“It’s not going to be dangerous,” I said. “Meg, I’m sure you can handle this. Set up a computer or some kind of a device that can only play the files you catch on the radio so we don’t have to worry about anyone getting their hands on any sensitive data. I can send a guard over too if you think it’s necessary. I’m sure you can figure something out.”

“Yeah.” Her brow creased.

“Why are you even bothering with this?” Brent asked. “He’s just going to invent something to send you on the wrong path and waste our time. And if he actually manages to contact someone on the outside...”

“He won’t. He can’t just invent a code. It’ll have to make sense.” I sighed. “Look, this is happening whether you want it to or not. If you don’t want James to do it, then decipher the code yourself in the next hour or two and problem solved.”

Brent muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t hear.

“Let me know if there’s any news on our stolen shipment,” I said to Meg and Felipe, then walked out of there.

Chapter 7

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS,” Meg said as she stared at a piece of paper.

“What’s up?” I asked from the door. “Any news?”

She looked up at me and nodded. “He actually did it.”

“I told you I could do it, but you didn’t believe me. Now you have proof.” James leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face.

When I approached her, Meg handed me the paper she was holding. I squinted at it because it was full of scribbles, crossed-out letters, and barely legible words. This had to be the paper James had used, so it was full of his failed attempts to decode the message. “God, your handwriting is terrible.”

James rolled his eyes and lifted his leg on the desk across from him.

“What does it say?” I returned the paper to Meg.

“I don’t know who those people who work with the Desaltis are, but according to this, they’re planning to attack one of our stash houses next.”

“Then we have a perfect opportunity to catch them or at least to show them that they’re messing with the wrong people.” I said. “Do we have the exact location and time?”

“Only the location, I’m afraid. But the attack is probably going to be soon.” She sat down in front of her computer.

“Do you know how this code ended up in the Desaltis’ hands? Are they maybe communicating with the Ezzatis’ men who ran away?” I glanced at James, but he didn’t seem to care I was talking about his family, or maybe he was just pretending. He did look a little more cheerful than before.