XXVIII

Major Rhett Owens arrived at Blair’s office twenty-two minutes later. His custom-made Key Corp–red officer’s jacket accentuated the thickly coiled muscles and tapered waist that his fire-retardant Zone Seven uniform had swallowed up. Blair’s gaze slid from the towering officer to her petite blond assistant and back again. The three of them could make quite the trio, two gorgeous blonds flanking her like porcelain bookends.

Blair leaned against the side of her desk and motioned to the chair across from her. “Would you like to sit, Major? Or were you planning on leaving us?”

Rhett strode over, unbuttoned his coat, and stiffly lowered himself into the chair. “Not at all. It’s an honor. A real honor. When your girl, Maxie, reached out—”

“Maxine,” the assistant corrected as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Or should I call you Maj Owe?”

Blair’s eyebrow rose. “Ms. Wyndham,” she insisted, after a brief struggle to recall her assistant’s surname. Normally Blair wouldn’t care whether Maxine was addressed by her first or last name. It was her assistant’s name and therefore her assistant’s decision. But this wasn’t about Maxine’s name. No, this was about power. About laying a strong, unshakable foundation. If Rhett was going to work for her, he would know who was in charge.

Rhett’s temples flexed with a quick clench of his jaw. “When Ms. Wyndham called, I thought to myself, You’re finally getting the recognition you deserve.”

Blair dragged her nails along her desk as she circled it, moving closer to Rhett. “And what if you were here to be reprimanded?”

Rhett snorted. “There’s no way. I do everything correctly. By the book.”

“Because . . .” Blair paused, lifting her eyebrows as silence spilled into the room. No, it wasn’t a question. It was a test.

Rhett rested his elbows on the armrests and clasped his hands. “I’m not sure what you know about Key Corp forces, Ms. Scott, but we pride ourselves on following orders. I happen to be one of the few who gets to give them—”

Blair’s toes dug into her pointed high heels as Rhett stuffed the pause with a tight wriggle of his square shoulders.

The corner of Rhett’s thin lips twitched with a smirk as he continued. “But I do so with the Key in mind. Protecting the corporation and its citizens are numbers one and two in my book.”

Paper rustled as Maxine flipped the page of the paper pad she busily scribbled notes into. As she’d mentioned before the Major’s arrival, there were some things only Blair needed access to.

Precious little monster.

Blair perched on the edge of her onyx desk. “And special projects. How are you with those, Major?”

Again, his shoulders wriggled with self-importance. “None too big for me, Ms. Scott. I can handle any assignment you can think to give. Or I know the right man for the job.” He shifted slightly. “I make sure to keep myself available for higher-level assignments.” He glanced over his shoulder at Maxine before he leaned forward and whispered, “I’m sure you know what I mean. There are some tasks that aren’t worth our pay grade.”

Blair’s cuticles ached as her nails bit the lip of her desk. Rhett’s smugness was a palpable grit that hung in the air around him like dust. “Well, Major, it seems that I contacted the right man.” She peeled her fingers away from the desk and forced them, loose and relaxed, in her lap. “My brother. He’s a bit—” Blair pursed her lips. Denny was a hard person to describe. Every time she thought she did an adequate job, the word loser floated in the air, and popped on the tongue of whoever she’d been talking to like an acrid bubble. Blair had fired the last person to call him a loser. Her brother wasn’t a loser. Purposeless? Unmotivated? Uninspired? Yes, yes, and yes. But, with the right push, there was no reason Denny wouldn’t be as successful as Blair was. And she knew exactly which buttons to press. “Denny is a little unmotivated. The Key Corp guard would be the perfect place for him to find his way. Plus, he’s a Scott. Once he’s on the right path, he’ll be unstoppable.”

Rhett relaxed back into his seat. “So his testing showed that he has an aptitude for the armed guard? That’s great. We can always use new talent. Don’t get enough of it, if you ask me. I’ll be sure to teach him everything he needs to know. You don’t need to worry about a thing, Ms. Scott. I make sure to keep my men busy.” With a squint, he raised his hands and pointed them straight ahead. “Focused. As they say, idle hands are more likely to get caught up in Eos.”

Blair forced her grimace into an empty smile. “I don’t believe I’ve heard that one, Major.”

“Echo scoops up anyone prone to . . .” Rhett waved his hand in Blair’s direction as he chose his next word, “wandering. Brainwashes them and makes them a part of Eos.”

Blair’s brow creased and her stomach knotted. She could not abide this windbag knowing more than her. “Maxine, were you aware of an Echo?”

Without looking up from her diligent note taking, Maxine shook her head.

“Our intel names Echo as the leader of the Eos cell here in the New American West Coast. This Echo character tops the Most Wanted list.” Rhett snorted. “Ms. Wyndham wouldn’t have been privy to that kind of information.”

Maxine ceased writing and stood. “Going back a bit, Rhett.” She cocked her head and smiled at the Major as she would a lost child as she took a seat in the chair next to him. “May I call you Rhett?”

Major Owens opened his mouth, but Maxine continued, slipping into the space between breath and word before Rhett could utter a sound. “Blair’s brother has an aptitude for the medical sciences, not the armed guard. However, as she stated, medical isn’t the best place for him.”

Rhett’s brow wrinkled as his expression twisted into shock. “The best place for him is wherever the Key says he should be. My career is no joke, Ms. Wyndham. It takes a certain kind of man to do what I do. To see what I see and not be affected by it.”

With a subtle wave of her hand, Blair shooed Maxine out of the chair and back to her corner. “I couldn’t agree more, Major.” Blair settled into the chair next to him. “A special kind of man. A strong man. An intelligent man. You are that man.” Blair forced the sneer from her lips as Rhett’s chest puffed. “Major Owens, you are the embodiment of who a Key Corp soldier should be.”

Maxine opened her mouth and Blair lifted her hand, catching the go-getter before she spoke. There was blood in the water, and Major Rhett Owens had no idea he was the one hemorrhaging.

Blair wet her lips and continued. “I believe, with your immeasurable skill set, the fact that you are in command of your own squadron, and the superb way you perform under pressure, that you, Major, should have no trouble getting my brother a position in your ranks.”

Rhett swiped the back of his hand down his cheek. “I don’t think—”

“I need you, Major.” The words stained Blair’s tongue, tacky and bitter. “You’ll be doing me a personal favor. And, more importantly, you’ll be directly responsible for the betterment of the Key. Isn’t that what you want?”

His temples pulsed. “Yes, of course—”

“Then it’s settled,” Blair said with a clap. “Major Owens, you and I . . .” She inhaled slowly, letting the lilting words further ensnare the brute. “We’re going to be the best of friends.”

“A powerhouse.” Maxine added silk to the web.

Blair glanced at the sharp lead points jutting out from the vase on her desk. “Rule makers, Major. And wouldn’t you like to make the rules?”

The bright amber of Rhett’s eyes thinned as his pupils dilated.

Blair’s stomach fluttered and her breath hitched as the air around her seemed to tremble. Rhett had stumbled into her web.