Society Girls: Sierra (15 page)

“Yes. There have been more threats, and his
investors are all gathering for a meeting. We’re afraid whoever is
after him will try something with them all there.”

“Joel’s an investor.”

“He is. He’ll be there. He’s going to think
I’m another investor. Just like everyone else.”

“You’re not going in alone, are you?”

“No. Faith will be in the kitchen.”

“Be careful, Rei. I hope it’s another idle
threat.”

“As do I. We’ll be fine either way. I just
wanted you to know.”

“Thanks. And thanks again for having faith
in me.”

“I do. We’ll talk more when I get back.”

“Yes.”

I walk out of the room and spin in a slow
circle, trying to figure out where I want to go for my free hour. I
can get a snack, or study, or I could go downstairs and play with
some knives. Yeah, that’s what I want to do. Maybe I’ll even put a
picture of Joel over the bullseye.

I’m not surprised to find Nev already in the
room when I get there. She won’t touch a gun, but she loves
throwing knives. She’s great at it, too. She hits the bullseye
almost every time. I’m pretty sure she’ll do the same with the guns
once we get her to that point. We have to get her there. She can’t
be in the Society without knowing her way around a gun. It’s just
not an option.

I wait until she’s done throwing her set
before I approach her. “You’re a boss with those knives.”

“Oh, hey, Si. Thanks. I didn’t think anyone
else would want to be in here right now.”

“Am I going to mess you up or distract you
if I play, too?”

“I’m not ‘playing.’ I’m trying to excel at
this so they don’t kick me out for not being able to do the other
thing,” she tells me, dropping to the floor to sit with her arms
around her knees.

“The guns?” I ask, sitting down next to
her.

“Yeah, the damn guns.”

“Can I help somehow?”

“Do you have a time machine that can take me
back and warn my dad not to enter the street where a gunfight is
going on?”

“No. Oh, honey, I had no idea. This was back
home? In your country?”

“This is my home now, but yes.”

“You know it was the person behind the gun
that killed him and not the gun, right?”

She shakes her head. “It was an accident. He
was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t blame the person
who shot him. He didn’t mean to.”

“That’s big of you.”

“Trust me, he’s blamed himself more than my
family ever could for all of these years.”

“You know him?”

“Yes. He came to us after it happened and
he’s become a good friend to my family.”

“Wow.”

“He’s a good man,” she assures me again.
“None of us know why my father walked into a middle of a gunfight,
and we never will. Every other civilian ran, but he walked straight
into the fight. A young soldier shouldn’t be punished because a
stray bullet ended his life.”

“A soldier? Oh my God, was it Matt?”

She looks around, and then nods. “Like I
said, he’s a good man.”

“He is. I don’t know many men who are better
than Matt Corrigan.”

“Me neither.”

“That’s how you got in, despite the
guns.”

“I earned my place,” she says
defensively.

“Of course you did. I didn’t mean to suggest
that you didn’t. I swear, Nev.”

“It’s okay. I’m a little sensitive sometimes
about it, because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. Matt’s
been training me for years. Making sure I knew languages and
technology. Sparring with me since I was twelve. I never knew what
it was all for, until I met Reina and the other women. Then I knew
the stories he told me were real. He recommended me, but I’m told
that Faith didn’t hesitate to mentor me. She thinks her sense of
justice will stir me to pick up a gun. It hasn’t worked yet.”

“We’ve only been here for a couple of
months. You have time. I’ll do anything I can to help you. The
other girls will, too.”

“I need to tell them. I know they’re
curious.”

“I’ll keep your secret until you’re ready,
but you shouldn’t worry about telling them. Now that Greta’s gone,
no one will give you any shit about it.”

“I know. I’ll tell them soon.”

She stands up and reaches her hand down to
help me up. “Let’s throw some knives.”

We throw for the next half hour, and I’m
happy to say I can hold my own with her. I don’t hit quite as many
bullseyes, but I hit a lot. We grab a smoothie in the cafeteria,
and then it’s time for Science class with Audrey. Just another day
in the life of a wannabe spy girl.

* * *

Joel

“Reina, it’s so good to see you again,”
Marcus says a little too loudly as she walks in the room. What the
fuck is she doing here?

