Page 33 of Key Of Dreams
“She’s stubborn, and she’s got a lot of pride,” he responds, taking a sip from his coffee mug.
“Can we make it a birthday present?”
Kailyn walks into the room. “Her birthday isn’t for months,” she says.
“Early Christmas gift?” I suggest.
“You don’t give a carpet as a Christmas gift. That’s like giving a woman a vacuum,” she replies in horror. Phoenix bursts out laughing, as do I.
“Shit! I better return the waffle maker I bought,” Phoenix jokes. Kailyn playfully slaps his shoulder and rolls her eyes.
I shake my head at the- cuteness of the two of them together and ask, “What, then?”
“I had a thought. What if we tell Jordan, the owner of the building, that we want to change the carpet and we’ll pay for it? We’ll even make the arrangements to make it easy for him. He can tell Gertie that he’s doing an upgrade to the apartments,” Kailyn suggests.
“I like it,” I say. “You think he’ll go for it?”
“Jordan’s a good guy. He’s got a lot on his plate since he took over for his father. If we make all the arrangements, I can’t see why he’d mind, plus he has a soft spot for Gertie,” Phoenix says.
“I’ll call him today and see what he says,” Kailyn offers. “I’ll let you know if I run into a snag. But I’ll tell him that she needs some samples, then I’ll go pick them up and drop them off for her to choose from and tell her I ran into Jordan on my way in.”
“Pick out what you want for our new place while you’re at it,” Phoenix says.
“Really?” Kailyn asks with a huge grin.
“The new place isours,and I want it to be what we like. So, yeah, and pick the paint color and all that stuff,” he tells her. Then looks over at me and goes on, “I’m sure my buds won’t mind helping me out.”
“Always, bro. You know that. Wire will come if there’s food, and Rebel will be there because he wants dibs on your apartment,” I say.
“And Falcon will be there because he’s just the kind of guy who won’t let us down,” Kailyn says, which is very true. “Maya and I will make sure you guys stay hydrated and fed,” she adds for good measure.
“Maybe not a great idea. Bull gets distracted when Maya’s around,” Phoenix jokes. “We’ll use her as a reward.”
“Fuck off,” I tell him with a smile. He’s not wrong, though. The image of Maya in paint-splattered coveralls is sexy as hell. I shake the thought out of my head. We have to get to work. “Falcon and Rebel are already on-site, and we need to get them home,” I remind Phoenix.
None of us like it when we’re split up. It’s a shitty feeling. There’s no way we can protect them from this far away, so the solution is to get to the bottom of this conspiracy to kill off Yakubu and Obi and get our brothers home.
“I’ll meet you at Storm,” I tell them and take off.
* * *
Wire’s already sitting in his office, and it looks like he’s already been here for hours. It’s better equipped than the FBI investigative tech offices. There’s a wall of computer screens with information flashing and scrolling across every one of them. Wire’s running multiple algorithms at one time, searching for pattern behavior.
We’re all used to running on a limited amount of sleep when necessary, but Wire can go a ridiculous amount of time without. It’s both unique and troublesome. When we were out in the field, Wire would always be the night guard, then he’d go all day through treacherous territory and not stumble. Then when we got back to base, he’d sleep a full day and night.
The first time it happened, we all took turns checking to make sure he was still breathing. His ability to stay awake is only intensified when he’s working on gathering intel through his programming. Very few men have the technical genius that Wire has. I’ve heard of a couple of guys, but they do their best to stay incognito. One is also an ex-military soldier. The other, I hear, is part of a Mafia family, and neither has ever crossed our paths.
“You been up all night?” I ask.
“Falcon and Rebel are out there, and the faster I work, the faster they come home,” he answers.
I hand him the cup of coffee I picked up for him. “I got you coffee,” I say, taking one for myself and setting Phoenix’s and Kailyn’s aside. He and Kailyn were right behind me and should be coming any minute.
“Thanks,” he mumbles, then takes a sip before he sets it off to the side. “I’ve got the files printed for two of the three sisters and their husbands. The sisters look clean, but I haven’t been able to scan through it all thoroughly.”
“Give them to me.” I pull out a chair and plant my ass at the table where I can spread the files out and start working.
“This is the oldest sister, Naiya, and her husband, Ubin.” He hands a thick folder over to me. “Ubin is a prominent businessman and seems to have the same views as his father-in-law when it comes to politics. They have three kids, all boys and all in their late twenties and working or studying. Naiya and her brother were very close growing up, and Ubin and Yakubu studied in the United Kingdom together. I didn’t see anything that sparked concern.”
