Apocalypse Queen: My Space, My Rules Chapter 140: Harvey's Inside Man

Mariella gave a faint smile. "We're all teammates. Everyone has off days. When someone gets hurt, they get taken care of. That's what a team is for."

...

Harvey, taking Roxanna's suggestion, called Number Four and Number Seven in for questioning.

Number Four held up his phone, excited. "The inside man at No. 98 just made contact!"

Harvey was immediately interested. "What did he say? Who is it?"

Number Four's eyes shifted. "I promised to keep his identity confidential. But whatever you need him to do, Mr. Graham, I can make it happen."

Harvey smiled, his tone warming considerably. "I knew you were the real deal. Don't let me down. Get this done and I'll make it worth your while."

"Let me keep working on him." Number Four grinned. "I'm getting into his head."

"Do that. Come back when it's done."

Once Number Four left, Harvey turned to Number Seven for details—the layout of No. 98, Mariella's daily habits, everything.

Number Seven saw that Number Four had the inside man card and was getting Harvey's full attention. He needed to step up.

He gave a detailed rundown of No. 98's interior layout, Mariella's daily routines, and the team's training regimen.

"That's the picture. If you need it, Mr. Graham, I can draw the full floor plan—interior and exterior. I'll label every teammate's room number."

Harvey was pleased. Both of them were fully committed. They'd clearly thrown their lot in with him.

"Good. Now tell me—what does Mariella do in her free time?"

Roxanna tugged at his arm, pouting. "Harvey, why are you so interested in her?"

Harvey suppressed his irritation and kept his patience on the surface. "Know your enemy. The more I understand her, the better my chances of taking her down."

Then he added, "Don't you want Mariella gone?"

Roxanna played her part perfectly. "It's not that I want her dead—she is my sister, after all. But she had her bodyguards attack you, and she set her dog on you. That was unforgivable. I only want to protect you, Harvey. That's why she has to go."

Harvey was moved. He was quiet for a moment, then pulled her into his arms.

"Roxanna. I know who you are. Pure, kind, sheltered. You grew up in a world nothing like hers."

Mariella had grown up in an orphanage. Too complicated.

He loved Roxanna—the girl he'd known since childhood. Mariella had always made him uneasy.

Lately, something in his feelings had shifted, just slightly. But it wasn't enough to shake what he had with Roxanna.

Connor and Fannie walked in.

The warmth Harvey had just recovered for Roxanna evaporated. His expression darkened.

Connor opened with a fawning smile. "I hear Mr. Graham has taken over Imperial Crest Plaza and Greenfield Organic Farm. That's an enormous stockpile. Mr. Graham's holdings are even bigger than the Hancocks' now."

In a disaster, wealth wasn't measured by bank balances anymore. It was measured by what you had in the warehouse.

Whoever controlled supplies controlled power.

Harvey could read the greed and calculation in Connor's eyes. He said nothing.

Fannie had different priorities. "There's still no word on Kingston. We don't know if Mariella is really behind it. Mr. Graham, you have to find a way to capture Mariella and question her. Or at least find some other lead on Kingston's whereabouts..."

Harvey had had enough. He pushed Roxanna out of his arms.

"I just took over two companies, and I've got hundreds of mouths to feed. Spread that around, and there isn't as much as you think.

"As for Mariella, I'm working on it. Kingston—I'll do what I can. If I can't find him, I can't find him."

Two sentences and he'd shut down both of the Shepherds' requests. He wasn't about to keep pouring resources into them.

Roxanna jumped in, upset. "Harvey, how can you talk to my parents like that? Those two companies belonged to all of Celestine Ridge. They fed over a hundred villas. Now they're ours, and you're saying there isn't enough? It can't possibly cost more than it did when it was being split a hundred ways.

"Besides, our family had shares in those companies, too. You said my parents are your parents. You should be taking care of them. My dad spent every last thing he had trying to buy Kingston's freedom. He deserves something back."