Complicity in Heels Read Online Free PDF

been the security of this team.”
    She thought about it for a second. Cordoza was right. As he was the group’s leader, his loyalty had to be with the crew as a whole. No exceptions. Spence, on the other hand, was without excuse. He was her colleague and friend, and that’s what hurt the most. Nikki shook her head in response to Cordoza’s apology. “I appreciate your candor, Gem. Thank you.”
    Cordoza pulled out a chair and took a seat. The ladies followed suit: Lacey sitting to his left and Nikki to his right. “Where’s Spence?” he asked. It was unclear from his tone whether or not he was being sarcastic. Lacey leaned over and whispered into his ear that Spence had stepped out for a moment to give the contracted help specific instructions as to how to release the bank officer without incident. Cordoza removed his cell phone from its case and hit speed dial. The phone rang several times before it was answered.
    “Taylor.”
    “Get in here,” Cordoza ordered. “Now.”
    A minute later, Spence walked back into the room, followed by two burly men. They grabbed the bank executive in the chair and rolled her out of the suite. Spence took a seat next to Nikki. Lacey cast a dirty look in their direction; Nikki smirked back.
    “Now that we’re all finally here,” Cordoza began, “let’s get down to business. Nikki, I assume Spence has brought you up to speed on our latest racket?”
    “Yes.” She hesitated, unsure how deep an answer Cordoza was looking for. “Money laundering, I believe.”
    “And the twist?”
    “Developing some sort of computer program to exploit financial transactions processed through ACH, to get a leg up on the competition.”
    Cordoza leaned back in his leather chair. “Your thoughts?”
    “Well—”
    “Spence,” he interrupted, “seems to think we can do it.”
    Spence nodded.
    “It can be done, in theory,” Nikki confirmed. “It’s just a matter of degrees of difficulty and the timeframe.”
    “Mm-hmm.” Cordoza glanced to his left, noticing Lacey was preoccupied with her wristwatch. “So I take that to mean a ‘yes’ as well?”
    “Spence mentioned earlier that there are some problems with the source code. I assume things aren’t moving along as smoothly as you’d like.” Which is why you want my help , she thought.
    “How soon can you take a look at Spence’s work?” Cordoza pressed.
    Nikki answered cautiously. “Look, I’m not even sure I want to get back on board. It was my understanding that this was just supposed to be a simple meet-and-greet, with me leaving shortly after.”
    Cordoza’s brows pulled together at the center. “Leaving?”
    Spence leaned toward the conference table to gain Cordoza’s attention. “I promised her we’d take her to see her brother after fifteen minutes.”
    Lacey rolled her eyes then once again glanced at her high-end watch.
    Spence turned to Lacey. “What?” he said. “You told me, ‘Whatever it takes.’ Well, Lacey, that’s what it took, a promise to see her brother.”
    “How is Marston?” Cordoza cut in.
    “It’s Martin,” Nikki corrected.
    “I meant Martin.”
    “I don’t know. That’s why I need to go see him, among many other things I have to do.”
    “Like?”
    “Like check in at the parole office, meet my parole officer, submit to a random drug test, find a place to live, seek gainful employment.”
    “Do we really even need her?” Lacey asked, sounding annoyed. “Obviously she has a lot of issues to deal with right now. There must be a handful of specialists we could hire who are just as good, if not better. Besides, hacking is a perishable skill set.”
    Cordoza took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. “Loyalty means a lot to me, and Nikki’s proved hers. Besides, this is far too important for us to just let anybody in on it. We keep everything in house, for now. Understand?”
    Lacey let out a sigh. “All right then.”
    Spence cracked a smile at her frustration.
    “Hold