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“Nothing. Not really, anyway. The room in Rogue’s cottage is no longer available. I’ll, err, figure something out.” I could always stay in the main house, not that it would solve the worry I felt about Schön being here alone.
“I have another idea.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“This cottage has two bedrooms. How is it different than the arrangement on Gozo? I mean, besides not having to share rooms with Ehren and Rogue.”
It wasn’t as if anyone paid attention or cared who stayed where as long as anyone wasn’t kicked out while deployed. “Are you sure about this?” I asked. “I mean, I am. Just in case you wondered.”
Schön laughed. “I’ve made you so uncomfortable.”
“You haven’t. I swear.”
She raised a brow and continued chuckling.
Our mobiles pinged with a message from Nemesis saying she planned to call a briefing and wanted to be sure Schön and I could attend. I responded we could.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Will you, uh, be okay walking?” She motioned to just below my midsection.
“Barely. I’ll probably need to hang onto you for support.”
Schön’s giggle warmed my heart.
Verity wasthe first to greet us when we walked into the situation room. “Well done, Schön,” she said after hugging me. The two women shared an awkward half hug, and Schön whispered something to her before we took our seats.
“Everything all right?” I asked, knowing full well it was none of my business.
“I asked if we could speak at the end of the briefing.”
Nemesis approached the dais and called for everyone’s attention. “Before we begin with the business portion of this briefing, please join me in congratulating Team Albania for their success on Gozo. Well done, all of you. Schön, I heard great things about your conversation with Francesca Vella.” She looked around the room. “I’m still reviewing the brief, but it will be circulated en masse tomorrow morning.”
When Nemesis leaned over to say something to Ares, Schön leaned into me. “Where’s Ehren?” she whispered.
I shrugged my shoulders.
Nemesis straightened and cleared her throat. “As I alluded to, we have some business matters to attend to in regard to task force members. First, Ehren Richter and Macht Persson are on their way back to St. Moritz, where they’ll be following up on the banking institutions to see if they can find other accounts administered by James Godwin. They’ll also look into the mystery woman seen dining with the former ambassador in November of last year.”
Zeppelin, who was seated beside me, leaned over. “Macht is coming back. Ehren is being replaced.”
I nodded.
“Magnet, my apologies for not addressing this with you previously, but I’ve received word from Zamira Prifti, Albania’s new director of state intelligence, that Rovena Basha, code name Magnolia, is once again available to join your task force. We’ll speak further at the conclusion of the briefing, but she’ll be here in the morning.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I responded.
“Zeppelin, would you like to introduce the most recent addition to your team?”
“Of course.” He stood and joined Nem at the dais. “Everyone, please join me in welcoming Mallory Felice, code name Flick, to the coalition. She comes to us highly recommended by Fatale Shaw, err, what do we call her now?”
“Merrigan Butler will suffice,” Nemesis responded, smiling and motioning to Flick. “Not to be outdone by his wife, a protégé of Doc Butler’s has been appointed to the US task force via CIA Director Money McTiernan. Parker Mills, code name Grey. Like Magnolia, she’ll be arriving by zero eight hundred tomorrow.”
“Any questions thus far?” When no one responded, Nemesis continued. “The last bit of news I want to share is, now that he’s officially been named chief of MI6, Pinch Fulton’s replacement as director general of MI5 has been appointed. I’m sure many of those in the room have had the pleasure of working with Devereaux Carlisle, code name Agatha, in the past.” Nemesis pointed to the back of the room, where the woman I knew as Devi stood with Pinch.
“Typhon? Do you have another announcement?” Nem asked.
“Just so you don’t think we’re only adding female agents to the coalition, Hornet Zak will serve as Unit 23’s special advisor.”