Page 67

“Let’s return inside,” I suggested.
“Macht? Give us a minute?”
“Of course, Schön.”
She waited until he was several steps away before turning to me. “Thank you for bringing me out here. Thank you for not letting me make a spectacle of myself in front of everyone.”
“There isn’t a single person who wouldn’t have understood.” I put my hand on the back of my neck and squeezed. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
“Okay…”
“I want you to remain on the compound today, Prisca.” I loved the way her name sounded on my lips. While there was nothing wrong with her code name, being the only person who called her by her given name felt intimate. The word continually popped into my mind whenever I thought about her.
She nodded, surprising me. “If I went out with you today, I’d be endangering everyone on our team.”
“It’s you I’m most concerned with keeping safe.”
“I want to reiterate that I do not want the AMPS investigation impacted by any inquiries into my chalet being set on fire or anything else to do with Ehren’s pursuit of vengeance against me.”
“While I appreciate what you’re saying, I’d like you to take a step back and look at it from another perspective. Ehren was an active member of a task force within the UN coalition. If she was or is engaged in criminal activity, it isn’t something we can ignore.”
“Understood.”
“At the very minimum, a team should be assigned to search for any connection either Ehren or Schmid has to Godwin.”
“You’re right.”
“Prisca…”
She smiled. “Yes, Justin?”
I chuckled. “Honestly, I prefer Magnet. Whenever someone calls me by my given name, I feel like I’m in trouble.”
When she giggled, it warmed my heart. A few minutes ago, I wouldn’t have believed I’d hear that glorious sound again for a very long time.
“Is there anything else before we go inside?” she asked.
“Just one thing. I need another hug.”
She shook her head but smiled and stepped into my open arms.
We walkedinto the main residence and were met with a flurry of activity. When Schön approached Verity, I followed.
“Oh, good. You’re back. Macht said he thinks the male bodyguard was definitely Xavier Vella.”
“Male? As opposed to?” I asked.
“Right. You hadn’t heard.” Verity pulled up several images on her computer screen. “This one is Vella,” she said, pointing. “The others we believe is a woman disguised as a man.”
I wouldn’t have noticed if Verity hadn’t pointed out the difference.
“Hey, Zep?” I called out to him.
“Yeah?” He walked over. “You saw?”
“I’m sure this is in a brief I overlooked rather than make use of Schön’s crib notes”—I winked at her—“but did the search of the vehicle that took Godwin to the helicopter yield any identifiable fingerprints or DNA samples?”
“Loads,” Verity answered. “The SUV they were in belonged to Châteaux Relais, and every bit of what we found traced back to their staff.”