It meant Byrne would have his hands in all the nation’s security systems. “Then maybe what I should do is pull Maddie out of that company altogether and let the Agency handle it.”
“We don’t know if the Agency is handling anything at all. Why do you think I’m asking you? Do you think we haven’t tried to take these questions to them? Our only contact is Drake Radcliffe, and he’s not answering Chelsea’s calls at the moment,” Adam shot back. “He told her she’s overreacting and to stand down.”
Deke didn’t see the problem. He’d met Drake Radcliffe a couple of times, and though the guy was young, he seemed solid. Drake was in his late twenties now, but he’d started working for the Agency years before. He was their wunderkind, and he’d been the one handling Chelsea for a while now. Chelsea and Adam weren’t direct employees. There would be a limit to what the Agency would tell them. “Then he’s handling it. You know they can be secretive bastards.”
“They can also go bad.” Adam’s eyes had taken a steely look. “You should know that better than most. You watched what the Agency did to Ten Smith. They chose to disavow him when he wouldn’t allow Hope McDonald to continue her work. They chose Levi Green over Beck and Solo. Do you honestly believe Drake is incapable of turning? Hell, he might even be under orders to let this thing play out. If the government believes the tech is worth it, they’ll sacrifice lives and cover it all up. He’s been acting weird the last year or so. He’s distracted by something, and I worry when a man who has always been so focused is acting even slightly out of sorts.”
His head was spinning with the implications. “Again, then maybe I should pull her out.”
“Then they would know something is wrong and they’ll go underground,” Adam argued. “We’ll lose our chance to figure out what they’re trying to do.”
Deke shook his head. “This is far above my paygrade. Talk to Tag, man. I’m not a spy. I never really was. I was muscle for way smarter guys than me. I’m going to do the job Tag asked me to do. I’m going to protect Maddie, and I’ll try my damnedest to ID our mystery lady, but I’m not going to work behind Maddie’s back. Let’s sit her down and tell her what we know.”
“Absolutely not.” Adam’s whole body had gone tense. “I know you believe in her, but she can’t know what I just told you. It could get me and Chelsea in serious trouble. If you won’t do what I need you to do, I’ll find another way, but you can’t tell her.” Adam put his hands up in obvious defeat. “I’ll talk to Ian.”
“I’m not coming off this op.” He wasn’t going to let anyone use Maddie. He would bring her in if he needed to, but he wasn’t going to go around her and potentially ruin her career. “If Tag pulls me, I’ll make sure she stays out of this. I’m not trying to be difficult.”
Adam’s eyes rolled. “Well, you’re doing a spectacular job of it.”
How to make the guy understand that this was more than a job to him? “I care about her.”
“I get that.”
“You also aren’t even sure it’s the same,” Deke pointed out. “Look, she’s trying to get onto Byrne’s system. That’s what you really want, right? You want a peek?”
“Yeah. I’d like to see what the man’s doing.”
“I’m going to have MaeBe help her. Maddie has skills, but I bet MaeBe’s the better hacker,” he pointed out. He could still salvage this. He just needed to get Adam to compromise with him. “Do you trust MaeBe?”
Adam nodded. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll talk to MaeBe and direct her to grab copies of anything she thinks is suspicious. But Maddie’s going to know I’m doing it. She needs the information, too. MaeBe will keep a copy on her system, and we’ll go from there. I know you have to look at this situation with a cynical eye, but I would bet my soul that Maddie has nothing to do with this. She’s working on our side.”
“I hope you’re right.” Adam backed away as he spoke.
He felt bad. He knew Adam was trying to do what he thought was right, but he couldn’t get into the mud again. “I’ll talk to Ian with you. We can restructure things and come to some kind of compromise.”
“I’ll deal with it. Honestly, it was a long shot, and you’re right. We don’t have the kind of proof we need to put the company at risk,” Adam conceded. “But my warning is still real. Watch your back with Byrne. He’s capable of anything.” Adam’s expression cleared. “Now let’s go teach your girl a little bit about D/s.”
“Adam, you don’t have to help me. I get why you came down here now, and I will also understand if you want to walk away.”
Adam’s head shook. “There’s no price for my help. I know we’re not exactly the best of friends, but you’ve been around for a long time. You have to know we don’t work that way. I might not be a member of your team, but we are all still family. Chelsea and I will figure this out. And spending time with Madeline might ease my worry.”
Deke heard the door to the locker room open. “She’s a good woman.”
“I hope so.” Adam nodded his way. “I’ll go get dressed. I thought we would start by talking about protocol.”
“Oh, I assure you she knows all the technicalities of D/s. She’s a quick study when it comes to the intellectual parts. She probably knows more than you or I about the philosophies behind the lifestyle. It’s the physical and emotional aspects she’ll struggle with.”
“Then let’s combine the two,” Adam offered. “We can make her comfortable by lobbing her questions she can easily answer and then hit her with the reality of how physical D/s can be. You really want this woman?”
“I do.” He wasn’t going to lie. “She got away once. I don’t want to let it happen again.”
“All right, then. Let’s see what we can do.” Adam rounded the corner and then stopped. “Hey, Kyle. I can’t imagine what you’ve come here to talk to Deke about.”
“Uh, obviously I’m going to talk to him about the op and how he plans to use MaeBe,” Kyle replied.
Deke groaned and let his head fall back.
It was going to be a long day.
* * * *
Maddie felt the hard wood beneath her knees and tried to get her back to straighten up the way Serena had directed her to. After they’d handled her wardrobe, Serena had taken her up the stairs and through the big dungeon to what she called the training room. Unlike the rest of the dungeon this space had a door and a solid wall of mirrors so she could watch herself fuck up.
“Think of it like there’s a string that runs through you and it lifts you up all the way from the base of your spine to the top of your head,” Serena advised.
This was a lot like the yoga classes she signed up for, went to two, and then found a reason to skip. Although at least at the yoga class she got to wear comfy clothes. No one told her she had to stretch a corset around her body while wearing nothing else but underwear.
If she had known she would get down to her undies, she probably wouldn’t have worn pink cotton granny panties.