“Hello, Marcus.”

“Do you know the Cruz family?”

“We’ve met, yes. Hello.” I don’t miss the
ice in her gaze when she makes eye contact with me.

“I didn’t know you were an investor, Reina,”
my mother tells her.

“Matt believes in Marcus. He wanted to be
here himself, but he’s in the middle of an important deal.”

“You’re more than capable, Reina,” my friend
tells her. We haven’t talked in weeks, but he’s still my
friend.

“I know,” she tells him with a smile.

“Who’s running the Foundation while you’re
gone, Reina? We wouldn’t want all your girls to be running amok.” I
know I’m being an ass, but I can’t stop myself.

“If you want to ask me about Sierra, just do
it. I don’t play games.”

I should’ve known she’d call me on my
bullshit. My mother’s the one who answers for me. “Why would he
want to know about her? She’s a gold digger, and I’m surprised you
don’t vet your workers better.”

Marcus starts to say something, but Reina
shakes her head at him. “Sierra is one of the best people I know.
Please do not make assumptions about her when you don’t really know
her.”

“I know she was here with Marcus, hanging on
him and telling everyone she was his girlfriend. And then she was
with my son, saying the same thing. What would you have me believe?
I thought I had seen everything from working in the political world
for so long, but I never saw that coming.”

“All those years in politics should’ve
taught you that things are not always as they seem. What should be
important to you—and your son—is that Sierra loves him.”

“She wouldn’t have walked out of that
restaurant without any explanation if she loved him.”

“She wouldn’t have gone to his game the
other day if she didn’t.”

“She wasn’t at the game.”

“She was,” I say, finally speaking up.

“You didn’t bring her to dinner,” my father
reminds me.

“No.”

“But you did something to her. She was a
mess when she came back.”

“I’m not going to talk about this with
anyone in this room. I missed a game to come here and vote
tomorrow. I thought tonight was about having dinner with a friend.
I don’t really care that you ambushed me with Reina, but I’m not
going to discuss the woman we shared.”

Marcus winces, and Reina looks like she
wants to kill me, but she remains silent while he answers me. “As
you wish, my friend. We will not speak of Sierra. I’m just happy to
see you. It has been too long.”

“It has. I shouldn’t have ignored your
calls. No woman should come between us.” No matter how spectacular
she is.

We sit for dinner, and everyone manages to
remain civilized. My parents talk to Reina about the Foundation and
the upcoming balls and parties in D.C. while Marcus and I catch up.
We all pretend that it’s just a normal dinner between friends, but
we all know it’s not. Not just because of Sierra, but also because
of the vote tomorrow. The board still doesn’t trust Marcus, and so
they’ve called us all here to choose sides. My vote is solidly with
Marcus, and he tells me he’s confident that the vote will go his
way, but we both know there are too many things that could go
wrong.

“What happens if the vote goes the other
way, and the board members who aren’t backing you win?”

“I step down, and one of the senior vice
presidents will step in as CEO.”

“You’ll still keep your shares, and control
of the board though, right?”

“Claro.”

“How did this even happen, this vote? If you
have controlling shares, you should’ve been able to stop it.”

“I could have, but it would’ve only caused
more animosity towards me. I know I am doing a good job, so I
thought this would be a good thing.”

“Showing no fear,” I say,
nodding. It
is
important for him to show confidence. In fact, it may be the
most important thing he can do. “You know you have my
support.”

“Thanks. When you stopped taking my calls, I
got a little worried.”

“That was about Sierra, not your business
prowess.”

“I had no idea she was the perfect
girlfriend you told me about. But I gotta say, she’s pretty damn
perfect. You sure you want to give that up?”

“Are you?” I ask, even though I don’t want
to know the answer.

“If I thought I even had a horse in the
race, I’d fight to the death for her. She doesn’t want me, though.
It’s all you.”

“Yet she was dating you.”

He mashes his lips together and looks like
he’s fighting with himself about what he wants to say. Reina swoops
in before he can decide. “Are you enjoying the dinner, Marcus?”

“Yes. Thank you for bringing your chef with
you to cook for us tonight.”

