Fractured by Deceit by Jami Gray

Author:Jami Gray [Gray, Jami]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781948884303
Publisher: Celtic Moon Press
Published: 2019-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

I was in the colonel’s office, my arms filled with files, when the top one jumped out of my grasp and tumbled across the floor. I set the pile down on the colonel’s desk and crouched to pick up the escapee. As I held out my arm, it scooted just out of reach until I was engaged in an awkward game of tag. The fact that I found nothing odd about an inanimate object doing something distinctly animate should have been my first clue about what was happening, but I was so focused on capturing that elusive file that I didn’t even give it a second thought. Stupid me.

When the file did another hop, I lunged forward and ended up on all fours. Slapping my palm on it, I trapped it against the cool linoleum. “Gotcha, you stubborn little—”

Voices drifted down the hall. Scrambling to my feet, I tucked the runaway file on top of the others I was holding. A quick glance down revealed blurry lettering, making it hard to read. Okay, maybe I was tired. I rubbed my eyes with a knuckle and tried again, and this time, a familiar name caught my eye—Jacob Archer. My heart skipped a beat as recognition hit. Jacob Archer was Bishop’s legal name.

The thought acted like a switch, and the rest of the file names snapped into sharp focus, searing my vision. As I scanned them, dread built because each name belonged to one of Delacourt’s operators, including Devon Rouser, my brother. What the hell? Panic scrambled at my brain as I tried to figure out why the information was stored like this—on paper, unsecured—when policy required secured access.

The voices in the hall got closer, triggering an anxiety I didn’t bother to fight. Instead, heeding instinct, I gathered the folders and frantically searched for somewhere to stash them. No one could see these, no one. I needed to hide these names before anyone saw them, otherwise… my thoughts refused to cross that dark line. I didn’t want to tempt fate. Moving behind the desk, I tried the drawers. Locked.

Dammit. Scanning the rest of the office, my pulse raced as the voices got progressively closer, riding the tide of foreboding, making my hands shake. Other than the desk, there was a filing cabinet, but I dismissed it. Too obvious. The bookshelf under the window held a mishmash of books and binders, offering a quick-and-dirty solution. I could hide the files in plain sight. I rushed over and grabbed one of the thickest binders, taking note of the label designating it as a collection of archived order forms. Good enough. I tucked the files inside the binder and shoved it back in place. I managed to get back to the colonel’s desk and sat there, pen poised over a sticky note. When the door opened, my heart was pounding so hard I worried I would pass out.

Trying for casual, I glanced up. My stomach dropped, and my vision narrowed on the face wreathed in unsettling shadows.

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