Cease and Desist (The IMA Book 4) by Nenia Campbell Read Free Book Online Page B

accusation in it. She blamed me, too.
    I'd have to talk to her later, tell her to reign herself in and keep whatever problems she had with me locked inside until we could deal with them privately — right after I talked to Angelica about undermining me during briefing sessions. I mean, Jesus fucking Christ. Angelica was acting like I was going to send her on this God-forsaken mission.
    And if Angelica had considered the possibility, Christina, with her imagination and her tendency to jump to conclusions, was probably worrying on it like a dog with a bone.
    Suddenly, their behavior made a lot more sense.
    Christina was the obvious choice: she was the youngest, attractive, shapely. She also knew the least; she didn't have the extensive list of contacts Angelica and — I assumed — Suraya had. If Christina ended up blowing her cover, hundreds of other people wouldn't fall like a chain of dominoes in her wake.
    Yes. To anyone else, she was the obvious choice. The best choice. But sending Christina had never crossed my mind for the precise reason that she was such good bait. Callaghan was obsessed with her. He had tried to kill her, to break her, and then, later on, to buy her. The sick fuck would play with her like a cat with a mouse, and she would not be able to endure him: it would destroy her.
    That was why Angelica had given me that look. She knew where my biases lay, and that it meant either she or Suraya would be forced to draw the short stick by proxy — and she resented it.
    I looked at the other members of AMI, still waiting for my response. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. Who was I fucking fooling, calling myself impartial? We were playing at cloak-and-dagger bullshit like a bunch of shitheel kids playing capture the flag. The consequences were real, imminent —
    And I was a goddamn fool.
    “A decision like this will take time.”
    And many shots of liquor, to drown out the stub of a conscience I've grown since then.
    Somebody cleared their throat. Suraya. Surprise. There was still color left over in her face from the previous outburst and now it looked like she was gearing up for another one.
    I had Angelica to thank for that. She'd as good as cleared the floor for more challenges to my authority.
    “Yes?” I beat Suraya to the punch, before she could interrupt me again. Keeping my voice firm, I said, “You got something to add?”
    “I'll do it.”
    “What?”
    “I'll do it.” Her words echoed with finality, or a damned good impression of it. I wasn't sure since I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. “I'll get you the information you need to destroy Adrian Callaghan. I will go undercover.”
    There were not enough people assembled to make the silence striking, but it was enough to make the considerable tension in the room spike.
    So much for calling the fucking shots.
    Christina was chewing on her lip, looking like she wanted to say something but didn't trust herself enough to speak. Angelica, damn her, looked amused. Cliff had schooled his expression, but the slight widening of his eyes betrayed his shock.
    With three sentences, Suraya had managed to turn the tables on us all, and I didn't like that.
    “Are you sure you know what you're volunteering for? What might be expected?”
    “Yes.”
    I could have left it at that. But I didn't.
    “If you are going to pose as a trafficked human being, you are going to be expected to perform in that capacity. To have sex. Possibly unprotected sex.” I shot a look at Angelica. “You may be hurt, or killed — or worse. It will not be … pleasant.”
    “I wasn't expecting it to be pleasant, Mr. Boutilier,” she said, which, all things considered, was a pretty nice way of saying “understatement of the fucking century.”
    “Your life won't be the only one affected, if you fail. You are a part of this group. You have contacts. Dependents. People you'll be leaving behind.” I paused, to let that sink in. “Think of your