“I’m not a wimp.” She resented the implication.

“No, you’re not, sweetie. You’re just a bit sheltered and we’ve always been protective of you.”

“I’m no longer a child and I’ve told you to stop. I appreciate that you try, at least.”

“I need to go. Count, that rat bastard, blabbed to my husband. They are arguing outside the door. I don’t want them to come to blows.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Mia suddenly yelled, “Knock it off!”

The call disconnected and Vanni replaced the receiver in the cradle, grateful she wasn’t staying at the hotel with her family. Her siblings’ families living together sounded like a nightmare. They could never be under the same roof for more than a few hours without it turning into pandemonium.

Vanni inched off the bed and cursed. She needed a massage and muscle relaxers. She settled on going to the kitchen for a soda instead since the first two were not viable options. The bags from their shopping expedition were on the counter. She popped open the can and took a sip, deciding to get dressed. Moving around might help ease some of her soreness before Smiley returned.

She also remembered she needed to make some calls. Gregory Woods still had her wallet and all her credit cards. She needed to cancel them but she didn’t want to go against Justice North’s orders about the phone restrictions. She’d asked Smiley and he’d said it would be fine. Canceling and replacing everything would be a hassle.

Smiley hated that everyone in the room had overheard Vanni’s conversation with her sister and brother. The meeting had come to a halt when they’d received word that a phone call had come in for her. It had been patched through Justice’s phone, their side muted. He’d disliked her brother instantly after he’d torn into Vanni. When the phone call ended, he stood.

“I’m going to check on her.”

Justice frowned. “She sounded fine. We’re not done.”

“I don’t know why everyone had to listen in on her conversation.” It wasn’t the first time Smiley had protested.

“I’m sorry about that.” Justice frowned. “But we needed to know what was said. We needed to know if her family is unhappy about her being here and if they resent being held in a hotel. They have a history with Carl Woods and he could use that association to taint their view of us by urging your female to leave Homeland.”

Smiley knew he was right. “That didn’t happen. Her sister told her to stay here where she’s safe.”

“Good thing.”

Smiley shot Jericho a glare. “What does that mean?”

“We just had the bartender delivered to us. I thought you’d want to be present for that instead of tying Vanni to a bed to keep her safe. I would do that if she were my female.”

Fury laughed. “It does work.”

Justice growled low. “Don’t remind me.” He narrowed his gaze on Fury. “And I remember you having Ellie tied to your bed for a different reason.”

“I believe I was hired right after that,” Miles Eron muttered. “You needed a lot of help with your public image.”

Fury’s humor faded. “Who gets the pleasure of scaring the shit out of this human and making him talk?”

“I do,” Smiley volunteered.

Jericho stood. “No. I’ll do it.”

“He drugged me and Vanni.” Smiley faced him, ready to argue his case.

“Exactly. It’s personal. He can’t talk if you lose your temper and break his jaw. Take your feelings out of this by answering my question with complete honesty. Who will terrify the human more? Me or you?”

Smiley hated it but conceded to Jericho’s logic. “Fine but I get to be there.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Jericho nodded. “The sight of you will make him nervous.”

“I remember when I used to be in charge,” Justice mused. “I even have the nice office and desk.”

“Sorry.” Jericho didn’t look it though.

“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Miles protested. “I think the task force team is doing a fine job.”

Justice stood. “Noted, Miles. We appreciate your input but this isn’t happening outside the walls of Homeland. Jericho has a good plan. Let’s go. They are holding the human in interview room two. We all want to see this.”

“Are we going to record it?” Fury arched an eyebrow questioningly.

Justice nodded. “We’ll leak it to the press.” He glanced between Smiley and Jericho. “Keep that in mind. Humans are squeamish about things they perceive as too violent or frightening.”

“That’s why I think the task force should handle this.” Miles stood too. “It will appear you terrified this man into a confession. You pay me to tell you what my people will think. There it is.”

“Give it up,” Cindy muttered. “No one else agrees with you.”

Miles spun and glared at her. “What did you say?”

She raised her voice. “We don’t want the NSO to seem as if they need us to handle their security matters. That’s worse than releasing a video of one of them interrogating this bartender. We want people to fear New Species enough not to f**k with them in the future.”

“The task force scares everyone.” Miles glared at her.