Relentless (Benson Security 2)

“I can’t give an update in your lap!” She sounded so horrified that it took everything Joe had not to laugh.

“Start now!” Callum shouted. “I don’t care where you are. Bloody talk.”

Joe cocked an eyebrow at her. “You heard the boss.”

Stunned, but cornered, Julia broke eye contact to stare at her iPad. There was silence in the room, and for a minute, Joe thought she wouldn’t be able to do it. But then she cleared her throat and touched the screen, and a neat list appeared on the wall.

“See?” Elle pointed at the projection. “Isn’t it fantastic?”

Joe nudged Julia, and she frowned at him.

He leaned in to brush his lips against her ear. “Talk, or I kiss you. What would you rather have happen in a room full of people watching you?”

He felt her go tense, and she pursed her lips as she glared at him.

“You know I would,” he told her.

Her eyes went wide. She cleared her throat again and looked down at her iPad. “This is what we know so far,” she said softly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Joe settled in to listen, feeling inordinately proud of the woman in his lap. Julia Collins may have thought herself a coward. Joe knew she was anything but.

“It all comes back to the missing mummy,” Julia said as Joe stroked her back.

She sat up straight, trying to silently tell him to stop it. She thought she felt him chuckle.

She tapped her iPad. “This is Carlos Esteban. He runs one of the more notorious cartels in Peru. His main business is drugs, but that doesn’t stop him from getting involved in other areas—prostitution, gunrunning, kidnap for ransom. He also runs quite a large legitimate empire, mainly real estate. And he has Alice.” The screen changed to a shot of Patricia and Alice laughing together. “Alice is Gran’s best friend.”

“Hey, that’s Alice Bridges,” Ryan said around a mouthful of food. “She’s a documentary film producer. Do you know anyone who isn’t famous?”

“Me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Ryan said.

“How do you know this stuff?” Elle said. “Do you spend all your free time watching TV?”

“You lot are just jealous because I figured out Julia’s secret before you. Admit it. I have mad skills.”

Callum leaned over and smacked Ryan on the back of his head. “Son, you need to learn to keep your mouth shut.”

“Son? You’re, what? Twelve years older than me.”

“I’m talking about maturity.”

“Oh, okay, in that case, I can’t argue.” Ryan settled back in his seat.

“Anyway,” Julia said as loudly as her courage would allow, “Gran and Alice were after a mummy, but it was stolen and sold to a middleman, who then sold it on. If we’re to get Alice back, we need the mummy.”

“Who has it now?” Callum said.

“I’m working on finding that out.” Elle pointed at the stolen laptop, which was hooked up to her state-of-the-art machine. “Tracing as we speak.”

“We did find out that the buyer is local,” Ed said from where he was sitting beside Patricia. A little too closely beside her, Julia noticed.

“Which means the mummy is still in Bolivia.” Joe’s arm tightened around Julia as he spoke.

“We hope so.” Julia fought to ignore his touch and concentrate on business. All the while knowing that, at some point, she would have to deal with the trauma of conducting a meeting from Joe’s lap. “All we know for sure is that we have two days to find it and trade it for Alice.”

There was a heavy silence.