“Well, it’s like this. After this afternoon’s briefing, and the news that Claire is being hung out to dry, we,” she motioned to Julia, Elle and herself, “decided to take matters into our own hands.”
“And exactly how do you plan to do that?” Rachel looked so bored she was almost comatose.
“I’m going to warn Rudi off Claire.”
Elle wandered over, handing out wine glasses to each of the women. Megan noted she’d removed her Doc Martin boots and wore silver rings on most of her blue painted toes.
“And where do I fit into your planning?” Rachel surprised Megan by taking the glass Elle offered and sipping from it without comment. “I won’t be a party to anything that will endanger the team. One of us has to be sensible here.”
“They’re morons, Rachel, but I don’t want them to get hurt. We’ll make sure they’re otherwise occupied while I deal with Rudi.” Megan sipped her wine. It was good. She bet it cost a bomb.
At last, Rachel showed a spark of interest. “You’re taking on the bully? Tell me you’re going to hit him harder than he could ever hit you.” She looked at each of the women in turn.
Julia whispered a yes, Elle grinned widely and Megan nodded.
“We’re going in hard and fast and we’re leaving as much damage as we can when we’re done,” Megan added. “We won’t do anything to interfere with getting the information Dimitri needs, or tipping Rudi off about the investigation and arrests. This is purely about getting him to back off Claire. About standing up to the guy. About making him pay.”
The cold smile that spread over Rachel’s face made Megan shudder. “In that case, ladies. Count me in.”
Elle whooped and held her glass out to Rachel for them to toast her decision. Megan eyed her fellow conspirators. Between them they were smart, resourceful and courageous. The men really shouldn’t have locked them out of the pla
nning.
Megan sat up straight and grinned. “How about we move this meeting to the pool? And don’t forget to bring the cupcakes.”
Chapter Fifteen
“The women are definitely up to something,” Dimitri said the following morning, as he watched them through the glass window in Julia’s office door.
“Yep.” Joe folded his arms over his black wifebeater. It was good to see he looked as disturbed as Dimitri felt at the sight of Megan, Julia, Rachel and Elle with their heads together.
“They’re plotting.”
“Yeah, but what?”
Dimitri glanced over at Joe. “You don’t think they’re going to do something stupid that will interfere with the op, do you?” To be honest, if he was in Megan’s position, that’s exactly what he’d do. Although he completely understood her rage at discovering her sister wouldn’t be safe for months yet, it didn’t mean he’d let her screw things up.
Joe frowned in the direction of the women. “They wouldn’t, would they? Haven’t they been paying attention? They can’t mess with this op, or this guy. He’ll chew them up and spit them out.”
“Yeah, but look at them. Rachel is in there and I don’t hear shouting. That isn’t a good sign.” Dimitri cocked his head as he studied the women. “Maybe we should remind them exactly how dangerous this guy is? Knock this on the head before it causes problems.”
“I like how you think.” Joe grinned at him. “I know just the thing. We’ll give them a slideshow they’ll never forget. Get them to the conference room in ten.”
“And if this doesn’t scare them straight?”
Joe’s eyes turned to flint. “Then we corner the weakest link.”
They looked over at the women.
“Julia,” they said at the same time.
As Joe jogged off, Dimitri headed past reception and into Julia’s office. Laptops snapped shut when he opened the door. Yeah, that wasn’t suspicious at all. Amateurs.
“Would it kill you to knock?” Megan frowned at him.
At the sight of her pink pouting lips, Dimitri was momentarily derailed. It felt like an eternity since he’d had a taste of her and even though he knew it was best to keep it that way, he still couldn’t help but suffer withdrawal symptoms every time he saw her.
“What do you want?” Rachel demanded, bringing him back to the issue at hand.