Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
C on decided to sideline the question of who Ronnie, aka Jackie Harriger, was. It didn’t matter. He’d be able to find information about her as a fashion designer with what he had. Anyway, he was okay with sidelining that thread for the time being. Instead, he worked on backtracking from where they were to when all hell busted loose at that event. He pulled everything and hooked up his printer to his computer. Sometimes, looking at something in a different medium put things in a different perspective. As the sheets of paper came out of his printer, he slid them into a folder that would accompany him to London. Once he was out of the airplane, he’d find a hotel, spread the sheets across the floor, and process each of them as a global document. Inclusive of everything and then weeding out the useless information, keeping the pertinent. It was logical but time-consuming. He’d work on a program to find similarities, factor in the players, work with time, travel, jobs, and … wait a second … how did the Undersecretary and Eisenberger get invited to Sophia’s gala? Every person on that list was hand-curated and a member of a very elite group of people. If it weren’t so, the majority of the personnel who were there that night wouldn’t have dreamed of showing up.
Ronnie walked down the hall sans his shirt but wearing a linen pantsuit that had been delivered about ten minutes ago. His eyes traveled up and down her gorgeous body. “You look fantastic.”
“And you’re still in your tux. We need to leave shortly. You should shower and change.” She watched the printer spit out pages. “I can put those into the file for you.”
He nodded. “I have a question for you.”
“And I might have an answer.” She sat on the couch, and he noticed the red bottom of the soles of her high-heeled boots. He knew that brand. It was one of his mother’s favorites.
“How did the Undersecretary and Eisenberger get invited to the gala last night? Those invitations are hand-curated.”
“Sophia would know.” Ronnie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. “I can call and see how she is after such a traumatic night.”
“Do that. Archangel told us to dig deep.” Con stood up. “If you could add those to the file as they come out, I’ll shower and change. I’ll have my earpiece in if you need me.”
Ronnie blinked at him and then laughed. “To make a telephone call and put papers into a file? Do you think I’m going to get a paper cut and need a blood transfusion?”
Con frowned. “No, I just … You’re pretty touchy about being independent, aren’t you?”
Ronnie’s smile slid from her face. “More than you’ll ever know. I’ve got this.”
Con added that comment to the others of hers he needed to weed through. He tossed his tux into the bag his mother had shipped to the hotel. His mind raced with a thousand different thoughts as he soaped up and rinsed off. The obvious question was who had arranged invitations for the victims? Why did they arrange the invitations? Why in Monaco? Why were they meeting? He shifted through the methodology of how he would compose a program to find connections between the two victims. He needed permission to access both victims’ digital footprints. He could do it without permission, but Archangel was having a bad enough day as it was. Adding fuel to that fire probably wasn’t the smart thing to do. On the other hand, if he could make Joseph’s day a bit more miserable, he’d be all over that.
He pulled on jeans and an eighties metal T-shirt he’d paid too much money for and laced up his hiking boots. Those were his work clothes. He and his younger brother, Brandon, aka Brando, had not inherited his older brothers' senses of duty and responsibility. They took after their father. His mom ruled the business world, but his father ruled the relationship and home. Their father was the ultimate computer nerd, and he’d instilled a love for all things digital in both of them. His mom already had an heir and a spare for her empire, so she let them follow their interests. When their cousin Cyrus came to live with them at the age of ten, he immediately fell in love with the computers Con and Brando had. Their dad hooked him up, and the rest was history. Cyrus became Ring and worked with the best in the Fortune 500 companies. Con had accepted a position with the NSA, and Brando worked for the DoD. After Guardian was blown to hell and back, they all agreed the company needed an advantage and proclaimed that advantage to be their employment.
He combed through his hair and packed his bag. He didn’t know if Ronnie would get the clearance to go to London, but he would be ready to go if they sent him alone. Even so, he wouldn’t go willingly without her. Hell, no. He wanted as much time with that bewildering and mystifying woman as he could get. And another kiss. At. The. Minimum . She’d haunted his dreams since she’d flown off that island without him. Damn, he really couldn’t figure out how she could hide so completely from his searches … and know about them … if she did. She could have been saying that to throw him off.
