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“I’m not working with them anymore, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said. “They burned me, and I walked away.”
“You’ll understand if we’re still a little alarmed,” Fausto said.
“I understand.”
“We’re going to have to check out everything thoroughly.”
“I’ll provide you with any details I can.”
“Dario’s trust in you means a great deal to me,” Leonardo said reassuringly, “but we do have to proceed with caution.”
“Of course.”
“You really are an international man of mystery,” Niccolo said impishly. I gave him a half-hearted smile.
“Dario mentioned there was a woman,” Fausto said.
“…yes.”
“What happened?”
“I was in prison for three and a half years,” I said, stony-faced. “She moved on.”
“She wouldn’t wait for you?” Leonardo asked sympathetically.
“She didn’t know.”
“She didn’t know?” Niccolo asked in astonishment.
“I didn’t have her phone number – it changed right before I got arrested. And I didn’t have her address or an email.”
All three men looked at me like this was the most insane thing they’d ever heard.
I sighed again.
“Her contact information changed constantly because she worked for MI6, too. That’s how I met her – we worked on a mission together in Afghanistan while I was still in Special Forces.”
Fausto’s frown became even deeper. “What’s her name?”
“It won’t do you any good. I had a hacker friend of mine look for her while I was in prison so I could let her know what happened. He never found her. She’s a ghost.”
“I don’t care,” Fausto said curtly. “What’s her name?”
“Rachel Bauer. That’s B, A, U, E, R. But it’s most likely an alias.”
“But you found her when you got out, did you not?”
“Dario found her mother,” I said quietly. “I gave him what little information I had, and he sent some men and tracked her down.”
“Ahhh,” Niccolo said. “That was that business about Pescara, wasn’t it?”
I gave him a warning look, and he clammed up.
“I need to know everything you know about her,” Fausto said.
“Respectfully… no,” I replied.
Fausto’s eyes opened wide in shock. “Excuse me?”
