own unhelpful reply. Instead, she crossed to the door and peered out of the little glass window.
“I’m running out of material, guys,” Elias whispered into her ear.
These comms were something else. So small most people wouldn’t even notice them.
“Isaac is working on it. I don’t know how long it’ll take,” she said.
“Work faster,” Elias said.
“How much time do you think we have?” Isaac asked.
“Not much. Focus.”
Jo was starting to wonder where the hell Dion was. Did he have a better handle on where the virtual bomb code might be? Had they already extracted it? Were they gone? Was that why Isaac was taking so long? Or had Elias seen Dion at all?
She didn’t want to consider that last question.
After Elias’s injuries, she knew he’d stayed away from all combat roles. His jobs had been desk work out of the eye. And then there was this morning. She was used to his cool-under-pressure attitude, but this morning he’d been like ice. Inhuman and cold. It made her worried for him.
Was she asking too much? Could this whole thing be damaging to him?
She bit her lip and struggled with the guilt.
“My assistant had to run to do a pickup. Would you mind if I waited for him in the lobby?” Elias asked.
No more cards to play.
She turned and crossed to Isaac’s side.
“You’ve got to give us something. Do you think you’re close? Do you have any idea?” she asked.
“Thanks so much. It’s kind of you to let me wait in your office,” Elias said.
Isaac mashed the keys hard.
“Come on, tell me anything,” she pleaded.
He whirled to face her, eyes wide and jaw clenched. His hands balled into fists.
“There is no bomb,” he said.
“What? Dion got here first?” She shouldered him aside and grabbed the keyboard.
“No. I mean, there never was a virtual bomb. It was made up.” Isaac threw his hands up in the air. “It was a trap.”
Her body went cold. She pivoted to face him as chilly rage pumped through her.
“What?” she asked.
Isaac’s nostrils flared. “Giovanni knows he has a rat. Someone is snitching. So he set up a trap, and we’re in it.”
“What do you mean a trap?” She glanced over her shoulder, as if she expected the so-called trap to snap shut.
Isaac held his hand up, fingers pinched together. “You’re on his short list of rats. He dangled the bait, and you took it.”
She watched his hand sway from side to side as her mind scrambled.
“Who the fuck do you think is a fed?” Elias’s voice took on a cocky note. “In case you didn’t realize it, Isaac, I’m a mercenary. I work with mercenaries.”
Jo shook her head and shoved the panic down.
Thank goodness Elias reacted faster than she did. He was right. She hadn’t exposed herself. Other than their conversation behind closed, reinforced doors last night, she hadn’t put a foot wrong.
“Cut the act.” Isaac rolled his eyes. “I heard you last night tell him everything. All about how you’ve been undercover, so don’t give me that shit. There is no bomb. This is a trap.”
Jo’s body went cold. He’d been listening to them? In their private moments?
She reached under her blazer and grabbed her gun, pointing it at Isaac. Her whole body went cold. So much work down the drain because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Elias was her weakness. “Then I guess we don’t need you anymore, do we?”
Isaac’s eyes widened, and he backed up, seeming to realize his mistake.
She narrowed her gaze. “Here’s the thing, Isaac, I only needed you because I didn’t know what I was looking for. If you’re going to tell me all you are is a plant? Well, I guess it’s time to prune.”
A single, high pitch chime sounded throughout the building. Jo kept her gaze on Isaac, who jumped.
“What was that?” he demanded.
“Turn around,” she said. “Isaac, you are under arrest.”
She’d properly Mirandize him later. When there was time.
Isaac’s face became a twisted mask of rage. He reached under his jacket.
She smirked as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at her. “Go ahead.”
He squeezed the trigger in a dramatic fashion.
Nothing happened.
“Elias took the bullets out of your gun earlier,” she said as sweetly as possible.
Isaac lunged at her. She side-stepped, letting him dive through empty space. One kick and he went sprawling.
Easiest arrest ever.
She came down on top of him, using her weight to keep him pinned as she grabbed one wrist and then the other. He struggled, but it was a token effort. Isaac wasn’t