Con stared at himself in the mirror and made a face. No, she wasn’t that type of person. Or at least he didn’t think so, and he was a damn good judge of character.
“Con, your transportation to the airport will be outside in ten minutes. Be ready.” Joseph’s voice grated in his ear. He tapped the earpiece. “Got it.”
He cocked his head at his reflection. “Point in case, I know Joseph is an asshole.” Yeah, he could dial in people pretty well.
Joseph growled, “Watch it. Your mic’s still on, techie boy.”
Con smiled. “Yeah, I know.” He tapped off his comm device, then picked up his suitcase and the backpack for his computer.
Ronnie watched Con go back to the bedroom and waited until she was sure he wasn’t coming back. She picked up the phone and dialed the numbers she knew by heart. “Hey, sweetie. You’re going to make your father have a stroke.”
“Mom, don’t let him pull me off this case. It’s important.”
Anna sighed. “We’ve discussed it, and I’ve done what I can. I think I’ve managed to grease the wheels for now.”
“Thank you. Now, I need another favor.”
“Gabrielle Jacqueline Xavier, you are about out of favors for the day.” She could see her mom standing with her hand on her hip and a frown on her face.
“It’s for the case.”
“What?”
Oh, she had her mom’s interest. “Sophia invited two people to the party. Those people ended up dead. I need to know who prompted her to invite them. Do you think you can call just to check in and see how the gala went since you’re so sorry you and Dad couldn’t make it?”
“Darling, nothing in the world would pull either me or your father to that damn gathering. Talk about a pen full of sheep. All that noise and nothing being said.”
Her mom’s country roots came out all the time when they talked. But her mom was a masterful persuader. Although she and her dad never attended anything where they’d be photographed or identified in the press as the Xaviers, her mom had made the acquaintance of all the power brokers in their realm. Of course, her mom was the highest of those brokers, and people bent over backward to be one of her contacts. There was only one incident of a person trying to use her mom and obtain a photograph of her dad. Her mother’s wrath was far beyond anything she’d ever imagined. Anna Xavier was not a person to fuck with. Full stop.
“I know, but I really need to know who it was, and you can get that information with just a call. She might not even accept Jackie’s call. I mean, she was so rude to Conner last night.”
“Conner?” Her mother’s interest was once again piqued.
“Conner Solomon. O. H. Solomon’s son. He works for Guardian, and we’re on the case together.”
“And he does not know …”
“Mom, really? Do you think I’d say a word? No, he doesn’t, and he won’t.” She huffed out a breath of air. “I know what I can and can’t say.”
“You can date, you know that, right?” her mom asked.
“Right, so Dad can run the guy through the wringer and find him unworthy. No, thank you.”
“He’s just protective.”
“And yet Charley is married to an assassin. And we won’t get into the twins and their dating habits.”
“The boys have settled down … some. And Dan does take care of Charley. He keeps her grounded.”
“And I, as you know, can take care of myself.” She pointed that little fact out again .
“I know that, honey, and so does your father. I don’t know why you two butt heads all the time. You must have been hit with the same hickory bat or something. You are your father’s daughter. That will never be in debate. Maybe you should let someone else take care of you once in a while.”
“And now, we’re right back to Dad and his inquisitions from hell.” She’d had one boyfriend. One, and her father was not kind to him. Granted, she didn’t know the guy was a felon or that he was after her because she lived in a big house and thought she was his meal ticket. Her father did, though. It was a bloodletting without a drop of blood spilled. Still, her father flayed him into strips with the facts, then escorted him out the door. She was mortified, not for her boyfriend but for her mistake in being interested in him. She’d never make that blunder again. When she fell in love, it would be with someone completely acceptable to her family. She rolled her eyes. As if. She would die an old maid, and she’d come to terms with that.
“It’s about time you were over that incident, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, no,” she said. “So, can you make the call for me?”
“This is the last favor today.”
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“When you get your way,” Anna drawled.
“No, ma’am. Every minute of every day. You’re the best momma in the world, and you know I mean every word.”
