Page 19 of Hard Wired

Chapter Seven

“Crane says I made a mistake with his install? I don’t make mistakes.”

Sylvie was in Max’s office again. She had a major case of déjà vu. Here she was, arguing about whether she had to go to Dominic Crane’s house. And Max was sitting behind his desk, squeezing his stress ball, and not having any of it.

“You’re saying the man’s lying? I assume half the things he says aren’t true, but why would he lie about this? I even checked. His housekeeper called our techs on more than one occasion.”

“Yeah, I heard. There was no problem on our side.”

“But he seemed really worried about it. That’s why I’ve asked you to go and check out the system. Make sure there’s nothing going haywire.”

“If there is, it’s Crane’s fault. He did something. This is some tactic of his.”

“To what, get you to come visit him? I wouldn’t put that past him either, but he didn’t even want you to follow up on this. He asked for anyone else but you. I think maybe he’s intimidated.”

“A murdering crime boss is intimidated by me?” She suppressed a laugh. That was so not likely.

Max rolled his eyes. “Don’t you think that’s overstating things? Even the DA’s office is willing to dismiss that charge in exchange for his cooperation. Though you didn’t hear it from me.” Lana had probably told him. She was the Assistant District Attorney of West Oaks, second in command of that office.

But if Crane truly didn’t want her to come back, Sylvie was surprised. Didn’t the guy want to toy with her more? Wasn’t he just the kind of conceited bully who would pick a target and keep going after it? Wasn’t that his sick idea of fun?

Unless I was wrong.

Max sighed, even though Sylvie hadn’t said anything else. “I’ve got enough on my plate today. I’m supposed to be downstairs at some training thing that was technically my idea. So, I don’t have any more time for back-and-forth with you.”

“Okay. I’ll go to Crane’s and take care of it.”

“So go take—Oh. Well. Great.” Max paused a second, like her sudden acquiescence had been a shock to his system. Then he jumped up. “Get to it.”

They both headed downstairs.

If Crane didn’t want to see her, that put a whole new perspective on this second visit. She was instantly in a place of greater power and control.

This time, she’d be ready to handle him.

And if there really was something haywire with the system she’d installed, Sylvie wanted to know about it. She was a perfectionist and hated the idea that something might’ve gone wrong.

When she returned to her desk, the workroom was deserted. Even Priyanka was nowhere to be found. Oh, Sylvie remembered. The training Max mentioned. Right.

She went down to the lower level. Their entire bodyguard team had congregated in the gym, where a martial arts expert was doing a workshop.

Sylvie spotted Priyanka hovering by the door. She tugged on her assistant’s sleeve, nodding for the girl to follow her out into the hall.

“What is it?” Priyanka hissed.

“I need you and Tanner. We have to go back to Crane’s house. He says there’s something wrong with the system I installed.” Sylvie made a face, trying to convey just how absurd that idea was.

“But we can’t leave now. This teacher is some Israeli Krav Maga master, and Tanner’s going to help him demonstrate. And they said I could pretend to be a victim they’re protecting. Do you know how cool this is going to be? You can’t make me leave. Please.”

Crap. Tanner wouldn’t want to miss this. And if she dragged Priyanka away from this opportunity to ogle the men in their workout clothes, Sylvie would take the title as the world’s most uncaring boss.

But what did she need a bodyguard for, anyway? Crane had mocked her for bringing Tanner along last time.

Do you need to call your bodyguard back inside to protect you from me?

Forget it. She could deal with Crane herself. And she was more than eager to prove that to him.

“Never mind,” she said to her assistant. “Have fun. I’ll be back later.”

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