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“Or maybe you did, because you didn’t show up at your house for three days, and Ziggy showed up in Vienna, at my apartment, in a panic.”
“Who is Ziggy?” asked Shae.
“She’s with the Caleb Group,” said Ned. “I met her in Slovenia on the op to intercept the dirty bomb. Jonas met her too.”
“Scary woman,” Jonas said.
No doubt. “She was alsomyhandler,” said Hudson. “And she told me that there was a hit taken out on Iris and I needed to find her.”
“A hit?” Jonas said, then cut his voice down. “As in someone wanted herdead?”
“That’s what Ziggy said.”
“By who?” Ned asked.
“Alan Martin,” said Iris.
Ned shook his head. Leaned back.
The waiter appeared with the first plates of food and set them on the table. He wanted to dive into his tartare like a beast, but he sat back and waited for the next plates.
“Are you sure it was Alan Martin?” Ned asked.
“No,” said Iris. “It was a theory, because apparently she couldn’t be sure until the hit was completed and the assassin collected his bounty.” She leaned forward to smell her sea bass. It sat in a sauce of fennel, turmeric, and lemon juice.
A raw egg sat in the middle of his tartare, seasoned with anchovies, capers, Worcestershire sauce, and sriracha, and surrounded by pickled red onions.
Shae made a face at his food and turned away.
“It’s delicious,” he said. “And frankly, I could use the protein. I’m wasting away.”
This got a laugh from her and seemed to put a pin in the horror of Iris’s story.
The waiter brought the rest of the plates, and he picked up his fork.
The rest of them bowed their heads.
Oh.
Garrett’s voice was low, earnest. “Lord, we thank You for keeping Iris safe. And the rest of our children as well, including Shae. Thank You for watching over us even when it feels overwhelming. You are our firm foundation. And thank You for sending Hudson to protect Iris. Please bless him in his career and future. Thank You for this food. May we be strengthened by it.”
“Amen,” said Iris and a couple others.
Huh. But, “Amen.” Hud glanced at Iris.
She was smiling at him. Then she winked and picked up her fork.
So, maybe not benched after all.
The story fell quiet as they ate their food, but Iris picked it back up after a moment. “After Hudson dropped me off in Milan, I went shopping for a few days—I called Mom, I remember that. But when I got back to my house, Hudson had broken in.”
“Did you do the door trick?” Jonas asked.
“The sliding door trick?” Ned said.
“I remember teaching you guys that,” Garrett said.
“No. The door to the house was open,” Hudson said. “And the house was ransacked.”
