Page 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

ALPHABET

T he flight had been delayed, but we made up some time once we were in the air. Goblin wasn’t the biggest fan of the length. Not that I could blame him. It wasn’t my favorite either. Fortunately, his service dog vest kept others from trying to pet him since he was “working.” At least we both managed to relax some.

Arrival went smoothly, with the cabin crew allowing me to deplane first. Normally, I preferred to not take any advantages when it came to my prosthetic. Still, it was kinder for Goblin if we cleared the terminal and found a place for him to pee.

Also, I was more than a little stiff after the time spent on the flight. Goblin and I went through passport control swiftly enough. I had his travel papers in order and special permissions. Once we had my bag, I followed the route to the nearest pet relief area. While he emptied his bladder, I sent a message to the guys.

Their acknowledgement said they would be at arrivals in ten. The pickup was appreciated but I needed to stretch. “Hopefully, before we get on the train…” Still, the sooner we got to the French Riviera, the sooner we could track down the jackass who wanted to “buy” Grace.

Disappointment speared me that she wasn’t in the car, but Bones confirmed they had arrived safe and sound. They’d also left her and Voodoo at the apartment. It took more than an hour to get through the snarl of traffic, but then we were there and I got a good look at her.

Her smile relaxed all the tension in my spine and eased more than a few aches. Before we took the journey south, Bones and Voodoo had supplies to gather, including some we needed in case of fast extraction. Backups and weapons would be useful too. It was better for them to take the time now and since three traveled less conspicuously than five, we would go ahead. They would be a few hours or more behind us and arrive via an alternate route.

That was fine.

Three hours later, I walked with Grace and Goblin as much to let him stretch his legs as for me. Lunchbox was going ahead to take our luggage to the train. We would catch up soon enough. There was a metro we could take, and Grace knew the language and the routes.

“You okay?” The quiet question tugged at me. Grace was dressed in capri pants, an I heart Paris shirt, unzipped hoodie, and running shoes. She had sunglasses tucked into her shirt collar, a dark hat on to shade her eyes, her hair pulled back into a ponytail and she was absolutely stunning.

“I’m fine,” I frowned. “Am I being too quiet?”

“No.” A smile softened her expression. “You were just frowning and Goblin keeps checking on you.”

“Oh.” I shook off the malaise and paused to give Goblin a good scratch. “Sorry—to both of you—I was just thinking plans, routes, and train schedules.”

“Really exciting stuff,” she said with a slow nod and just a hint of teasing.

“It can be, especially since I have the best partner in crime.”

“Goblin is the MVP.” She delivered the line without an ounce of irony and I had to chuckle.

“That’s difficult to argue.” Since she seemed to want to play, I said, “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Ha.” Her derisive snort dissolved into a hint of a smirk while her eyes danced with humor. “I’m practically perfect.”

“Oh, yeah?” It was my turn to scoff. “Practically means virtually , you know.”

“It also means almost .” The retort was a good one. The breeze was a bit muggy, but the sun felt good and so did the walk. Goblin also seemed a lot happier.

“Almost perfect, then?” I tested the sound of it with a slow nod. “That works.” She laughed and when I offered her an arm, she threaded hers through mine.

The train ride was a lot more entertaining than the flight. Lunchbox brought out the cards since our seats had a table. Grace turned out to be a cutthroat poker player. We were going to lose our shirts if we kept playing this way.

It would be near nightfall local time when we reached the rental, and we would be a long day away from when our planes landed. Despite her yawns, Grace skipped taking a nap even when we offered. “Better for the body clock if I just reset to whatever time zone I’m in. That means lots of hydration, exercise, eat light—too much heavy food makes me wanna nap.”

“You travel a lot,” Lunchbox said as he reshuffled the cards.

“You could say that. I’ve done several time zone hops in a few weeks. It just helps to make myself stick it out, then sleep when it’s nighttime. Doesn’t mean I don’t get jet lag, but it works for me.”

“That makes sense. I trained my body clock a long time ago to sleep on command.” At her incredulous look, I shrugged. “When you might have just a limited time for sleep, you take it where you can get it. That means if I have an hour, I sleep for that hour. It’s a mindset.”

“What he said,” Lunchbox said with a wave toward me. “So… you want to play another round?”

“I don’t know,” she teased, eyebrows raised. “You’re both out of snacks to bet.”

“Guess we need to up the stakes…”

“Or we could buy more,” she said as the cart and steward came up the aisle.

“Or, you’re right, we could buy more,” Lunchbox said with a grin at me and I laughed. “M&Ms?”

“Oh yeah,” she said with a nod. “Chocolate is definitely a win.”

It was well after dark before we got to the house itself. The place Voodoo lined up was a little ritzier than I would have gone for. It was also a lot warmer here. At the end of the drive, Lunchbox entered the code into a box and the fancy, curved pair of wrought-iron gates swung open in near silence. They looked more like they were designed for art and not security.

I just shook my head. Once up at the house, Lunchbox did a full interior sweep before we took care of offloading our suitcases. We both nudged Grace away when she tried to help. “Take Goblin for a walk around?”

“Trying to get rid of me?” The arch comment made me snort.

“Not a chance in hell. Go on. Both of you take a walk. It’ll be good for you.”

A flash of her earlier smile returned and she called Goblin. When I motioned to him, he trotted off to follow her. I wasn’t the only one watching her go.

Lunchbox paused then glanced at me. “You good?”

“Not according to my mother.” Then I hauled another of the suitcases out. “You already find a good spot for me to work?”

“Yeah, downstairs dining room. It’s central, you have good eye lines on the doors and we can secure them.”

Excellent.

By the time Grace came back in, we had the suitcases lined up and open in the dining room. We removed various pieces of my computer so I could rebuild it. Yes, I had a laptop, but I wanted a more powerful machine. The hard drive was in my backpack. The motherboard had been in Grace’s.

