They kissed, a short, lazy meeting of lips that reminded Nick, once again, why he loved the man. Not only was he bloody talented—in more ways than one—but he helped to make Nick a better person. And Nick just needed to repay all the favours Kai had done for him. That wouldn’t be too much of a hardship, surely.
****
Chapter 28
Brett
Brett’s phone chimed with a text message, and his stomach sank.
VENUS: The field. 4 p.m. Just you and Felix.
As he stared at the words, his phone rang, Malcolm’s number overwriting the potential end to this insanity.
“Brett Cage.”
“We need to meet. I have information for you,” Malcolm said.
“I will be there in half an hour.” He ended the call and glanced at Felix. “I have no idea what’s going to happen or why she started this in the first place, but we have until four o’clock to figure it out. She wants us to meet at the field.”
“And what did he want?” Felix asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“He says he has information.” Brett pushed off the table, tucking his phone into his pocket. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Stay safe. I’ll get Austin’s laptop done while you’re gone.”
Brett drove back to his childhood home again—having been there more times in the past month than in the past thirty years—and was allowed in immediately. Malcolm opened the door as he had done not so long ago, but they didn’t venture further than the foyer, though Brett wished they had. He never wanted to spend too much time in the area, but maybe that was Malcolm’s idea. That he could keep Brett uneasy.
“What do you have for me?” he asked.
“Alastair Moore,” Malcolm said. “I looked into him after you left. My tech guys found something that might be of interest to you, although I will never, ever admit to giving you this. Understood?” Brett nodded, and Malcolm handed over a file. “Moore has served under Venus for years, climbing the ladder whenever she did, but he also knows everything she’s done. Rogue missions, bypassed protocols, unauthorised use of technology. Everything. She tried to have him killed, and he fought back, threatening her with the information he had. She can’t kill him because he has security provisions in place for if he dies.”
“Why did he not go to someone else? Like the police?”
Malcolm chuckled. “Because he would incriminate himself as much as her.”
Brett lifts the folder. “Thanks for this.” He turned to leave but paused, then faced Malcolm again. “When this is all over, the gentlemen’s agreement ends. I will send word. But one thing I will allow as part of our final agreement… Clean up Bernie’s. Too many people know about it now.”
Malcolm nodded. “Understood.”
Brett left the house, knowing it would most likely be the last time he ever set foot inside it, and drove back to Windsor, all the threads flying in the breeze as he tried to tie them together. As he reached Sec HQ, Felix waved him across to him and Sam, and he headed their way.
“We’ve located the calls from Adelaide and Brady, and you’ll never believe who it was.”
“Alastair Moore?” Brett guessed.
Felix’s mouth dropped open. “How the hell…?”
Brett held up the file Malcolm had given him. “It was a guess, but Malcolm had information on Moore.” He gave them a briefrundown of the information. “We need to get in contact with him.”
“Already done,” Felix said. “He’s on his way in.”
Brett raised his eyebrows. “How did you manage to persuade him to do that?”
“Probably the same way he got Venus to back down. I threatened him.” Felix grinned.
Brett chuckled. “Let’s see what he has to say.” He checked his watch. “We don’t have long. What else do we have?”
“We’ve been working on Austin’s laptop,” Sam said. “There are files on there that are well hidden. It would surprise me if Austin even knows they are there.”