Page 29 of Centurion

“Nothing,” Fury retorted. “You seem to like him, so ask him.”

“But, Joey, I’m asking you.” She started her Jaguar and put it into drive, pulling onto the gravel road that led back to the paved roadway.

“You don’t get to call me that.” He sounded growly.

“Okay, so how about Uncle Joey? I used to call you that.”

“When you were a kid. You’re not a kid any longer.” Fury sighed.

“Seriously, what’s the beef between the two of you?”

“Again, I say, ask the asshat you’re working with. If you have nothing else for me, you’re clear until we contact you again. We have an asset going into the residences tonight or tomorrow night, depending on a couple of factors.”

“Abrasha could be out of the country,” she mused as she turned onto the paved roadway and headed back toward her flat.

“And the moon could be purple, but until we have proof, we work with what we have.”

“How does Aunt Ember put up with your grumpy ass all the time?”

“I’m not grumpy. Behave yourself, or I’ll turn you over my knee.”

She laughed. “Charley told me about the time you took her over your knee. I won’t poke the bear.”

“See, I always told your dad you were the smart one of the bunch.” There was genuine laughter in his voice.

“We’ll agree on that point. Say hi to everyone for me. I’m clear.” Tapping her comm device, she turned on her radio, listening to Mozart as she returned to the city. She drew in a deep breath and smiled. So far, the day had turned out well. She’d cleared the air with Con and found that damn hiding place. Two for two. That was her kind of score.

CHAPTER 11

Con finished his work and sent his findings about the embassy to the old grumpy fart. Basically, the number was a switchboard. He’d synced the phone calls into the embassy with the videos. So, they had a comprehensive view of who was on the telephone at the time of the call. He’d run facial rec on all the employees based on the badging system used by the embassy, which was ridiculously easy to hack. During the three-minute span of the conversation that Sophia had with an unknown person at the embassy, there were seventeen people actively talking on the telephone—from the ambassador’s secretary to the guard station at the front door. They had the names, but without more information, finding out who was the person Sophia spoke to, could be almost impossible.

He clicked his earpiece and used his keyboard to call Fury.

“What?”

Con sighed. “Dude, if Sophia could even just say whether the person she talked to was a man or a woman, we’d be infinitely closer to finding out who it was that arranged the meet-up between Trueman and Eisenberger. If the person is insistent enough, maybe her personal secretary could recall something Sophia doesn’t.”

There was silence for a moment. Con knew he’d been put on hold. When Fury came back, he said. “Done. Fury out.”

Con rolled his eyes so hard the nerve attached to his eyeballs stretched. The man was such a jerk.

He hit a few keystrokes. “Hey, man. How are you coming with the passports?”

“It’s slow.” Brando sighed. “Meticulous and slow. How are you doing with the embassy?”

“Done, wrapped in a bow, and handed over to Mr. Grumpy Ass.” Con checked on his video feed surrounding the government and banking districts. “I’ve set up surveillance, and the system will ping if any of the men on the passports are identified in the area. Abrasha’s crew could be lying low, but I bet they’re already out of the country. They’re useless to him now that they’ve been identified.”

“True. Still, we need to know if the names given are accurate or a deep fake.” Brando yawned. “I’m going to let the program work and take a nap. What are you doing?”

“Dude, I think I’m going to take her sightseeing.” He clicked on pictures that had populated the shared drive for the mission. “Look at that. She found out where he was hiding.”

“What?” He could hear Brando’s fingers pound on the keyboard. “Damn, I’m not really claustrophobic, but, dude, I wouldn’t be in that.”

“Right? A flying coffin.” A shiver ran up Con’s spine. “I’ll have my earpiece on and have the princess with me if you need me.” The princess was what he’d named his masterpiece of computing goodness.

“Don’t drag your computer with you. I can remote into her and access anything you need. Just go have fun, but remember, don’t push,” Brando chastised him.

“I got it. And thanks for last night. I wasn’t seeing what was happening.” Con and his brother were tight, and he neededBrando to know how much he appreciated being able to talk out the situation about Ronnie with him.

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