“I do. Now, let me hang up, so I can get the gossip for you.” Anna laughed, and the line was disconnected.
Ronnie got up and put the printed documents into the file that was now getting close to an inch thick.
“Centurion, over.”
Ronnie closed her eyes and dropped her head. Her father. “Yes, sir.”
“I’m not happy about you getting involved with anything to do with Abrasha Molchalin.”
“Noted.” She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of begging.
“But as you pointed out to your handler, we wouldn’t pull one of the others off the case if they’d initiated it.”
She let out a breath she’d been unconsciously holding. “Thank you.”
“But there are conditions.”
“Which are?”
“I’m sending backup. You don’t have a choice; if you don’t accept it, you’re off the case.”
“Who?”
“Valkyrie and Smithson would be my first choice, but he’s been injured. I’ll check on his status. Smithson is Abrasha Molchalin’s son. If not, I’ll send Malice.”
Well, that made her sit up and take notice. “Back to Smithson, we’re confident he’s on our side?”
“Beyond a shadow of a doubt. He’s been through hell, and he’s never wavered.”
“What about the others? Val, Con, or Malice?”
“No hesitation in them working with you. Fury also has a baby assassin in London, and you can pull that asset in if needed.”
“What is his name?”
“ Her name is Raven.”
“Three female Shadows on one case. Molchalin doesn’t stand a chance.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. He isn’t someone to be taken lightly.”
“And I never would.” She shouldn’t have made a joke. “You know that.”
“I do. Your mother and I are flying to London.”
“Why?” She dropped her head to her hand.
“Not that I need to check my movements with you, but we’re stopping there for a couple of days before we go to France and visit Grandma’s gravesite. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve been there.”
“I was there two weeks ago,” she said softly. “The roses are absolutely beautiful. She would have been so content to sit there and stare at them.”
“I think you may be right. Please be careful.”
“Always, Daddy. I love you.”
“And I love you, too. Even though you’re as stubborn as a mule.”
“Momma says we were hit over the head with the same bat.”
“Yes, yes, we were. Do your job, honey. I’ve okayed using your airplane for the mission. It’s being filled up as we speak. It has all the secure comms you’ll need.”
“Thank you. I’ll be safe, and I’ll do whatever it takes, Dad.”
“As long as it takes, honey. As long as it takes.” She tapped her earpiece, placing it in silent mode again. Maybe they were too alike. Who knew? She loved him with the fierceness of a million suns. He was her hero and bigger than life, but she was suffocating in the protective hug he’d put on her since Charley was taken. Their family’s entire world had shifted, and her father and mother watched all of them like a hawk. It took years for the boys to break free. Charley was never really the same after the incident, and she marched to her own drum. That left Ronnie fenced in as the last one he could protect, and even with her training, he still tried to keep the world from her doorstep.
Her phone vibrated in her hand. “Hi, Mom. Dad just contacted me and gave me the go-ahead. I hear you’ll be in London, too.”
“That’s good. I’m glad he listened to reason. What do you mean, too? I thought you were in Monaco?”
“I’ll be heading to London shortly.”
“Do you think we could meet for lunch or just for a hug? I know you’ll be busy, but if I can get a hug, I won’t complain.” Anna laughed.
“I’ll see what I can do, and that’s a solid promise, Mom.”
“Well, it would even the score of me having to talk to Sophia twice in one week. That woman.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I wouldn’t have asked you if we weren’t pressed for time. What did she say?”
“Someone at the embassy called. She couldn’t remember the name, but she’d confirmed the call did come from the embassy in Marseille, France, because she had her secretary take a message, and she called them back. I didn’t get the number. I figured that was a bit too far.”
“It would have been. We can access that information, though. Thank you so much. And I’m looking forward to my hug.”
“So am I. I’m going to go smooth your father’s feathers. I love you, sweetie.”
“And I love you to the moon and back, Momma.” Her mom hung up, and she hit three keys, permanently removing the numbers from her phone. The log of the call would have disappeared in the next two minutes, but she never wanted to take a chance with anything being traced back to her family.