I roll my eyes, and pull her behind me. "You don't even know what he wants help with. What do you need her for?"
"We need to know what kind of online challenge tests you did."
"Oh, sure. I can tell you."
I sit back and try to listen to their conversation, but honestly, it's all over my head. Scott types into his tablet as they talk, and also talks into the Bluetooth like thing he put in his ear. After about twenty minutes, he yells "gotcha" and high fives Jeanne.
"You're done? Did you find who was after her?"
"Yes, and we already knew."
"What? Why didn't Audrey tell us you figured it out."
He looks nervous then, pulling his lip ring into his mouth, and rocking back on his feet. He finally scratches the back of his head and answers. "The guy who was kind of in charge is in her office with her now, trying to get her to give up Jeanne. She's been stalling him while we took his girlfriend, and looked for the muscle. We got them, but found something weird in the computer files at the company he works for."
"That's why you needed to know about the challenges?" Jeanne asks.
"Yes. Your info helped me find out who they were really trying to hack into. The company they were going to have you try and hack."
"Who is it?"
"I can't tell you that, but thank you again for helping."
"Are you going to get the guy in Audrey's office now?" I ask, jumping into the conversation.
"Um, no?"
"No? Why the fuck not?"
"Dad, you shouldn't cuss."
Scott just laughs and ruffles her hair. "Baby girl, I live and breathe f-bombs. Well, except for when my boy's around. My wife withholds sex when he cusses, so I've been making sure to behave around him."
"Now that we have that extra information about you we didn't need, can you please answer my question?"
"Maybe you should talk to Reina."
"She's not here, and I'm asking you."
"Shit. Okay, Audrey knows the guy. They went to high school together."
"Jimmy?"
"Yeah, that's him. He showed up, and she's been keeping him occupied in her office while we rounded everyone up."
"She took him to her office? Is that allowed?"
"He means her fake office, the one that people who come to the Foundation see," Jeanne says.
"Yeah, that one. It's boring as fuck, but does a good job of hiding what she really does. And yes, if she trusted someone, she could take them to her real office."
"Again, why doesn't someone just go get him now?"
"Well, he appears to be a little unstable, and we don't want to endanger Audrey. Reina's hoping she can talk him out of the office."
"Audrey can take care of herself. I know she can."
"Normally, yes, but not right now."
"What do you mean, not right now? Is she injured?"
"Not exactly."
"You know," Jeanne says, her eyes wide.
"Uh, yeah. When she activated her distress signal yesterday, we could automatically hear everything she said. She knows we know, but everyone's been waiting for her to officially tell us."
"Tell you what? Will someone please stop talking around me, and just tell me what's going on?"
The two of them look at each other, and Jeanne finally gives in to Scott's pleading look. "Audrey's pregnant, Dad. That's why she couldn't fight the men who came for me, and that's why they're worried about her getting hurt right now."
Audrey
"Audrey, we have everyone and Jeanne just helped Scott figure out what company they wanted her to get into. Scott said someone on the inside had to have been helping them, and that it could've been really bad if Jeanne had let Jimmy and his girlfriend inside their system. He's notified the company, and they're on lockdown while they investigate."
"What exactly were you going to use Jeanne for?"
"We are going to have her help us get some info we need to beat the competition. Stop using past tense."
"You must realize by now that that's not going to happen. You're not going to have Jeanne."
"I am," he roars, jumping over my desk and pushing my chair as far as It'll go into the desk, while leaning over me.
I look up at him, trying to figure out how to get out of here in once piece since he's obviously about to go a little crazier when he understands that he's not going to get what he wants. He inserts his USB drive into my computer and smiles for a few seconds, and then he's frowning. He types keys and I watch as he starts to realize that he can't break through.
"It's over, Jimmy. Step away from me, and we can both walk out of this office."
"It's not over," he says, grabbing the loose strands of my hair and pulling my head back as he pushes me even harder into the desk.
It hurts, and for the first time in a very long time, I'm scared of being physically injured. If it was just me, I'd have been fighting already, but I have to think about my baby. I won't risk the baby. I can take some pain, I've been trained to take it.
"It is. You are not going to get into our system, and you can't have Jeanne. Please just walk out of here, while you can."
"While I can?" he asks, pulling my hair harder. "Haven't you noticed that I hold all the power here? I could call my men, and they'd be through your poor excuse for security in seconds. We could take down this whole building."
"Theo and Jake are outside your office. The rest of us are on the way. We've all been waiting for you to tell us, but you know we know about the baby. No one is going to jeopardize either one of you, so you tell us when you're ready. This guy is getting crazier, though, so if you can't calm him down soon, you need to let the boys in."
Reina's right. I'm just not sure what Jimmy will do when they come in with guns blazing. He's not going to just give himself up. I know he has no weapons, but if his mind is still functioning at least a little, he could be resourceful. I've killed a person with a pen, and while I was trained, he's also smart enough to figure it out. I just have to hope that he doesn't.
"One more thing, Aud. I just found out that Blake knows. He wouldn't stop questioning why you couldn't get yourself out of there, and so Jeanne told him. She didn't want to, but it was going to be her or Scott, and it was better that it was her. Scott said Blake just collapsed in his chair and hasn't spoken. I'm sorry."
Damn it. Can one thing go right today? Just one thing. That's all I'm asking for. I need to end this now, and I know how to do it. I trust Jake with my life, and Theo seems like a good guy, too, so I just go for it.
"We've got your men, and your girlfriend, too. You need to let me go, and you'll still be able to walk out of this office."
"You're bluffing."
"I'm not."
"Those men are highly trained. They wouldn't let anyone take them. They'd use their kill pills first."
"They weren't given time to get those pills out. We have them, and I promise you that when my boss is done with them, they'll tell everything they know."
"Reina Corrigan? Some socialite bitch doesn't scare me."
"She should."
"Well, she doesn't. My girlfriend's building security is much better than this joke of a place. No one's getting to her. So please stop lying. I really don't want to hurt you."
"You're hurting me right now."
He actually lets go of my hair and backs away from me. I push my chair away from the desk, and breathe a little easier. "I'm sorry, Audrey. I just really need Jeanne, and I know you can give her to me. Why won't you help me?"
"She's just a girl, Jimmy. I can't let you kidnap her and make her do work for you against her will."
"Always so ethical, aren't you? Wrong and right. Black and white. That's all you see, isn't it?"
"No. I know the grey. For most of my life, I've lived in the grey."
"Oh yeah, you're probably spinning lies to make your boss look good."
"Reina doesn't need anything spun for her. She's one of the best people I know."
"You talk about her like she's perfect."
"She's pretty close."
"Everyone has secrets and flaws."
"Yes, we do."
"Come work with me, Audrey. Give me Jeanne, and you can come work for us."
"I would never leave this job, but even if I would, there's nothing left to go to. I've told you already, we've taken your girlfriend down."
"How did some charitable foundation take down mercenaries and highly trained security personnel? Tell me that, and maybe I'll believe you."
I can do that. I can tell him, because if he makes it out of here alive, his mind will be wiped. "Have you ever heard of the Society?"
"The Society? You mean that mythical group of women who supposedly right the wrongs of the world? Of course I've heard of them, but they aren't real."
"We're very real, Jimmy."
"You? No. That's funny, Aud."