Mr. CEO(134)

Andrea leads me into the kitchen, where she has me sit down and comes back with some cereal in a bowl. “It's not much, but it's all we've got right this second. Didn't do any shopping, we were kinda busy looking for you.”

“Thanks,” I mumble, picking up the dry little rings and munching on them. It's not a lot, but it'll help. “I can't believe I went and got drunk.”

“Emotions do that to us,” Nathan says quietly, no condescension in his voice, which surprises me. He goes to the stove and starts a pot of water, and leaves the room, coming back with a metal canister. “Thankfully, I keep my travel stash with me, and it's strong and black.”

“No coffee?”

Andrea chuckles and snatches a piece of cereal from my bowl. “Despite the long New Orleans tradition of some of the finest French Roast in the entire United States, Nathan here is a total heathen who only drinks tea now. I think it was all those years of bad Army coffee that got to him.”

“A Japanese girl calling someone a heathen for drinking only tea,” I remark, shaking my head slowly. “Maybe I drank more than I thought.”

“Hardly, I just like giving Nathan a hard time,” Andrea says. We're quiet, and Nathan finishes his tea brewing, bringing big mugs for all of us. “Thanks, Nathan.”

He takes a seat at the table and sips, sighing contentedly. “That's as much for me as you guys. You might want to let yours cool some though, Katrina.”

I nod my thanks and keep munching on the cereal until the bowl is empty. Andrea gets up and grabs the box, bringing it over, and I see that it's probably been left behind by the last renters since it's mostly empty already. “Fine dining.”

“The finest,” Andrea agrees quietly. “I don't want to pry... but do you want to tell us about it?”

“Tell me what you've found first,” I order, pouring another bowl of cereal and emptying the box. “And we might need a food run.”

“There's a twenty-four-hour place down the street, I saw it driving from the airport,” Nathan says. “I can go later. As for what you're asking, I believe you're talking about the files on Peter's personal computer you asked Andrea about?”

I give Andrea a raised eyebrow, and she shrugs. “Nathan and I talked after meeting up at the airport and while we've been looking for you. We laid it all out between us, making sure we're working toward the same goal. We want Peter to pay as much as you do.”

I look sideways at Nathan, who nods. “I know. Like I said, we'll discuss it later.”

“Fine. And, what have you found?”

Andrea shakes her head. “Peter kept nothing. I've had his password for a while, and copied a lot of his server a while back for... personal reasons. But he kept nothing about the bomb that was used for your parents.”

“However, I did keep information,” Nathan says before I can get upset. He takes a memory card from his pocket and sets it on the table. “I've kept it and a few other e-mails as insurance against Peter going too crazy on me. I don't know what you've got, but this could easily put him behind bars for a long, long time.”

I take the chip, and look at it. “You know that if you give this to me, you’re putting yourself in my hands?”

“I should have done that as soon as I found your loft address,” Nathan says quietly. “I should have done it again after Jackson came to me and asked me not to turn you into Peter, and then again when he asked for my allegiance in covering this trip. So don't worry about that part.”

I nod, then take out my phone, putting the chip inside. I copy the files, and then upload them to my cloud server, making sure there are copies in multiple locations. Darcy knows about the cloud. She can get the files if something happens to me. “Okay. So what now?”

“Now we take him down,” Andrea says with intensity. “The only issues are timeline and method. What about Jackson?”

“He's... not on board,” I say softly, trying not to let my mood falter. I'm in work mode, and I can't be worried about Jackson right this moment. “He... he's still got some things to let go of.”

Nathan nods in understanding, then sips his tea. “Then I have an idea... one that protects him, protects you, and brings the authorities in relatively quickly.”

“I'm listening.”





Chapter 24





Jackson





I'm frantic with not knowing what to do. I've tried calling Katrina for the past two days, and I'm paralyzed with worry.

At first, when Katrina walked out, I thought she was just pissed off. I mean, I've pissed off women before, but I figured she'd come back after cooling off. It wasn't until after I got dressed that I realized her bag was gone too, and by then, it was too late. I searched the area around the hotel, but she wasn't there.