Free Nanny 911 by Julie Miller Page B

He’d be ruined.
    It was something worth smiling about.
    Taking his daughter would destroy him. She was the only thing meaningful enough to Quinn Gallagher to ultimately be worth taking. It was the only thing meaningful enough to count as payback for what Quinn Gallagher had done.
    Gallagher had exacted too great a price on his way to the top of his field. Hearts had been broken, dreams shattered. He hadn’t protected everyone who should have mattered. An unjust price had been paid for his success. It was time to take back a little—make that all —of what he owed.
    The boss leaned back in the office chair and placed a call to the man who’d required the tidy sum of two and a half million dollars for his team to carry out the necessary work for the rest of the week. Two and a half million was chicken feed to a man like Quinn Gallagher. Imagine how much would be taken from him by the time this was all said and done.
    A split second passed before the man answered. “Yes?”
    “Is everything in place?” His hesitation wasn’t the best way to begin a report. The boss demanded an explanation. “What is it?”
    “We couldn’t get the doll placed where you wanted it, but Gallagher has it now.”
    Good enough. The bloody doll had been more about shock and diversion and making Gallagher squirm. Quinn Gallagher thought he was smart enough to plan for every contingency. But there was one he would never see coming. “And the other?”
    “Soon. You were right. My guy piggybacked right off Gallagher’s design file when he emailed it to us.” First his business, then his family. Step by step, Gallagher would go down. “As soon as he starts running the software simulation, we’ll have access to the entire computer system. Once we’re in, the building will be ours. You can deliver the next message whenever you’re ready.”
    “Good.” Time to initiate the next phase of the plan.

Chapter Six
    5 days until Midnight, New Year’s Eve
    “Hey, John. Sorry to get you up so early.” Miranda beamed inside and out at the gritty image of her brother in his desert camouflage uniform on the screen of her laptop. “Merry Christmas, big guy.”
    “Merry Christmas, kiddo. Sorry to keep you up so late.”
    “That’s okay. I’m on duty, anyway.”
    “In your pajamas? Where’s your gun stashed?”
    Miranda curled her legs beneath her in the chair in the Gallagher estate’s security command center and grinned. At least one perk to working the holidays for a man who was as wealthy and techno-savvy as he was unsettling and opinionated was access to a pretty sophisticated computer setup. This was the best satellite link she’d had with her brother since he’d been deployed. “Long story. So tell me, what did you do to celebrate?”
    John’s hair was a few shades darker than her blond locks, but the same green eyes looked back at her and smiled. “Well, I just stuffed my belly with a ridiculous amount of food. They went all out for the holiday meal—ham, turkey, prime rib. Baked potatoes. Mashed potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Cherry pie. Pecan pie. Chocolate cake. Ice cream…”
    “Stop. I’m gaining weight just listening to all that.” Although his deep, indulgent tone was familiar, she couldn’t help but notice the tight lines bracketing his smile. “You look tired.”
    “I just came off the front line today.”
    The time difference between the States and the Middle Eastern region where his marine unit was stationed required these rare face-to-face hookups to take place at odd hours. But she didn’t think a lack of sleep fully accounted for the gaunt look of his handsome face. “John? You do remember that I’m a twenty-eight-year-old grown-up now, right? You don’t have to protect me the way you used to. Did something happen?”
    He looked away from the camera for a second, then tried a little harder to make his smile stick. “Did I tell you I got that care package you sent? Loved the books and the sports drinks. Not