“It’s a lovely place,” Grace said as she moved to help us with the unpacking.

“It’s definitely colorful.” Lunchbox glanced at his watch and I got it. Bones and Voodoo were running late. “Why don’t you get a swim?”

There was a swimming pool visible right through the glass doors. It was definitely warm enough for it.

“I didn’t pack a suit,” she said as she pulled out another plastic wrapped piece for the computer’s fan. After she handed it to me, she studied Lunchbox. “If you guys need to talk, you can just tell me you need some time and I can go find a room.”

“We’re not trying to get rid of you,” I told her. The ease around her eyes relaxed me some. She believed me. I’d meant what I said about telling her I couldn’t answer something rather than lying about it. “But I have to build my comp. Lunchbox is going to want to check what’s in the kitchen and he may have to do a supply run. The guys are late, and you’ve been traveling all day. A swim might be nice. You don’t need a suit, or you can swim in your bra and panties. I promise to only peek a little when I’m not working.”

The corners of her mouth twitched and somewhere in the villa, the air conditioning hummed to life. Good, I didn’t see the need to sweat our way through anything. When she flicked a look at Lunchbox, he nodded almost solemnly.

“I don’t promise not to peek or stare as long as you don’t mind us seeing.” It was the absolute right response to take with her, the curve at the corners of her mouth deepened.

She scraped her teeth over her lower lip, head tilting from side to side as if she were in silent debate with herself. “You’re both sure I can’t do anything right now?”

“For the moment,” I told her. “Once I have my system set up and the guys are here, we’ll go over the plan again.” I straightened and stretched. At the moment, a swim actually did sound good.

“Okay.” She grabbed her carry-on and headed upstairs. “I’m going to pick the best room.”

Lunchbox chuckled at the declaration, then slid a look at me. “You’re good with her.”

“Told her no more lies.” It wasn’t about being good. “It’s about being honest. She’s dealing with a lot. Too much. I’ve been there.”

Between the physical and emotional damage, there was also the mental. She needed to be able to trust us and the only way to do that was to be a part of the solution.

“Yeah.” He sighed then raked a hand through his hair. “They’re late.”

“I noticed. Then again, it’s France. Voodoo had to source a few things and if they ended up driving further, then they did. Not worrying about it unless they miss check-in.”

That was midnight and still—I checked my watch—another three and a half hours away.

“I might head into town and get us food…” He trailed off as the chine went off indicating a door opened. I glanced toward the back wall of windows and the now open door where a slim Grace dove right into the pool. “Fuck.”

“Put it back in your pants,” I advised, even if a pulse of interest had bounced right to my dick at the vision of her slim body, unbroken by anything as prosaic as underwear. “We told her she didn’t need a suit.”

“Yeah, there’s telling then there’s seeing.” He blew out a breath. Goblin was sprawled on the tile near the door, keeping watch on her and me. “Right. You want anything specific to eat?”

“Nah, just whatever. I want to get the machine built. Then we need to get eyes on this jackass.”

“Agreed.”

Voodoo and Bones arrived near eleven, gear and supplies with them. Grace looked relieved when Lunchbox said they were at the gate. After her swim, she’d showered and changed then came down to eat with us.

Instead of going to bed, despite how tired she was, she stayed up as we worked and kept watch. Her presence helped soothe me and Goblin. I wasn’t that worried, but the last thing we needed was something to go wrong right now.

We could and would handle anything, but that didn’t mean I wanted her in the middle of another clusterfuck. Voodoo’s arrival pulled a real smile out of her, one that didn’t quite dim when she glanced at Bones.

After offloading, Lunchbox brought out more food and Bones said, “It’s a little late to get started tonight. We can scout tomorrow, do the pickup in the evening.”

“Pickup?” Grace asked from where she sat cross legged on the floor with Goblin snoring against her lap. Lucky little shit had settled right in with her. “I thought we’d all be going.”

We had discussed that. But the plan also required some refining, including getting into Gallo’s security.

“If we were just planning on killing him,” Lunchbox said. “Then we could all go, but it wouldn’t be that much of a trip. Right now, we need answers— you need answers. If you’re there and he’s stupid, his chances of survival are nil and then we’re out the answers. Better plan all around for us to scoop him up and bring him back.”

Clear. Factual. Straightforward.

Grace studied all of us for a beat then nodded. “That does sound reasonable. Are we still running okay on time?”

“Yes,” Bones answered. “We all need rest and Alphabet has some work to do. Tomorrow, we’ll do some recon. We’ll refine our plan then.”

A message came through on my phone and I stared at it.

“It’s Doc,” I told them and pulled on my headset before I called him back.

Conversation continued with the others, but I tuned it out as I focused on Doc’s request. He needed information on a place and more on a person.

Gracie let out a laugh then spritzed Lunchbox with water from her bottle. Goblin was up and while he didn’t bark, he was keeping an eye on them. It took me a minute or two longer than necessary, but I got Doc what he needed.

“C’mon, Firecracker,” Voodoo said, holding out a hand to her. “Show me which room you picked.”

Lunchbox snorted softly and Bones just shook his head, but I got it. She had bad dreams. She trusted Voodoo with them.

“Doc good?” Bones asked after they went upstairs and I lifted my chin.

“For now.” The information I gave him had satisfied him for now. “If he needs more…”

I didn’t have to finish that because Lunchbox just bumped his fist to my shoulder. If he needed anything, including us, we’d go.

Now, I focused on Maurizio Gallo and his place here. I had some work to do and the guys needed sleep. Goblin settled at my feet and propped his head against my left foot. The low snores vibrated up my leg, but I just let my mind settle into the work.