his desk. He stopped directly in front of us. In the silence that followed as he clipped and then lit a fresh cigar, I could hear that helicopter from before, getting closer. He smirked. “It seems to me, that you’ve forgotten exactly where you are, Josephine.”
He sucked on the cigar until the end was glowing, then blew the smoke directly in my face. I struggled not to cough. “You’re in my house, and here, we play by my rules.” He nodded at the security guard holding Christian, who wrenched the phone from his hand and smashed it to the floor. It ground into several pieces under the guard’s steel heel.
“There, you little brats,” McNamara said, his voice triumphant. “Now you’ve got nothing.”
Christian and I looked at each other… then burst out laughing.
“Get with the 21st century, dude!” Christian said, still chuckling. “The audio I took was a digital file. I emailed it out of here three minutes ago!”
McNamara’s face froze mid-gloat. Then it slowly fell. The look was priceless. “What?” he whispered.
“Seriously. It’s already with Archer. Face it, the game’s up.”
McNamara’s face glowered. “You play a very dangerous game here boy. Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“I know very well,” Christian said in a tight voice.
“Then you also know what I’m capable of.” He gestured to one of the guards, and for the first time I realized they were carrying guns on their hips. The guard pulled one from its holster and handed it to him.
McNamara cocked it, and then pointed it straight at me. “Get that audio back, now.”
Christian looked at me, worried. I shook my head. “Don’t do it Christian. This doesn’t change anything.”
“But Josie…”
“ No . We don’t give in to his demands, ever again. He’s just digging himself in deeper.”
“Don’t listen to her,” McNamara growled. He thrust the muzzle of the gun into my forehead and leaned close. “Your precious Archer won’t be able to save you when you’re dead.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What, are you going to kill me to get your way?”
He leaned in even closer, till our faces were almost touching. His breath was rancid. “It wouldn’t be the first time Janus has done it,” he said. “Though it would be a first for me; usually I just tell other people to make it happen.”
“Archer would never let you get away with it.”
“Oh yes, the famous Archer,” McNamara sneered. “And just where is your precious boyfriend right now?”
The noise from the helicopter now was so loud that I could feel the vibrations through the floor. I smiled. “Don’t worry, he’ll be here any moment.”
McNamara noticed the noise of the helicopter for the first time. He turned to the window in annoyance. “What is that blasted thing!”
I answered for him as a dark shape appeared before the window, hovering right outside. “That, you creep, is you getting exactly what you deserve.”
A spotlight flicked on. A figure in full SWAT gear leaned out of the chopper with a megaphone. “This is the FBI. Put the gun down, and your hands on your head.”
Chapter 6
McNamara lifted his hands to shield his eyes. “What the hell?” He reached for the intercom on his desk. “Security? Security?”
His request was met with static.
“I repeat, this is the FBI,” said the voice through the megaphone. “Have your guards stand down, and put your hands up.”
“Like fuck I will,” he muttered. Then he sprang for the door.
He was halfway across the room when the doors to his office burst open in a shower of timber. A dozen men in black SWAT attire burst into the room. They arrayed in a semicircle before the door as McNamara skidded to a halt, the cigar falling slowly from his open mouth. The man in the lead, dressed in flak vest and dark goggles, removed his helmet.
It was Archer. “I hear you were looking for me.”
McNamara stepped back, eyes wide. “What? Me? No… I-”
Archer grinned, his
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley