Page 197 of Allegiance

His voice came on the line.

“Yo.”

“It’s LaRue. Are you busy?” she asked.

He laughed.

“Are you serious? Just tell me what you need done. I know this isn’t a friendly call. If it was, you would be talking about Axelle’s baby.”

Well, that was the truth.

“Remember that situation that we’ve talked about?” she asked.

Did he?

Everyone was talking about it, and the oncoming war. It was in all the bad circles.

“Uh, yeah. Vividly. Let’s just say that I’ve had a few offers,” he said.

Elizabeth knew that wasn’t happening. She had to contain this mess. If there was anyone who could do it, it was him.

“I need a cleaner.”

“To take the whole thing down a notch?”

“Yes. The Hunters are about to make a mess. Follow them and handle it. Clean it up and micromanage the situation for me.”

“And if they make it worse?”

She made the call.

“Clean it. I’ll get you an update by morning. Just be ready to handle it. War is coming, and we know you like a good battle.”

He found that amusing.

“I like walking into Hell, grabbing the Devil by the balls, and then dragging him out. War is an understatement. It’s how I get paid.”

“And you will be greatly reciprocated for your work in New Orleans. You have my word. We go way back.”

That they did.

“Consider it done, Deputy Director. Consider it done.”

Well, that was handled.

“Thank you,” she said. “Expect payment from the usual source.”

Then, she hung up.

What a tangled web she wove. Now, The Hunters and Snakes were about to have some new buddies.

Who didn’t like Spiders?

Well, badass Marine ones.

Heading back into the meeting, she took her seat and was playing the whole thing out in her head.

As she listened to the men talk, or tried to listen, it was Gabe who noticed that she wasn’t happy.