Page 37

I draped it around my shoulders as Elvis walked in. His hair was still damp from the shower. Dressed in shorts and a black T-shirt, he slid his glasses on his nose as he came into the room.

“Hey, Lexi.” He looked rested and relaxed, and maybe even a couple of pounds heavier. Gwen was probably cooking for him, because he was about as good a cook as I was.

“Hey, back at you,” I said. “Thanks for seeing me today.” I studied his face and manners. He seemed content. I liked that. He and Gwen hadn’t been dating long, but things were clearly going great.

As if to prove my point, he walked over to Gwen and slid an arm around her waist, then kissed her on the cheek. They were a cute unit, and seeing them together warmed my heart.

“So, geek princess, I understand you need a consult,” he said to me.

“I do.”

“I hope it involves some serious hacking. I’ve been busy on a project that’s leaving me no time to spread my wings. I could use a good hack.”

“Well, I’ve got one for you.”

Gwen lifted a hand. “Okay, you two continue your geek speak. That’s my cue to leave. Elvis, I’ve got your coffee and some breakfast in the kitchen, although already it’s past lunchtime. I’ll bring it to you.” She turned to me. “You want something, Lexi?”

“Coffee would be great. Lots of milk.”

“Coming up.”

She headed into the kitchen and Elvis went around to the couch and sat down. He tapped the spot next to him. “Talk to me.”

I decided to get right to the point. “I want to hack the Vatican archives.”

“What? Are you out of your everlasting mind?”

Really? He didn’t have to be so dramatic. “I want to hack into the Vatican archives,” I repeated. “We hacked them before—you know, as part of our job—so it’s doable.”

“No, we hacked afilefrom the Vatican,” he corrected. “The file had already been extracted from the archives, and it was heavily encrypted. It took the four of us—you, me, Slash and Xavier, as well as some heavy equipment—about forty-eight hours to get into it.”

“I know, but we’re familiar with the coding, the style,” I argued. “I think we can do it.”

He leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. “Lexi, come on. You know better than this. You don’t walk into a guy’s house and say ‘Let’s hack the Vatican.’ Besides, Slash would be the guy for this job anyway. Why didn’t you ask him? What’s really going on?”

I tugged nervously on my ponytail. “It’s Slash. I think he’s in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“I’m not sure.” I gave him a brief update on the cryptic note, the note from the fireworks, Slash’s brother, Giorgio, and thenkondistatue.

Elvis whistled when I finished. “Wow. Slash won’t tell you what’s going on?”

“He can’t or won’t. I don’t know which one it is.”

His brows drew together as he processed that. Elvis liked relationship talk as much as I did—which was not at all—but he’d initiate it if he thought I wanted it. Right now, I definitely didn’t, so I asked him, “So, will you help?”

He seemed undecided as to whether to push for more information, but then he changed tactics. “Are you looking for a particular file in the Vatican?”

“Yes. It has to do with the assassination of President Apeloko of the Congo, seven years ago. The Catholic Church was involved in the negotiations between Apeloko and the Congolese bishops who were trying to ease the iron fist of his despotism.”

“I remember reading about that.” Elvis ran his hand through his hair. “Didn’t the guy and his son get assassinated, presumably by some of their associates?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

His brow furrowed together as it did when he thought. “Does it have to be the Vatican archives? There might be useful intelligence on that situation elsewhere.”

“I need to know exactly who within the Catholic Church was involved and how. Specifically, I want to know if Slash was involved. The Vatican would be the ones with the file, right?”