of the large window. The edges were brown and dry.
Harlow pulled the worn book free of its spot. “Have you actually read it?”
“I’ve read all the books in here.” He moved to another leaf, inspecting it.
“You’re shitting me.”
He turned toward Harlow. “I am not.” Pierce tipped his head toward the shelf sitting just to one side of his desk. “Not those of course.”
Harlow’s lips lifted in a little smile. She was one of the few people at Alaskan Security who knew of the hidden passage leading to his office from the tunnels below. “Of course.”
“So what are we supposed to be doing?” Heidi slouched down, letting her head rest against the back of the chair where she sat. “Because I’m getting bored.”
“And a bored Heidi isn’t anything you want to have on your hands.” One of the new arrivals sat in the chair next to Heidi. “She’ll end up trying to break into government security systems just to see if she can.”
“I believe that’s already been accomplished today.” He lifted his brows at Heidi. “Correct?”
Heidi’s lips pulled into a slow smile. “I recorded it if you want to watch it again.”
“Maybe another time.” Pierce strode to his desk. “For now I think it’s best we continue as we have gone. It is most important that we find a way to identify the man at the top. Without him we will never be able to end this.”
Harlow scoffed. “Why does it have to be a man?”
The uneasiness he’d been fighting for weeks lodged deeper, trying to dig into a possibility he’d rejected time and time again. “We should all hope it’s a man.” Pierce scanned the faces glaring back at him. “Because I’ve recently discovered women are much more dangerous.”
Heidi glanced Harlow’s way before her eyes returned to meet his. “It’s a man.”
He couldn’t hide his surprise at the certainty in her tone. “You know this?”
“Define know.” Harlow came to stand beside Lennie, one of the women who worked for Mona and Eva at Investigative Resources.
“I would call it an educated guess.” Heidi lifted her brows in a questioning way as she turned to Lennie. “Right?”
Lennie nodded. “I’d call it that.”
Heidi turned back his way. “It’s an educated guess.”
He waited for one of them to elaborate.
They just stared back at him.
“Could you tell me why you believe it’s a man?”
“Mona figured it out.” Heidi’s lips moved into a little smile. “Which I’m sure won’t surprise you.”
“Ms. Ayers is quite an intelligent woman.” The formality of her surname was a necessary evil. One he wished to dispose of as soon as possible. “I will be happy to discuss her thoughts privately.”
Heidi eyed him. “How considerate of you.”
Pierce paused, his gaze lingering on Heidi. “Actually, I believe I do have something I would like for you to do.”
“Thank God.” Heidi straightened. “You want me to spy on GHOST?”
Her immediate correct assumption was more surprising than it should be. “I do.”
Heidi’s smile was wide and immediate. “We can totally do that.” She stood and made it to the door before turning back. “You know they’re probably going to know I’m doing it, right?”
“Feel free to be as obvious as you wish.”
Heidi’s smile turned to a wicked grin. “I knew you had some balls in those fancy pants.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Heidi gave him a little shrug. “You’re just normally so,” she pointed one finger his way, wiggling it around, “proper.”
“And that made you assume I had no balls?”
“I wouldn’t say no balls.” Heidi wiggled her brows. “Just maybe not enough to take on GHOST.”
Her assessment calmed the unrest he’d been fighting longer than anyone would believe. “In that case I’m happy to surprise you.”
The rest of the women followed her out.
“Wait.” Pierce caught Harlow just before she left. “Where’s Alec?”
He was easy enough to remember, even in all the current chaos muddling his brain. There was a single man from Investigative Resources who chose to make the move to Alaska.
“He’s been spending time with Dutch.” Harlow smirked. “I think he’s in need of a little testosterone time.”
“I see.” That was most definitely not the case. Being surrounded by brilliant, strong-willed women was not something a man tired of.
Not a man he’d keep on staff anyway.
Pierce picked up his phone as soon as Harlow was gone, punching the button that would connect him with—
“How can I help you Mr. Barrick?”
Pierce looked down at the phone on his desk. He’d pushed the correct line. “I’m sorry. Who is this?”
“This is Elise. Your office manager.”
“Did you