The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6), Hailey Edwards [year 2 reading books TXT] 📗

how close we stood to the entrance, he had overheard this part of our conversation with ease.

“She asked me if you were home,” Hank said, proving he had been listening in. “I said no.”

“That’s it?” I gawked at him. “I thought you were the face of the Faraday or something.”

“I’m the guy who guards the door.” He rolled a shoulder. “I don’t let the riffraff in, and that goes double for some Johnny-come-lately trying to steal a city out from under my beta’s mate.”

A sympathetic pang shot through me for the rough time Sue was getting from my people, but I had trouble holding on to that flicker of empathy while a knot of emotion tightened my throat.

“Thanks,” I said thickly. “Next time, be nice.”

Hank appeared to give that consideration then shook his head. “Nah.”

Midas, who was usually one for diplomacy, only smiled.

Obviously, he was Team Hadley and didn’t care if the other team got booed while on the field.

Heaving a sigh, I headed into the lobby and called the elevator as a text chimed.

>>Got tired of waiting. Yawn. Going to my place.

In other words, Remy knew she was in trouble and didn’t want to stick around for the lecture.

More than likely, she skipped my apartment and went straight to hers to catch up with her friend.

>See you tomorrow.

I had more right than anyone to be angry about Sue, but instead of kicking my feet, yelling at the moon, and generally showing my tail, I was being forced to rein in my friends who were doing all of the above for me.

As the thought occurred to me, I slanted a suspicious glance at Midas, who was a picture of innocence.

Certain I was being handled with expert care, I couldn’t find it in me to fuss at him about managing me.

Mostly because I was seconds away from a deliciously cold shower with a deliciously hot Midas.

Bishop didn’t show with my café mocha, which made me sad. And thirsty. But I soldiered on to HQ.

“How did you get here so fast?” Bishop met me at the door with a scowl. “What time is it?”

“I took a Swyft?” This location was our farthest point. “It’s mocha o’clock, not that I hold grudges.”

Bishop grunted then led the way to his command center where he sat with another grunt.

“Have you had your coffee this morning?” I poked his shoulder. “You’re grumpy.”

“I didn’t sleep today.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I was combing over the audio.”

Between him and Reece, I could never keep up with who was doing what. They tag-teamed too often.

“You can’t run yourself into the ground.” I ignored my double standards. “You’re no good to me if your brain explodes.”

“Midas shouldn’t have let you watch Alien Brains Invade Our Dreams.” He rubbed his face. “Brains don’t just explode, no matter what that show taught you. And how did an alien brain take the place of the human one when there was a smoking crater left behind in the hosts’ skulls? It makes no sense.”

Poor guy hadn’t watched enough creature features with me to grasp they didn’t have to make sense.

“Probably because their brains had been exploded,” I said sagely. “Did you find anything new?”

“Midas caught it all.” He leaned back. “Anca has a list of employees who worked that night. They only listed one host, and it was a woman.”

“Are you coming with?” I took in his rumpled clothes and red-rimmed eyes. “Or you going to nap?”

“I heard Sue Billiard tracked you down.”

More like he was spying on me and caught the incident on film sans audio.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You have a soft heart, kid. You see the good in everyone. Whatever sob story she sold you, it’s not the truth. Not all of it. Probably not even half of it. Anyone with a lick of sense would have avoided you altogether. You have to ask yourself why she searched you out in record time.”

“She wants to talk.” I had almost forgotten in my eagerness to return to Marx’s. “We invited her to our place for dinner.”

“Oh, to be a fly on that wall.” Bishop finger combed his unruly hair. “Bzz-bzz.”

“You want an invitation?”

It would look odd if Midas and I invited a third for our party if she arrived solo. I realized then I had assumed she would bring her husband, because I couldn’t imagine facing something as huge as the gauntlet without Midas by my side. With so many kids in the mix, I should have asked her.

“Do I look like the social type? No. I want you to invite Remy. Between her observation skills and Midas’s senses, they can determine how honest Sue’s intentions are without having to resort to a confrontation.”

“Remy is a bad idea.” I explained about their run-in. “Sue won’t be comfortable with her there.”

“If Remy can’t eavesdrop without being discovered, then she might as well hang up her hat.”

It was a testament to how many directions I was being pulled in that I didn’t put two and two together. Her ability to sneak in and out of anywhere had earned her the title of my unofficial spymaster. And not just because it was better for me when she applied those skills elsewhere.

“When you’re right, you’re right.” I shot her a text. “There.” I flashed him the screen. “I invited the brat.”

“Let me grab a drink, and we’ll go.” He rose with a grunt-groan combo. “I’m parched.”

I didn’t see what he grabbed from the fridge, but its metallic scent wafted to me and clenched my gut.

Blood.

The tumbler he carried was one of the big ones. Thirty ounces. Filled with crimson liquid visible through the clear lid.

“Ready?” I kept my tone easy and light. “Or do you need snacks for the road too?”

“This’ll do.” He nudged me toward the door. “Our chariot awaits.”

One of my first duties as POA would be to negotiate with Swyft for better discount rates for the OPA.

Yeesh.

It cost a small fortune to zoom around town.