Jigsaw (Black Raven Book 2) by Stella Barcelona

to gratuitously piss off a sitting U.S. Senator. One day he’d need Senator McDougall’s vote on a hiring contract, or any number of matters. Crap popped up all the time, like the Barrows debacle for which the company had been raked over hot coals by a Senate review committee.
    “Press any button and tell the person who answers the number you want. They’ll connect you. If it’s a text, dictate it. They’ll send it.”
    “Black Raven will monitor calls? Business and personal?”
    He shrugged. “We’re providing security. Not privacy. Threats come from within and the people you may contact, as often as from other sources. You know that. You can still use the ITT server for your inter-court, official emails.”
    Her eyes searched his. “Please tell me Black Raven hasn’t hacked into the ITT servers.”
    He stared at her, gridlock focus meeting his gaze.
    “Answer enough,” she whispered, with a knowing nod. “That’s a felony—”
    “Which will never be detected or proven.”
    “I should report it.”
    He shrugged. “Go ahead.” If others found a trace, Black Raven would get out, leaving no cyber footprint. They’d get right back in when the heat was off. It was Chinese checkers, twenty-first century style.
    “Black Raven dodged a bullet last year with the senate subcommittee hearings after the Barrows incident.”
    Yeah. You have no idea. And we came out more golden than ever. A fact you will not learn.
    The Barrows case and explosive fallout had cast the national news spotlight on Black Raven, and the resulting senate subcommittee hearings had kept the lights on them. “There were no adverse findings.”
    “Yes, but it could have gone the other way.”
    “Didn’t, and wasn’t likely to.”
    “Still, Black Raven is on the radar of many powerful people.”
    “Yes, and they hire us. Constantly. On jobs like this—”
    “You can’t deny you have detractors.” She underscored her comment with a slight smile.
    What she was saying was true. For now, though, in the power offices in Washington, Black Raven’s supporters were outweighing and outnumbering the detractors. “In fact, we received accolades and commendations for how we handled the Barrows job. It’s been a boon to business, which we now have to turn down on a regular basis.”
    Her eyes flashed with anger. Her cheeks became more flushed. “I never would’ve agreed to this, but for my grandfather’s insistence.”
    With that statement, she folded her arms as she dropped one argument and took on another. If she had broken down over Moss’s violent death once she’d been alone, there was no sign of it. Her eyes weren’t red. She looked more irritated than grief-stricken.
    “If by this, you mean Black Raven protection, it may be short-lived. Your grandfather wants you to resign.” Her cheeks and eyes burned with an instant flare of disagreement as he added, “I agree with that course of action. It is the only foolproof way to keep you safe.”
    She squared her shoulders, unfolded her arms, glanced again at the flip phone that fit squarely in her palm, and shook her head. As her flush faded, she leveled a cool glance on him and pressed zero with her right index finger. She gave the Black Raven operator her grandfather’s name and number. After a moment’s pause, her eyes burning with steady resolve, she said, in a firm voice, “Samuel?”
    She held the phone to her left ear, listened for a few minutes as she shot Zeus an arched-eyebrow glance. “Does this thing have a speaker?”
    “Ask for it.”
    Another flash of irritation waved through her eyes. “Someone’s listening now?”
    “Yes.”
    “Please enable the speaker function.” She paused, eyes on Zeus, feet firmly planted inside her bedroom, as though planning to end the conversation and shut the door in a matter of seconds. “Samuel?”
    She held the phone in front of her, midway between the two of them. Samuel’s voice boomed through both rooms. “Are you listening