Bucked (The Invincibles 6)

“That’s the one.”

“What have you found?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Decker looked up at me with a glint in his eye.

“Sounds like Burns may have had a hand in making it disappear.”

“You’re reading my mind.

“What’s your plan?”

“Here’s how it’s gonna go. I’ve got a crew headed to your ranch now. They should already be there by the time we land. I’ll get them started on setup, and then Rock can take over until I get back.”

“Rock? Shouldn’t that be something I work on?” Given my education in tech and the kind of work I did for the agency, it only made sense I should do it over Rock.

All three men looked up at me. Each one had a smirk on his face.

“What?”

“You’re gonna have plenty to keep you busy.”

Decker turned to Irish. “Your job is to find out everything you can about Kerr and his tenure at Interpol.”

When I returned to my seat, Stella was awake.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Decker has a plan for when we land.”

“Anything I need to know?”

Deck sat down in the row of seats facing ours before I had the chance to answer. “I was hoping you and I could chat,” he said, looking straight at her.

“What about?”

“Kerr and the Operation Argead story.”

“I don’t know much.”

“You said Barb had an affair with Kerr?”

“She was accused of it. She never admitted it to me.”

“It was almost like she was burned. She lost everything but her identity,” I muttered.

Decker studied me and then turned back to Stella. “Whoever went after her, made sure she lost all credibility. Who was she working for at the time?”

“She was always independent. Up until that one, every story she wrote got picked up, usually by AP.”

“They didn’t back her?”

“They didn’t even run it. Worse, they published a follow-up, accusing her of manufacturing evidence. She became persona non grata overnight.”

“Does the name Burns Butler mean anything to you?” Deck asked her.

“Of course it does.”

“In what context?”