Page 71 of Devilish Debt
“Noteverythingis online, Little One,” Salay sweetly insists.“And one day, I hope in my Schooner appreciating heart you truly learn that.”
“The pirate?”
“The ship…”
“That’s a ship?”
“It’s atypeof ship.”
“Huh.”Befuddlement deepens.“Not the last name of a blind pirate?”
Her eyes widen in what can only be labeled as horror.“What?!”
“One of the clues…it…mentioned something about Schooner and then the program found this pirate and-”
“You are justhandingthe defense her case now on a platinum platter,” Garcia interrupts on an amused headshake.“As my client-”
“Objection,” Salay mirthfully states.
“-I suggest you stop talking before you’re held in contempt of court.”
My lips press firmly together.
“It’s under my advisement that you settle.”He slowly begins taking steps towards me.“Apologize to the opposition, agree to revisit the material, and then kiss me as payment for my pro bono services.”
“If he has to kiss you for your services, thenby definition,it’s not pro bono, counselor.”
“No eres abogado,” he scolds in a playful tone at the same time I sink to my feet.
“And this isn’t actually a courtroom,” our girl sasses without missing a beat.
Our.
It’s one of the few labels I’ve come to love.
And I know…I know…it’s running on the dark web with no protection bad that I’m already this deep into…whateverthisis.
“Giving the riddles Prince Dickhead provided another look with aPirates of the Caribbeanenthusiast is probably a good use of our rainy day,” I say to her yet keep my attention pinned on him.“Especially with our residential Jack Sparrow-”
“Inaccurate correlation,” she chimes in.
“-out negotiating with Fyght or Flyght – a private military company thatmoonlightsin smaller, high dollar rescues, extractions, or at times exterminations for extremely wealthy clients.”
“Exterminations?” scoffs Salay as Garcia’s hands find their way to my boxer covered hips.“Like I’m a pest.”
His attention briefly cuts over to her.“Comparación comparable.” Rather than retort with words, she flings a fingerful of water in our direction.“Hey!You’re gonna make me wet!”
“Can’t say the same for you,” she saucily bites prior to sticking her tongue out.
“You sure you wanna deal with them alone?”I cautiously ask, anxiously rocking on the tips of my toes.“I don’t mind coming for backup.”
“I would rather youhereto help protect our princess in case they manage to discover where we’re located.I recall their policy that states they have thirty-six hours from mission launch to accomplish their objective – primarily to keep their soldiers along with their transport vehicles available and accessible for more pressing operations – or they have to completely forfeit the contract funds.”
“Yeah, but Ihidher contract to buy us more time.They probably don’t even know their window istechnicallyup, if the client hasn’t reached them by now, which I may have been making a bit impossible by keeping her team in a ‘how may I redirect your call’ loop.”
“Why didn’t you just delete the contract on me altogether?”questions the target they’re after.
“It’s not that simple,” I reply, eyes drifting over to her despite how much they wish to drift close over Garcia’s gentle thumb touches.
