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Ronan tried to hide his surprise. FVEY stood for Five Eyes, five countries — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US — who shared top secret intelligence with eachother.
“Are youserious?”
“As a heart attack,” Bradensaid.
“And they’re going along? Steeringclear?”
“Officially,” Bradensaid.
It didn’t bode well. If FVEY was willing to look the other way on Manifest’s crimes, it meant the players were even bigger than Ronananticipated.
“Andunofficially?”
“There’s a joint task force working quietly. It’s small, tight-knit to avoid leaks,” Bradensaid.
“Did they know anything aboutFlorence?”
Braden looked into his beer like he would find the words he was searching for in the foam at the top of the glass. “Nothing definitive, but there is somechatter.”
“I’mlistening.”
Braden looked around, like the subject matter made him paranoid. “Word on the Darknet is that they’re bringing in a fresh batch of girls this month. Rumor has it it’s a showcase, a place to give the girls a test run before an auction that’s supposed to take place nextmonth.”
Showcase…auction…
Ronan forced himself to ignore the fact that they were talking about women, about human beings, about Julia’ssister.
“And all the girls will be there? In Florence?” Ronanasked.
“I don’t have anything but what I told you,” Bradensaid.
“Location of the auction?” Ronan could hardly get the wordsout.
“Sorry.” Braden shook his head. “I don’t know why I’m still surprised there are heartless bastards in theworld.”
Ronan shrugged. “I don’t knoweither.”
He wasn’t surprised in the least. It was why he was able to do what he did, why he was able to kill without the impediment of his conscience. Living among one’s fellow man implied a certain moral contract — namely not to enslave, torture, or murderthem.
If someone couldn’t abide by that contract, they had to be eliminated. In a perfect world, those people would be eliminated before they could poison the rest of society. Barring that, Ronan was more than happy to serve once they’d proven themselves a danger to everyoneelse.
“So I take it you’re heading to Florence?” Bradenasked.
He said it like he said everything, with a calm that made Ronan wonder if he ever lost his cool. It was one of the things Ronan liked about Kane, one of the reasons he was okay with Kane being with his sister: he might work for Montgomery, but Braden was as unruffled as stillwater.
Ronan had done background on him when he’d first found out he was seeing Nora and had discovered a decorated FBI agent who’d spearheaded the takedown of one of the world’s most notorious mobbosses.
Of course, that mob boss was replaced by another, but the new one was easier for the Feds to work with, and sometimes that was as good as itgot.
Ronan took a drink of his beer. “You gotit.”
“How can I help?” Bradenasked.
“I need to get into the next party,” Ronansaid.
“What’s the invite looklike?”
“Don’tknow.”
