Megan took a breath. Seriously, what was the worst that could happen here? The guys were mad, sure, but they wouldn’t hurt them, so the worst they were looking at was some shouting and posturing. She squared her shoulders. Years of dealing with her cop brother had made sure she was immune to angry posturing.
“It started when you lot decided to hang Claire out to dry,” Megan said, and all eyes snapped to her.
“And let a rapist carry on with his business,” Rachel added.
“When I signed up for this, it was on the assurance that Claire would be made safe during this operation.” Megan glared at the men. They were angry? Well so was she. “You lot broke your end of the deal.”
“I told you Claire would be safe,” Joe said.
“Eventually. The key word here is eventually. I want my sister safe now.”
“So you jeopardised my sister to make it happen?” Dimitri’s anger was barely contained, breaking through in the tight white lines around his mouth.
“Exactly the same way you jeopardised mine to get the information you needed on Katrina.”
“You put yourself at risk.” Dimitri took a step towards her. Callum slapped his palm in the middle of Dimitri’s chest. “It better have been worth the risk. You and the rest of your girl gang better not have fucked up getting the information we need on Katrina’s whereabouts.” Dimitri’s eyes were pure black.
Megan felt her indignation evaporate. She’d mess around with him over many things, but not this, this was too important. And she, more than anyone else in the room, understood his fear.
“Elle,” she said.
“We have everything,” Elle said. “My laptop is decrypting it now. We’ll know where your sister is very soon.”
The air went out of Dimitri. As though his knees couldn’t hold him, he sank to the chair behind him.
“You’re sure?” he asked Elle.
“Absolutely.”
The lines around his mouth faded as he looked back at Megan with eyes too dark to read.
She held his gaze. “I wouldn’t screw up something that important.”
“But you could have,” Dimitri said.
She shook her head. “No, not that part. All I wanted was a chance to sort out the problem for my sister at the same time as getting the information you needed on yours. Is that so much to ask? You know what I’m fighting for here. You more than anyone else.”
With a reluctant air, Dimitri gave her a stiff nod.
“How did you do it?” Callum asked. “How did you immobilise Rudi and the guards without Dimitri to help you?”
Megan glanced at her friends. “Well, Hope said if I went in there alone and played to his ego, he’d dismiss the guards to spend time with me. That’s exactly what happened. I amused him and he didn’t see me as a threat. He told the guard to leave. I drugged him and then I got the information we needed.”
There was silence. Four guys stared at Megan with identical expressions. She wasn’t sure what the expressions were, stunned maybe? Worried? Nope, it was too hard to tell. Time ticked by and still no one spoke.
Elle clapped her hands and stood. “Great, well I’m glad we cleared that up.” She gave Megan a “what the hell?” look. “How about we order pizza?” She headed towards the phone.
“Sit.” Callum ordered.
Elle didn’t argue. She sat.
“You drugged him?” Callum’s voice sounded strained.
“Yes.”
“Explain.” It was another order. Megan was beginning to get a bit cheesed off by the many orders coming her way.
“Okay,” Megan said. “It’s like this. We knew from our many, many team meetings and briefings, that I wouldn’t be allowed to take any tech into the building. So we went old school.” She couldn’t resist a grin at Elle and Julia—who was still staring at the floor. “Julia spoke to a guy she knew in the props department at the BBC. He found the coolest ring for me. It’d been used in a spy movie and was hollowed out, to hold liquid. It even had a little injector spike that shot out when you shook hands.” She couldn’t stop the excitement that seeped into her voice. So sue her, that ring was seriously righteous. “Anyway, Rachel tapped her family connections, who are in the pharmaceutical business, and we filled the ring with a ketamine and rohypnol cocktail.”