Wicked as Lies (Wicked & Devoted #3) - Shayla Black Page 0,96

They’ve had me ‘working’ on this almost full-time for nearly three months.”

Trees laughed. “Is that why you’ve suddenly become a hard-core Sudoku champ?”

Zy felt heat rush up his face. “I knew you weren’t guilty. And when they refused to give me another assignment, I had to pass the time doing something… How did you know?”

“An educated guess. They’re paranoid. A few months back, they asked me to look at everyone’s online profiles and make sure no one was surfing porn or gambling online.”

That was news to Zy. “What did you find? You gotta tell me.”

“Bryant was an absolute Boy Scout, just like Walker calls him…until he met Shealyn. Then he was all too happy to look up the sexiest pictures of her he could find. It seems like the only things One-Mile gets a boner for are guns and a certain preacher’s daughter.”

Or she wouldn’t be pregnant. “And Josiah?”

“Nothing…except an occasional trip to this dirty little site focused on spanking videos.”

Zy could see that. It wasn’t something he’d ever been into, but he also hadn’t tried… “That would explain why Maggie seemed like she had a sore ass the day we met her.”

Trees grinned. “It would.”

“And the bosses?”

He shook his head. “Logan and Hunter both have pictures of their wives I won’t talk about, but I’m pretty sure that’s their version of porn. Joaquin…he doesn’t have anything on his machine. I’m not shocked. He’s a cool customer, but…”

There was something going on in those deep waters. “For sure. So…do you want to tell me why you keep rope in your nightstand?”

Trees merely smiled. “I don’t.”

Zy laughed with his best friend, like old times. But he was anxious to get back home—both so Trees could start proving who their slippery mole was and so Zy could confront the bosses and he could finally be with Tessa.

“Then you better start driving, or I’ll start asking more questions.”

“Good luck with that.” Trees pulled off the shoulder and onto the road. “But don’t worry. We’re going to figure out who’s been selling our secrets to Montilla and his folks.”

“If anyone can, it’s you.”

“I hope for your sake it’s not Tessa.”

Zy shook his head. “It’s not.”

After all, she’d still been on maternity leave when their first mission to Mexico had gone sideways. How could she have had anything to do with that?

Trees shrugged. “Maybe you’re right.”

But Trees didn’t think so. Zy heard it in his friend’s voice.

January 26

Zy made his way to the office before the sun had even risen. After a night of tossing and turning, he hadn’t seen the point of pretending to sleep anymore.

Today was the day, and since the bosses were usually here early, he’d come to have it out with them.

But the minute he opened the door, it wasn’t Hunter, Logan, or Joaquin who greeted him. Instead, the place was still dark except for a hint of a light from the far right corner of the office, and Trees stood waiting for him, looking both tired and grave.

“Jesus…” Zy peered at him. “You’re still wearing yesterday’s clothes. Did you even go home last night?”

“No. I made my way through Cutter’s computer in a few hours. Josiah thought he’d be cute and added all sorts of extra bits of security and encryption that took forever to get around.”

Zy’s heart started pounding. “And?”

“Grab coffee and meet me at my desk.”

Trees turned away, then. He was always a man of few words when he wasn’t sure what to say.

Dread crawled through Zy’s gut as he poured some much-needed java in what looked like a clean mug. Besides Tessa, Cutter was the only other person around who’d washed the cups regularly. Vaguely, Zy wondered if he should step up and pitch in.

Another day. Right now, there was too much happening to worry about someone else’s day-old cooties.

Sipping his joe, Zy made his way to his desk, sat, and rolled his chair beside Trees to peer at his friend’s screen. “What did you find. Anything?”

“Nothing on Cutter’s. It was clean to the point of boring. Since the bosses texted me late yesterday and asked me to wipe it for the new guy, I started there. I thought Josiah’s would be similar, but he tried to be a wise guy.”

“To hide something?”

“It’s taken me about nine hours and cost me a night of sleep to give you an answer, but no.”

“Did you find anything? At all?”

Trees shook his head. “It looks like he merely added his own layer of security, just in case. It wasn’t a