“Some people bring wine. I prefer to go
big.”

“Too bad for her,” a man I recognize as one
of Marcus’ vice presidents says, coming into the dining room with a
gun pointed at Faith’s head. She cuts her eyes to Reina, and they
share a look.

“Antonio, what are you doing?” Marcus asks,
rising from his chair.

“You have the vote, but the CEO job should
be mine. You are just a boy. The job was handed to you because of
your last name, but I earned it.”

“Let these people go,” Marcus says,
gesturing to me and my parents. “Then we can talk, and work this
out.”

“No. Having these powerful people here with
us will convince the others to vote correctly.”

“Others?”

“You do not think I would come alone, do
you? We will all stay here until the vote is over. This pretty lady
can make us all some good food, and Mrs. Corrigan can have her
husband wire some money into my bank account. Once you don’t show
up, and the right people have been contacted, I can take over as
CEO, and be even richer than you are.”

“My husband isn’t going to give you any
money,” Reina tells him.

“Does he not love you? Or
maybe he doesn’t mind that we give you back a little roughed up,
and
used
.”

“I will be killing you before this is all
over. Make no mistake of that, Antonio. Put your hands on me, and
I’ll make it even more painful.”

He throws his head back and laughs. “This is
going to be even more fun than I planned.”

Sierra

My arm vibrates with two different
vibrations, and when Audrey runs from the room, I run after her.
She doesn’t stop me when I dive into the elevator, but she doesn’t
look happy either. I follow her out into Ainsley’s lair where the
other mentors who are here have already gathered.

“Sierra, you need to go back to class and
wait for Audrey,” Stella tells me.

“Something’s wrong. Is it Reina and
Faith?”

“Go back to class,” Audrey says.

“If it’s Reina and Faith, then it’s also
Joel. I need to know.”

“They’re being held hostage,” Ainsley tells
me, earning a sharp look from Tegan.

“I’m going with you to get them.”

“You are not,” Stella says.

“If it was Kace, would you let someone stop
you?”

“She can get in,” Darcy says. “She was there
as Marcus’ girlfriend. She could be there for a visit, and they’d
probably let her in.”

“So they could try and rape her,” Ellie
says.

“We’ll be there with her,” Jade says,
squeezing her friend’s hand.

“There isn’t time to argue about this. We
need to get to the airport. Reina’s going to rip me a new one for
this, but I’m going to let you go. Just don’t get yourself
killed.”

“Thanks, Stella.”

Darcy, Ellie, Jade, and I take the elevator
to the roof where a large helicopter is waiting to take us to the
airport. We’re in the air right away, heading for Sao Paolo.
Ainsley briefs us on what they know, which isn’t much right now.
Just that Faith, Reina, Marcus, and the Cruz family are all being
held in the dining room at Marcus’ house. One of the men who wanted
Marcus’ job is holding them at gunpoint, and has said that there
are more men. Satellite images have shown several people on the
property, but right now we don’t know if they are staff, bad guys,
or both.

“Take off your shirt,” Ellie tells me when
we’re getting ready to land.

“Excuse me?”

“They’ll be more likely to let you in if you
just have your bustier and jeans on.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” I’m wearing the sheer
shirt and velvet bra combo I had the first time Joel kissed me. I
take off the shirt and stand still while Ellie slips a flat knife
under my left boob.

“If they wand you, they’ll think it’s part
of the underwire. We’ll be outside. We won’t let them hurt you. I
promise.”

“I know. I trust all of you.”

“I know Joel is in there, but you need to be
smart. Don’t sacrifice yourself for him, because if you do, who
will protect him?” Darcy asks me.

“I’m going to fight, but I’ll fight
smart.”

“Good girl,” Jade says.

We buckle in for landing
and rush out the door as soon as we’re given the okay. An SUV is
waiting for them, and a town car is waiting for me. I climb into
the back and try to calm my breathing. I can do this. I
have
to do this. Not just
for Joel, but for the women who let me come here, and also for
Reina, who is probably going to kick me out of the Society after
this. If I can help save everyone, it will be worth it. Giving up
my dream will be worth it. Maybe if I keep telling myself that,
I’ll actually believe it.