Fake: The Scarab Beetle Series: #3 (The Academy) Read Free

them now, but I didn’t want to if they had guns pointed at Brandon, and I couldn’t see at this point what they were holding.
    I wanted to call Marc and the others, but I didn’t know their individual numbers by heart. I couldn’t think of who else to call.
    “What do you want?” Brandon asked, keeping his head turned away.
    My heart rocked against my ribs. If he was going to let them think he was Corey, if they somehow found out it wasn’t true, they might kill him and then try to go after the real Corey.
    “Where’s your girlfriend?” one of the men asked.
    Brandon shrugged. “Don’t know who you’re talking about. I don’t have a girlfriend.”
    Fingers snapped somewhere beyond the bright white light. “She’s probably not far. Take the car and retrace the route. See where she ended up.”
    “Did you want her or me?” Brandon asked. “Leave her alone and get to what you wanted.”
    Car doors slammed and the car started as the garage door rolled up. I caught the movement as the car inched backward. With the bright light on, it was hard to tell who left and who didn’t. I was tempted to move to get a different angle, but I didn’t want to miss anything and I didn’t see other windows.
    “Sorry it had to come to this,” the accented voice said. Was it familiar? I tried to think but couldn’t place the voice. The accent was making me think I’d heard it before. “You’re the only one who can help us.”
    “You’ve got a funny way of asking for help.”
    “We tried being nice about this,” the voice said. “We asked you to come work for us.”
    I sucked in a breath. Some guy who spoke German had jumped from his car when I was on a walk with Corey, wanting to hire him. I was pretty sure this was the same person. Had it been the same car? In the heat of the moment, I didn’t recognize it, but now I tried to recall the shape, the color.
    Brandon turned his head, facing the voice. “You’ve got my attention now.”
    “We need your expertise. We’ve got a problem with a particular bit of code.”
    “That’s it?” Brandon asked. “You’ve got a computer problem? Try tech support next time. There’s usually an eight-hundred number.”
    “See, you’re not even listening,” the voice said. “Need I remind you of where you are, and that we’ll have your girlfriend again, soon.”
    “Still don’t know who you’re talking about.”
    “Then I guess after I catch her, I can just shoot her. No need for her running to the police about this.”
    He wasn’t going to convince them I was a nobody he was next to in bed. Not after Corey pretty much said I was his girlfriend the first time the German had approached him. Brandon shook his head. “You don’t want her in the middle of this. Trust me. She’s a handful.”
    I had to smile. I was almost proud of that.
    “Enough,” the German said. “You do understand my meaning.”
    “I’m not working with anyone I don’t know,” Brandon said. “Tell me who you are.”
    “Oh no, Mr. Henshaw. You had your chance to play fairly. Now you have to do it our way.”
    “Why don’t you get to the point?”
    I surveyed the situation. I evaluated my chances of taking on who was left or sneaking in somehow to help him. Bright lights were useful for intimidation, a scare tactic; I’d learned that much from watching too much television.
    Clever, careful. That was a problem—these guys were smart. The warehouse otherwise appeared empty. If they needed a computer fixed or a code looked at, they picked a really crappy place. Either they had a laptop with them, or their equipment wasn’t here, which meant this was a temporary holding place and Brandon would be moved to their headquarters. I hoped they’d stay. I didn’t know where I was, but I was sure if I could find Corey’s real number somehow, I’d be able to get him to track my location and get them to help. The only problem was, I didn’t know his number, or anyone else’s.  
    “We need