Free Cuckoo (Kindred Book 3) by Scarlett Finn Page B

entertained.”
    “But when you failed to obtain Game Time, your boss got pissed and fired you.”
    With a slow blink and a nod, he maintained his calm. “That’s right,” he said.
    “So now you want your revenge?” she asked.
    Any information she got from this man would be biased and would downplay his involvement in whatever happened. But he couldn’t be more than ten years older than Brodie, meaning he’d have been in his early twenties when this incident occurred. Still, whatever he said would have some thread of truth, and it would give them a place to work from if Brodie decided he wanted to settle old debts.
    Kahlil took a second to himself before answering. “My new associates and I have no reason to keep the information to ourselves. The only value the information has to us is its power as leverage. We can barter knowledge for what we want.”
    And before they could even consider a trade, they would have to uncover Game Time’s ultimate purpose in the hands of these people. “Why do you want it?” she asked. “What’s so important about Game Time? You have lost the patronage of your previous superior. Do you plan to turn the device against him?”
    He squared the seam of his slacks and cleared his throat before standing up and tapping a finger on the envelope. “Take that figure to your superior.”
    “You said your new approach would work because I’m a woman,” she said, happy to keep her love as far away from this decision as she could.
    “I didn’t mean to imply that you would be making the decision. But I know you have the ear of your man, the man who will appreciate this information. A man who we both know flouts conscience in favor of his own agenda.”
    Brodie didn’t have an agenda, not like Kahlil did, not like Grant or Sutcliffe. Despite his occupation, he was one of the most selfless of the bunch. “So you think I’ll seduce him into agreeing to give up the device?”
    “I think women heed emotions and your curiosity is already aflame, I see it. If you want the truth, I am the last chance for any McCormack to have it.”
    He tapped the envelope with the end of a finger and took shades from his pocket to slide them onto his face before he turned around and strode out of the room. After the door had closed, she snatched the phone from the hook and dialed nine, but before she hit another digit, she slammed the phone back onto the base.

SIX
     
     
    She couldn’t call up Brodie and tell him this. She had to be with him so they could discuss it in person. It was her only hope of tempering his reaction to this revelation. Spurred by this turn of events, she wanted to return to the manor, where they could process the development and construct some sort of plan.
    Unfortunately, Brodie’s ex would be arriving at CI at some point today and that nixed her ability to flee. Zara needed to stay and use this last chance to make sure that if Kahlil tried to approach CI, without the sweetener, that Cuckoo wouldn’t walk into some disastrous deal without knowing what she was selling. Cuckoo wouldn’t be interested in Future’s Hope, but if offered a bundle of cash her first week on the job, she would probably take it to win favor and prove her ability.
    Running to her own office, Zara pulled the box of printer paper from the cupboard and stuffed the reams into the cupboard before locking it again. Returning to Grant’s office with the box, she began to fill it. The first thing to go in was Grant’s laptop, then she seated herself on the chair and pulled out the key from its secret slot to unlock the drawers. She put all of the files in the box, along with Grant’s personal items and any notebooks or paperwork she found.
    Keeping Grant’s secrets would be a skeet shoot. Anything that might so much as contain a hint of a secret was put into the box. Once she was done, she left the key in the lock before crouching next to the chair to rip the concealed plastic slot off the underside of the