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“You do?” I shook my head and laughed, but not because it was funny. “I don’t know how. I just realized it myself.”
“Call it a hunch.”
I put my other hand on top of hers that still rested on mine. “Do you swear she’s okay?”
“Typhon would not have transported her out of Dubai unless it was safe to do so. Her brother wouldn’t have gone along with it either.”
23
ZEPPELIN
It had been two months since I left King’s College Hospital and returned to Shere. Two months and two days since I’d last looked into Verity’s eyes or heard her voice.
Nemesis had suggested more than once I take a few days’ leave, which I adamantly refused to do. I hardly slept with worry that if word came in about Verity, I wouldn’t be present to hear it.
Typhon had gone completely dark. According to Oleander, even she couldn’t reach him. I had a hard time believing her, but calling her out would only result in her refusing to tell me anything she did hear.
Magnet and Schön had gone to the States, met with Baissier, and spoken with the attorney general in charge of Godwin’s indictment. According to what he told them, they’d been in negotiations with Godwin for a plea deal in exchange for a testimony he promised would be earth-shattering, even going so far as saying world-changing. The two had yet to agree to terms when we alerted the American Justice Department that Godwin may have fled, a theory that was proven correct within hours.
Rile reported Charlene Vella-Borg decided against returning to his compound with her mother after she’d learned of Xavier’s and Selene’s deaths. According to the brief he had prepared, she blamed the coalition for her nephew and his girlfriend dying and no longer trusted our protection.
The brief also stated Bexli had implored Francesca to reconsider, but she refused, saying she wanted to go home.
Delfino, from the Malta task force, along with Atticus from Ares’ team, traveled to Gozo, where they were set up to surveil Francesca and her daughter. They would remain on the Maltese island indefinitely as the investigation into Xavier Vella deepened.
Tank and Blackjack, also from the US task force, were scheduled to leave Shere within hours to travel to Tropea along with Brando “Michelangelo” Ripa. According to Nemesis, he was joining Cayman’s UK task force as a permanent member. I hadn’t spoken to the guy, but I knew Doc Butler and trusted him implicitly.
Everyone else was split into teams, digging into everything we could about Xavier Vella and Selene Pavia.
“Let me get this straight; Xavier Vella’s parents died when he was two, is that right?” asked Schön, whose presence I could barely abide, not because she wasn’t a good addition to the team, but because just looking at her reminded me of every minute Verity and I had spent together and how much it fucking hurt that I hadn’t heard a word from or about her.
“She’s not so bad,” Magnet said when he caught me scowling in Schön’s direction.
I shrugged. “Just glad she’s your problem, not mine. Have you fucked her yet?”
Magnet and I had been friends for many years, and while I’d seen him angry before, few times were to the extent he appearednow. “Come with me,” he snapped, motioning to the front door of the command center.
“Let it go, Mag.”
“Come. With. Me.” He stalked out of the house, and I followed. Once outside, he grabbed me by the neck and slammed me up against the exterior of the house.
“What the fuck?” I shouted.
He’d pulled his other arm back as if he was about to punch me, but dropped it. He still held me by the throat, though. “Listen to me, yousonuvabitch. You’ve been a miserable fucker since you returned from Dubai, and while we all understand why, I, for one, am reaching the end of what I’m willing to put up with.”
“She was a fucking honey trap agent, Mag. You can’t tell me?—”
His fist came at me and landed straight on my mouth and nose. Mag hit me so hard, for a minute, I thought I might lose consciousness.
“I told you before to listen to me. Apparently, you weren’t paying attention. You are a fucking bastard, and if you don’t settle down, you’ll soon find yourself replaced.”
I wiped the blood streaming from my mouth and nose with the back of my arm. “Let ’em try,” I spat.
Magnet let go of me and took a step away. “Since you’re still my friend, I’m going to give you one warning, Zep. Do not disparage Schön ever again. She’s a good agent, and she’s struggling enough with overcoming her reputation. She doesn’t need your shit.”
I started to laugh. “So you are fucking her.”
I’d anticipated the punch that landed in my gut but didn’t try to block it. Yeah, it hurt like hell, and seconds later, I lost the contents of my stomach, but it was a welcome distractionfrom the pain I felt every minute of the day, every single time I thought about Verity.
