Page 25 of Dash

“Origin question.” Mina tapped a pen against her lip. “The Astor women—Athena, Circe, Aphrodite, and Artemis. Not your run-of-the-mill Tiffany or Brittany, and pardon me for saying so, a little, well, unconventional. Why would someone name their daughters after Greek goddesses in this day and age?”

“If you knew Richard Astor, you’d understand. As a young executive, he traveled to Greece on a business trip. If you ask me, he identified with Zeus, but that’s just me and my bias against the man. As the story goes, he was so enthralled with the whole Greek god universe that he named his daughters after goddesses.”

“Why was the son not named after a Greek god?” Mina asked.

“Nix was named Phoenix, after the mythological bird. Richard Astor was obsessed with the creature. It appears in thelogo for the Astor group and the family crest.”

“Sounds like old man Astor didn’t want another male god in the family.”

I shrugged. “Who knows what the old bastard was thinking?”

“Poor kids. Those names. Was his wife a broom he swept the ground with, or did she agree with him?”

“Guadalupe Astor was a force of nature and considered not only a great beauty but also a wise woman by her people.” I smiled when I remembered her. “At the ranch, they used to say that Doña Lupe could read the stars, whatever that means. As the story goes, she read the stars on the day each of her children were born and they approved of the names. She thought the names held power, purpose, and character.”

“She sounds like a badass in her own right.” Mina’s eyes widened. “Did you get to meet her?”

“I did.” She was as beautiful and amazing as she was reputed to be. “She was very kind to me. Why she married Richard Astor, I’ll never understand. After she died, Richard Astor changed and not for the better.”

“Sounds like a tragic love story.”

“You should know that the kids all hate their names with a passion.”

“Is that why Thena refers to her siblings as Nix, Cece, Affie, and Missy?”

“Exactly.” A sweet memory hit me out of nowhere. “Missy, the youngest girl, couldn’t pronounce their full names. It was she who gave them their nicknames. Now, let’s get digging.”

“Yes, sir.” Mina tapped the side of her hand against her forehead.

“What’s the status of the core team?” I asked.

“As you know, Bozeman, Cooper, Ferranti, Shaw, and King are on the ground and operational, although I’m waiting onBB’s final clearance.”

“Why are the clearances taking so long?”

“Well, boss, that’s on you. You limited your top choices to MARSOC Marines from yours and Nix’s old crew. Some of those guys had a hard time after Nix died in combat. With the exception of our precious, immaculate Bozeman, none of the others’ records are what anyone would call squeaky clean.”

“I know that,” I snapped, then tempered my reaction. “Even if they screwed up some after that clusterfuck of a mission, they deserve an opportunity.”

“As a former Most Wanted, I totally get it.” She shrugged. “But those screwups make the clearance process more involved.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “If something pops up, I’ll deal with it.”

“Like you, I believe in redemption, but…” Mina paused.

“What is it?”

“There’s one guy unavailable at the moment.”

“Who’s that?”

“Guzman.”

“Ah, shit.” He’d always been hard to manage. “Where the hell is he?”

“He’s in jail, broke, and can’t afford bail.”

I exhaled a resigned breath. “What did he do now?”

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