’d put some checks in place, and we had BHS security on site, so his every movement was being monitored.
“Chen is top of my list still.”
“His emails are currently being analyzed by our AI system for potential coding,” Adian advised.
“If he’s a North Korean spy, he won’t be using his QuantumCore devices,” I’d replied.“But worth checking.”
“Yeah, well, there are laws in place stopping us from stripping the guy every morning, so we work with what we have.”Josh tossed back the last of his energy drink.“I am not letting this chip leave the country and get into enemy hands.”
None of us would.
“All we can do is wait, keep security tight and get our eyes on that prototype,” I said.“If there is a spy inside QuantumCore, they’ll make a move, and we will catch them.”
