37. Jetmir
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
JETMIR
The knock—three hard bangs against the door—came just before noon. There was only one person who knocked that way so I didn’t even look up from the file on my desk as I barked, “Come in.”
The door opened and my twin stepped inside.
“This is fucking bullshit, Jet,” she hissed. I looked up to find her carrying two overstuffed grocery bags in one hand, and a stack of books against her chest with the other. “I’m not your shopping assistant.” She kicked the door shut behind her. “And, yeah… You’re fucking welcome.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose at her theatrics. “Thank you, but you should have taken those bags to the kitchen.”
She dropped the grocery bags beside the chair with force. “And run into your wife! No, thank you.”
I leaned back in my chair, smiling. “My badass twin sister is scared of my wife?”
She ignored my comment and glared at me. “I hate grocery shopping.”
“You hate most things.” I looked at the books tucked beneath her arm. “You got all the titles I asked for.”
She rolled my eyes. “Yes, I did. Your wife has some very questionable tastes when it comes to literature.”
“I disagree.”
“That’s your right, but trust me… That angel of yours is not an angel at all. I was embarrassed to stand in the line at Barnes & Noble holding these books.”
I held out my hand and she surrendered the stack. “You could have told me you didn’t want to get them.”
“I’m hoping it earns you some extra points.”
“I doubt it,” I muttered. “But at least it’ll make her happy.”
“Why does she need these anyhow?” Elira questioned. “Isn’t her Kindle here?”
“She wanted the special editions.”
“I’ll never understand her.” She shook her head. “She’s lucky you love her.”
“She might disagree with you on that.”
“Well, if you want my opinion, Jet—”
“I don’t.”
She gave it to me anyhow. “I think she loves you too.”
“You’ve been shopping and carrying groceries.” I put the books on the corner of my desk. I would leave them in the library when she was asleep. “You’re hallucinating.”
“God help me if I ever fall in love.” Her expression softened for half a second. “But if I do, I sure as hell hope he won’t be as romantic as you are with Anya.”
Then she noticed the open folder beneath my hand and she leaned across the desk.
“What is that?”
She looked at the file and I closed it immediately.
Her eyes lifted to mine and the mood shifted. “I’ve been doing my own digging into the Triad too.”
I shouldn’t be surprised. Elira could tease and joke, even go to the bookstore to buy smutty books, but underneath it all, she was deadly and dangerous. It was embedded into our genes. It was who we were at the core.
I gestured toward the chair. “Sit.”
The office was quiet except for the faint ticking of the clock on the wall. She leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other.
“What did you learn?” I asked.
“You first, brother.”
God, save me from the stubbornness of women.
“The Triad is changing their patterns.”
Her gaze sharpened.
“In all areas?”
“Yes.”
She nodded slowly.
The Triad had spent years operating like a machine. Predictable because machines were predictable. Money came in one door, weapons through another, information through a third.
We had been dismantling those systems one by one.
Now the machine had noticed the missing pieces.
“That was the goal,” she said. “They know you. They know it’s you who is eliminating them.”
“You don’t seem surprised about any of it,” I remarked.
“I’m not,” she answered slowly.
“Why?”
“I alerted them to it.”
I straightened up in my chair. “You did what?”
“Hear me out before you lose your cool, brother.”
“Oh, I’m all ears, sister.”
Elira leaned forward. “You’ve been eliminating and damaging their business,” she started. “But even you said, they’re like a Hydra. You cut one head, two more come out. So, I had an idea.”
“Which is?” I asked, even though I was so fucking scared to hear it.
“I can get inside.”
“No.”
She blinked. “First, you don’t get to tell me no, and secondly, you don’t even know what I’m suggesting.”
“You’re suggesting that you infiltrate them.”
“I will destroy them from the inside.”
I stared at her. “No. Absolutely not. That’s very reckless and you know it.”
She sighed.
“I’m not asking for permission, and—”
“You’re not infiltrating the Triad,” I cut her off.
“I already have my way in.”
“What?”
She reached inside her pants and pulled out her phone, then placed it on my desk.
I scrolled through the massive amount of data she obtained. Elira had been extremely busy in between her grocery and book shopping.
I looked up.
“A lot of this information confirms what I obtained.” She nodded. “But it doesn’t tell me what’s your way in.”
“I’ll have help.”
“Whose?”
“It’s confidential.”
“Whose?”
“You’re wasting your time.” She glanced at the cigarette box that sat on my desk. I had pretty much given up smoking since I got my wife back. Fine, fine. Since I kidnapped her. “Can I have a cigarette?”
“No, it’s bad for you,” I snapped. “Now tell me who is helping you.”
“I’ll never tell you.”
“I don’t like this at all.” My stomach tightened. “If something happens, how will I know? How will I save you?”
She shrugged. “I’m capable of saving myself.”
“I’m sure you can.” I handed her the phone back. “But I’m not taking that risk with your life.”
She leaned forward.
“You need someone inside.” Her voice hardened. “It’s the only way to destroy them once and for all. Just think… they blinded Gabriel. They almost killed Amara, you, and your wife. They could try again.”
I didn’t like anything she was saying.
“Give me your contact, and I’ll infiltrate them,” I demanded.
“That won’t work and you know it,” she said firmly. “Every member of the Triad knows how you look and everything about you. I, on the other hand, am a mystery since I keep a low profile.”
I snicker. “Says who?’
“Me,” she deadpanned. “Besides, you don’t have a vagina and cannot seduce those dickheads.”
I pushed my hand through my hair. “Jesus Christ. This plan of yours is sounding less and less like a smart idea.”
“You’re just jealous, because you didn’t think of it. It’s a great plan.” I scoffed and she got up. “I’m doing it whether you approve or not. So either get on board or…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but I had no doubt she meant every spoken and unspoken word. Jesus, what had I done in my present and past lives that God was punishing me by surrounding me with stubborn women?
“Okay,” I finally agreed slowly.
A faint smile tugged at her mouth. “I knew you’d come around.”
“But the moment you sense danger, you get out.” I pinned her with a stare. “If you get killed…” My throat tightened. “I’ll find you, bring you back to life, then kill you again for being reckless.”
Her smile disappeared.
“I know you’re worried. Afraid even.” I said nothing because she’d hit the nail on the head. “But I got this.”
I stood up and came around the desk. She was shorter than me. Anyone looking at us might assume I was the only dangerous one, but they would have been wrong. Elira was just as lethal, but that didn’t mean I worried any less.
“I know you got this,” I rasped, pulling her into a hug. “Although, my warning stands. If something happens to you, I’ll…”
I trailed off and she smiled faintly. “I know, I know. I love you, brother.”
“I love you too, sister.”