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"I'll call you later," I said to Mike I ignored his protest and hung up the phone The driver of the car caer side and opened the back door He et into any strange cars, but when you've spent the evening throwing the company of one of the richest men in the world into a tailspin security wise, that particular lesson was pretty much not applicable

I moved to the car and climbed into the back, determined to faceit, the one just behind the driver, wasn't The interior lights of the vehicle were di in the spot

"You knoho I am?" Clifton Hayes asked as I settled onto the seat across fro the car back into darkness But seconds later, the light was back on It allowed me to take in Hayes's features Despite the late hour, he earing a tuxedo complete with a hat Since I doubted the man wore a tuxedo every day, I could only assume he’d come from some kind of event The theater probably, since it was one of the few luxuries he was known to indulge in

I nodded

"You caused quite the uproar today, Mr Falkov," Hayes said as he tapped his cane on the roof of the car There was a pause and then the vehicle began an to move as well

"If your employees were subject to this same level of competent security, I wouldn't have had to," I said as Ithe Rolls The words were out of my mouth before I could even consider them But like with my actions that afternoon, I couldn't take them back and didn't want to I'd seen proof of too s firsthand to play around with people's safety

If Hayes was annoyed by my comment, he didn't show it

"I believe my employees areover them"

"With all due respect, sir, the ree with you if you told them the sky was red and the ocean was yellow Is your company the worst I've seen? No," I said "But you're not just any company, are you? Because you aren't just any man You havethat's your fault, it's just the nature of the beast What is your fault is the fact that I was able to walk into your building today arun and a purpose and not one person tried to stop ht? Maybe it's cheaper to sacrifice a handful of people here and there to sounman than to invest in the resources necessary to protect everyone from your enemies"

This tihtened just a bit and the fingers of his right hand flexed over the handle of his cane A ainst the roof of the car The vehicle iain and rolled to a stop

"I think we're done here," he responded

I knehat he wanted He wanted ize He wanted me to ask for a second chance Part of me wished I could do it, especially for Mike’s sake But then I remembered how Jude Archer had looked in that un at his chest He’d looked like every other victim I'd seen who'd known they were about to die His eyes hadn't been lifeless or cold They'd been full of emotion and life

Worst of all, they’d been full of regret

That hat keptthe words Hayes clearly wanted to hear I just couldn't do it, not even for Mike I’d find another way to save Mike's co, but I also wouldn't be the reason that the beautiful but foolish Jude Archer ended up six feet under

Hayes tapped the cane one er door was quickly jerked open My diset out of the car, then stopped I couldn't say as holding me there Or maybe I could, but I didn't want to admit it

"He h," I murmured I'd seen it in Jude's eyes when he’d realized the whole thing had been a setup His fury had been the presiding emotion and that would translate into defiance I was as sure of that as I was of anything "If you care about him, you'll make sure he re to die"