Page 22

“You know as well as I do that the good we do far exceeds the bad. We let the world believe it’s the other way around, so they remain afraid of us.”
O folded her arms. “Who got the intel on Godwin?”
“Hornet,” I responded with no hesitation.
“He’s not the expert on the Eastern Mediterranean he touts himself to be.”
I raised a brow. “No? I’d ask what makes you say such a thing, but I already know the answer.”
“Which is?”
I leaned forward and rested my palms on the table separating us. “You are too distracted by the side investigation you’ve been conducting for years to pay attention to what’s in front of you.”
“Fuck—”
I slammed my fist on the table. “Enough!” I bellowed. “If you think for one minute that Nemesis can save your arse when I decide to burn you, you are very foolish indeed.”
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it.
“Good decision, O. Just remember I can bury you so deep that even Allora wouldn’t be able to find you.”
She stormed from the room, but in a few minutes, returned with Nemesis and Poseidon.
We sat down, and before I could speak, Agent Jordan did.
“Let’s start with Ambassador Godwin,” she began. “Do you have anyone on the ground in Malta who can dig up anything on him? According to Poseidon’s father, he’s been suspected of nefarious behavior for quite some time.”
I raised a brow and let her think she knew more than I did. “There are times I believe Coffey is briefing you behind my back.”
“Does that mean you’ve already got something?”
I turned to Oleander, silently warning her not to divulge what I’d told her. I’d do that in my own time. “I do not believe he has any connection to AMPS other than the possibility they too are lining his pockets.”
“I find that hard to believe, given a suspected member of that organization was under his employ,” Nemesis countered.
I laughed. “I would find it surprising if Godwin noticed Attila the Hun was working for him. The man is a single-minded simpleton.”
“Who has somehow escaped prosecution for years.”
My eyes scrunched, and I leveled my glare at the coalition commander. “No one cared enough. Dumping him in Malta was the solution.”
“Why is it different now?” she asked.
“If you mean why I sent someone after him, it was to confirm or dispel the suspicion he was tied to AMPS.”
“Who did you send?” Nemesis asked.
“Hornet.”
She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table. “I’ve requested the coalition be briefed immediately—not in the aftermath of—any investigations that overlap our own.”
I didn’t blink. “That, I will not agree to.”
“Ultimately, it isn’t your decision.”
“Unit 23 shares intelligence as a matter of courtesy, not procedure.” I scoffed.
“When it involves a mission owned by the UN coalition, it becomes procedure.” The door opened, and Delfino walked in. Her timing couldn’t have been better.