Impact Zone by Julie Anne Lindsey

Author:Julie Anne Lindsey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-07T19:10:58+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Opaline ordered her favorite Tex-Mex takeout on the way home and changed immediately into her pajamas once the food arrived. Her cats, Snape and Dobby, met her at the door, meowing and attempting to lead her to their food bowls.

She gave them pats, filled their bowls and scratched behind their ears, thankful for the safety and comfort of her apartment, a space where she could freak out, break down and take off her smile as needed. She’d forced the cheer and positivity today until she thought she’d lose it on-screen. She’d basically hung up on the group at the end of their last video conference. The smile was for them. They were in the thick of things, risking their lives, and the least she could do was to be a constant and reliable source of positivity.

Except she was fresh out of happy, and moving fast into rage and despair. If she didn’t get her team some information they could actually work with soon, there would be another bombing, and more people would die.

Her chest tightened at the thought. Tonight was a work night. A fight night.

And Fritz O’Lear was her weaselly, no-good opponent.

She wore her favorite maroon-and-gold-striped cotton sleep pants and oversize T-shirt proclaiming Life’s a Struggle When You’re a Muggle. Though tonight she needed to be a wizard, at the keyboard at least. She whipped her hair into a messy bun, donned her fuzzy black socks, then carried her takeout to her workspace.

Dobby and Snape followed, having lost interest in the kibble once she’d opened the disposable container to steal a loaded nacho and inhale the cheesy, salty, spicy scents of her favorite chicken enchiladas. “You each get one bite,” she said, pinching off a shred of chicken and offering the kitties a tiny little morsel. “I have to work. You have to go be adorable somewhere else until I take a break. No distractions. And you can’t have any more of my dinner, so don’t get any ideas.” The cats stared, and Opaline caved. “Okay. One more bite, but that’s it.” She gave them each another taste before digging into her work.

“All right, O’Lear. It’s time to stop this nonsense and show yourself.” She forked a bite of enchilada, sipped the steamy coffee and got busy.

Opaline had been up against a lot of criminals in the past, but none with less of a digital footprint than this guy. Some of the younger nuts she’d chased through cyberspace had even bragged about their crimes. Gang members were the worst, or maybe the dumbest. Definitely the most prideful, posting images of themselves with rolls of cash, guns, drugs and everything else to their social-media accounts. They boasted. Called out enemies by name, and their latest hookups, too, often adding location tags. Those criminals were so easy to locate that they practically invited her to hang out. Fritz O’Lear, on the other hand, was giving her fits.

She crossed her legs on the office chair, then powered up her laptop. Four independent screens flickered to life on her desk.

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