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covered position at the first sound of the lift rising to meet him.
Relax, Jericho.
It was Tank s voice. It sounded like he was about twelve feet off to her forward
right, where the closest of the building s structural columns was in place.
You tell Lacy to relax? She managed to keep her voice clear, strong even
despite the pain in her chest and lungs.
I didn t kill Lacy.
A chill ran down her spine. Tank had changed positions without her hearing him
move. She moved slowly around Wendel until he was once again between her and
Tank s position.
It s a speaker system, Jer --
Thanks, Bro.
Wendel tensed and she laughed an involuntary snort. It was starting to feel like
old times -- the way she tried not to remember them.
Stuck between a bitch and a hard-ass. That s what their friends in the old
neighborhood would say, giving Wendel a friendly shoulder slug while he watched the
verbal sparring between Tank and the tag-a-long.
Tears sprung to Jeri s eyes. Tank and the tag-a-long.
Her hand crept to the small of her back and the gun she had traded the Bersa for.
You tell Lacy that? She yelled it this time.
I left that bitch alive. She was bound and waiting for her back-up last time I saw
her.
Bitch. She growled and thumbed the safety off. That s not how they tell it at
central, Tank.
Wendel had heard the small click from the safety and he spun on her. His hands
went around her waist, quickly finding and locking on to her wrists. Stand down, Jer.
Ann Vremont Men of O.D.I.N.: Death Sequence 91
Tank spoke, softly from behind her, and she knew she was no longer hearing
him over speakers. When did you start believing what all-father says? He paused, his
tone mocking. Or was your attitude toward the Director always an act, part of Valk
Training 101?
A better actress, a better agent&
Jeri looked at Wendel, tried to gauge the impact of Tank s accusation on his
younger brother. She relaxed her grip on the gun but Wendel kept his hold on her tight.
Tank stood at her back, now. Lifting Jeri s jacket while Wendel held her still, he pried
her gun from her.
Wendel dipped his head until his mouth was against her ear. He won t hurt
you.
She didn t believe him. Not yet. She and Tank had been good friends once upon
a time. That friendship had taken a hit after Mario had the brothers thrown in jail and
had all but evaporated when she became a Valk.
Tank moved to where she could see him. If you want to blame someone for
Lacy s death, Jeri, look to her support team.
Paulson. Wendel let go of her as she said the tactical leader s name. Fuck.
Paulson had known the effects of the hypo-press. He d disobeyed her command to hold
and subsequently injected her with another tracer chip before battering her with a bed
pan. The bastard hadn t been demoted or otherwise publicly reprimanded after Lacy s
death. And now he was here in Windsor with all-father and neither brother knew.
Tank was walking toward the computer screens, his back to them. She felt the
press of something cold and hard in her hand. She wrapped her fingers around it to
find that she was holding Wendel s gun.
She turned, to thank him, at least, with her eyes, but he was already following his
brother. She headed after him, her vision adjusting to the darkness to find her way
around piles of rebar the construction crew had left behind.
By the time she reached them, Tank was sitting in front of a computer. He had
turned a banker s lamp on, the light sufficient to show her that he held a stylus and&
Ann Vremont Men of O.D.I.N.: Death Sequence 92
That looks just like the Director s PDA.
Correction -- it is the old man s PDA. Tank smiled, looking for a second like
the boy she d once been close friends with. Sounds like he replaced his.
With everything but the Death Sequence. There, she d said it, pushed it out
into the open. So why d you steal it? Was it to bribe your way out of O.D.I.N. or do
you have some mad genius plan to take over the world?
Another familiar smile. It might have relaxed her but then he tapped the PDA s
screen with the stylus and the similarity of the motion to all-father s made her blood
freeze in her veins.
A new screen popped up on the computer monitor. Tank slid his chair back so
she could step in close enough to watch the simulation.
You wouldn t fucking believe it, Jeri. Wendel leaned over, one hand against
her hip as the other pointed out planned Berserker strike locations. There was the Union
Parliament and Prime Minister s offices in New York. Another simulation popped up
showing a smaller scale first strike scenario that would put O.D.I.N. s Director in charge
of Ontario s government and military. He was going to use us for a military coup.
Stand as one or all our brothers die.
Turning away from the computer, she started to pace. Her chest still throbbed
but she couldn t stay still, not with the knowledge that all-father could drop Wendel
dead with the press of a button if he got his hands on the code again. She glanced at
Tank over her shoulder. So what have you been doing the last six months?
Leaving Jeri s question unanswered, Tank slid the PDA back into his pocket. She
looked at Wendel, who was rubbing his jaw. All right, they were holding something
back, something that both of them knew. But it wasn t in Tank s nature to ignore every
question. He couldn t keep his mouth shut like Wendel could.
She returned to the computers. She gestured at the pocket holding the PDA. Is
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