All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,98

can carve him to pieces for us.

It would be a shame.

His computer skills are unmatched.

I’ve got eyes on you. Go to the wood paneling behind you, take two lefts and then straight until you get to the end door. Text me when you’re there and I’ll override the sensors there so he doesn’t get an alert.

I’m quiet and careful to not be seen by any of Atticus’ men but in under a minute I’m walking down a pitch-black hallway with the light of my phone, my heels slipped off and, in my hands, so my feet can be silent on the concrete floor.

Jackson’s directions are perfect and I find myself climbing out of storm bunker onto the next street over from the fortress-like mansion, in a small patch of trees that hide the exit perfectly.

When I get back out to the road Jack is already there waiting for me, the engine running and the lights off so he’s less visible, and when I slide into the passenger seat, he tips his head at me in greeting before taking off. Watching him drive is like watching Harley behind the wheel, the smooth actions of someone who truly loves the muscle car they’re in total control of.

Other than saying hi, he doesn’t speak and I get the whole drive over to the Coyote’s bunker to work through the information I have. It’s a nice change of pace and I’m grateful for it.

Viola looks happier than she ever did at Hannaford.

She opens the door to the bunker with a grin, her eyes squinting a little like she hasn’t seen sunlight for months. Her hair is longer, the streaks in it a vibrant pink now and her nose piercing has been changed to a ring. She’s wearing one of Jackson’s band tee’s that’s hanging down past her knees and a long pair of socks just like Lips does when she’s feeling self-conscious about her scars.

“Queenie? What are you doing in our neck of the woods?”

I lean down to put the little plastic booties over my Louboutin’s and she giggles at me maniacally. “I need some information. This is a family matter but I’m willing to pay for Jackson’s time.”

She shrugs and pushes the door wider, ushering me in. “Family means family, you don’t pay for that shit.”

Jackson calls out from deeper in the bunker, “Don’t say that! Keeping you fed is fucking expensive!”

I roll my eyes and Viola does the same. A smirk tugs at the corner of my mouth. “Mounties are weird about money and food, something about never having them wires their brains wrong.”

Viola shrugs and leads me down the hall. It looks much cleaner in here than Lips warned me and from the look Viola gave me I’ll assume she’s been cleaning the place up. It’s not up to my standards but I think the plastic booties might be overkill.

We get to an open spiral staircase into a large, dark room. There are computers everywhere, dozens of them, and there’s code running on the screens of some of them, security footage on others. Jackson is sitting in a gaming chair with a pair of hot pink bunny ear headphones on that look ridiculous hanging around his neck.

“You didn’t mention the place you needed to be was here annoying me.”

I can’t come up with an answer to that because I’m too busy staring at the bin overflowing with empty energy drink cans and candy wrappers next to his chair. I look a little closer at the desk and it’s clear he’s been working too much to take any real care of himself because he looks faintly… greasy.

Disgusting.

Viola snorts at me. “He’s showered, Beaumont, stop wrinkling your nose at him like some stuck-up socialite.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “I am a stuck-up socialite, Ayres, and I highly doubt he’s actually clean. You might have lowered your standards but I’d rather die.”

Jackson chuckles at me derisively and shrugs. “You and Crawford were made for each other.”

Unlikely.

If we were made for each other he would have loved me when he had the chance.

“Can we focus? I’m on a time crunch here and I need to get back to the Crow’s mansion before he realizes I’ve been here.”

Viola rolls a chair over and motions for me to sit before stalking off to find another one for herself. Jackson’s eyes stay glued to her ass the entire time and I kick his chair.

“Focus. I need this information and I’m not paying you to stare at Ayres’