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the
one up position.
    Corlis sat and circled her knees with one
arm. “Abort. Bunch of whack-job Greens called the Aina say the girl
is a material witness—and, big surprise—they don’t like it.”
    Keegan frowned, thoughts circling his rapidly
crumbling fort. “Eco-terrorists? That shit went out with the
nineties. Why didn't Stalling call the cops?”
    Corlis tipped her head to the side. “Think
about it—a Stalling on the open market? His indifference is the
only thing keeping her safe. Anything he does for her has got to be
internal, and apparently his security is shot to hell. If he cares
for her at all it’s got to be driving him insane.”
    “Terrorists, potential kidnappers, everyone
and their uncle want this woman. How the hell has she managed to
stay out of the family compound this long?”
    “She never left,” said Corlis. “Stalling
backs the Project in a major way. Apparently her job has the
potential to go high-profile and her dad is
obsessive-compulsive.”
    The room was silent for a minute.
    “She’s a heavy sleeper,” Corlis said.
    Fallon laughed sharply. “Maybe she’s
dead.”
    Corlis got up and paced out the perimeter,
going around and round, wound up tight, sneakers silent on the
hardwood floor.
    “She’s been multitasking for months. Part of
the final team. Once those deep water cables are laid, the Pele
Project will become the biggest geothermal power plant in the
world—large enough to take Hawaii from tourist trap to major player
overnight.”
    Keegan rolled up on one hand and got to his
feet. “And the Aina want to snap a cover down on it, shit—we need
this contract.”
    Corlis stopped, balanced on the balls of her
feet. “The contract is a joke. Connor’s window is too small. Call
Nick. Get the teams in. We’ll—”
    “No games.” Keegan shook off the all too
familiar rush of guilt. “I want an ironclad guarantee they won’t
kill Connor the second we insert.”
    “You’re getting too involved with the
problem,” said Fallon.
    “The problem?” Keegan rubbed a hand over his
face. “Which problem? The one where the Samoy kill Connor or the
one where the Aina kill Jen?”
    Fallon went dead silent and finally said,
“The minute we bail there'll be a goddamned army in here. Everyone
knows the Stallings take care of their own.”
    Keegan pulled the blanket back up over her
shoulders. “We don’t bail.”
    Fallon pushed the blanket down and took a
good look. “C’mon, K—we’re one hell of a team, but we can’t fix
this.”
    “I think we can.”
    “Yeah, when you thought it was an easily
defined threat, not a bunch of asshole terrorist wannabes. One call
to StallingCo Security and this op is history.”
    Corlis wound her fist in Fallon’s sleeve and
pulled him back, her voice hushed and urgent. “Let it go.”
    “Look at his face. He wants to nail her.”
    “And your point?”
    “Jesus God Almighty, you don’t fuck the
client!”
    Corlis gave Keegan a considering look. “Think
it’ll control her?”
    The expression on Fallon’s face crossed the
line from furious to ugly. “If it didn’t control you, what makes
you think it’ll control her?”
    “Past events have no bearing on this.”
    “Is that all it was to you, babe? A past
event?”
    “Drop the subject, Fallon.”
    “Go ahead, call me Fallon. You only call me
Padraic when you want something. That’s right, ain’t it? We shared
everything until four days ago when you decided you wanted more. We
did the dirty-nasty. Now I got to pay? Well, fuck that. You’ve
screwed me for the last time.”
    He tore his sleeve out of her hand and
clattered down the stairs to the front door, his heavy camouflage
jacket swinging out behind him.
    Corlis followed him to the landing, hand
clenched around the rail. “Fallon!” They locked eyes. “Check the
perimeter and be back in five.”
    “Take a fucking number.” The door opened fast
and slammed faster.
    Corlis hung her head, eyes closed. “We