Cassius Stevens, Madison (best reads of all time txt) 📖

would make things so easy, but they might not have anticipated hybrids tracking them down.

The lock clicked open, and Julius nodded, a satisfied look on his face. He tucked the tools back in the pouch. CJ might get annoyed by the other hybrid at times, but he could never doubt his skills.

Julius stepped inside, followed by CJ. They both wore black masks on the off chance they’d missed a camera. Hybrids might be large, but it wasn’t like there weren’t other large men in NYC.

They took stock of the security station. Two long tables ran along the wall. Laptops lay spread out on the tables, sticky notes all around them.

Julius moved from computer to computer before snorting and pointing to a sticky note. “I thought I might have to do something special, but they’ve literally got the password written down here. This is painful.”

“So much for information security.” CJ grinned. “Just kill the cameras so we can sweep this place without anyone knowing we were here.”

Julius leaned over and began typing. “Give me a second. Even with the password, this takes a little more effort than pointing and shooting some random mercenary.”

CJ frowned. “This is all too easy.”

“Nothing wrong with that..” Julius continued typing and clicking the mouse. “There’s only two of us here. This mission might be annoying if we were facing off against real security.”

“But that means Ouroboros isn’t controlling this place,” CJ said, relieved at his own conclusion. “The security’s so weak here, kids could break in here and steal these laptops. There’s no way some big evil organization would be so stupid about it.”

Julius smiled. His latest efforts brought up a tiled window filled with different camera feeds. “You’re thinking about this the wrong way. If our laundering theory is correct, there’s no reason for this place to scream illegal or dangerous. They just need money to flow in, the less direct links to them, the better.” He shrugged. “They might even want the place to be robbed. Buying new equipment and things like that offers more opportunities for clever financial tricks. They don’t need an army for every under-the-table shady deal.”

“I just want it to be over, one way or another.”

Julius looked over his shoulder. “What’s up with you? You’re normally not this antsy. Does this have something to do with where you were all afternoon?”

“I told you where I was.” CJ shrugged.

Julius narrowed his eyes. “And there’s something you’re not telling me now. I think I know, but I want you to tell me. I’m your partner on this mission. I should know everything.”

“She’s my Vestal.” CJ sighed. “We’re bonded. I’m sure now. One hundred percent.”

Julius nodded slowly, looking unfazed by the revelation. “Huh. I wondered, but you never know.” He turned back to the computer to continue his work. “You should have told me sooner, but that doesn’t change much other than you’re getting a lot more out of this mission than you expected.”

“If it’s not Ouroboros, then she’s not in danger,” CJ replied. “The sooner we can confirm things, the sooner I know it’ll be safe for her.”

“I stick by what I said before. They probably aren’t going to grab her here if they’re even interested in her.”

“You think they aren’t interested in a Vestal?” CJ scoffed.

“Maybe. We don’t know what they need from this event. We’re still not sure they’re even involved.”

“She needs to know the truth. She also needs to know she might be targeted. That way she can protect herself better.”

Julius snorted. “She doesn’t need to know shit. For now, she’s maybe wondering why she’s into you so much, but she’s probably just chalking it up to you being big and good in bed. It’s best for her not to know. We need to do our job and get back to Maine.”

CJ growled. “You expect me to leave my Vestal behind?”

“No.” Julius kept his voice calm. “But I don’t think you should tell her yet. It’ll complicate things, and we’ll have to account for more variables. For now, until we figure out what’s going on, the best bet is to let her race without worrying about dangerous conspiracies. She helped show you around, but it’s not like she’s vital to the mission.”

CJ gritted his teeth. He wanted to tell Julius to go to hell, but he couldn’t find a major flaw with the man’s logic. Other than having them personally guarding her, Kendra knowing she was a Vestal wouldn’t make her any safer. The next day, there would be thousands of people around to keep an eye on her.

Julius stood. “Okay, I’ve got the cameras on a loop. These security computers are connected to the net, but not to any other systems that I can see. Did you see anything unusual on the obstacles?”

“Not before.” CJ shrugged. “Just those suspicious workers.”

“Let’s do a sweep of those before we hit the main building,” Julius replied. “If they were going to plant anything, it’d make sense to do it the night before when there aren’t so many witnesses. And you overheard them mentioning doing something tonight anyway.”

“Okay.” CJ nodded. “Makes sense.”

The two hybrids evacuated the security station. By their watch count, they still had plenty of time before the guard returned to the security station. With no one in sight, they jogged to the closest obstacle, the super-slide.

CJ narrowed his eyes and sidestepped toward the back. “Huh.” He pointed toward the base. “See that?”

Julius nodded. “That wasn’t there this morning?”

“If it was, I didn’t notice it, and I was looking for anything that might be a bomb.”

“You might have been too busy staring at Kendra’s ass.” Julius grinned. “But I don’t think it’s a bomb.”

CJ growled, but didn’t otherwise respond. It didn’t help Julius was right.

They approached the bottom of the slide, stepping over a mess of cables and hoses. A small black box lay next to a support beam, squat black transmission antennae on top of it. The device wasn’t huge, only a few inches long, tall, and wide.

CJ sniffed