Page 11 of Centurion

“And that reason is now out the door,” she sniped back. “I’ll have Con bring me up to speed on the way to London.”

“That’s a negative. We’re pending approval on your continued role in this case,” Archangel told her.

Oh, no. No, thatwasn’tgoing to happen. She’d started the case. It was hers. “No, we are not. This is my case. You wouldn’t pull one of the others off their cases. You’re not pulling me. Tell yourapproval authoritythat pulling me from it would be bad. Very bad.” Ronnie stood up. “I’m calling my hotel and having the concierge bring my things here. We’ll be ready to leave within the hour. Centurion out.”

She turned off her earpiece and stared at Con, whose mouth was hanging open. He blinked and looked from her to the computer screen.

Archangel pinched the bridge of his nose. “This really isn’t my day.”

Fury chuckled. “Better you than me, my brother.”

“I don’t understand,” Con said and glanced back at her, his brow furrowed. “Why does she get to give ultimatums?”

Fury barked out one of his evil ass laughs. “Your clearance isn’t high enough for that one, Techie Boy. The Rose is clear.”

“Con, get to work on this mess. Find me something solid to go on. Our wild-ass guesses are not going to give us the firepower we need.”

“I copy,” Con said, and Ronnie watched as he ended the connection for the meeting. He tapped his earpiece. He probably didn’t want anyone else to hear what he was about to say.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on? My clearance is as high as it gets,” Con asked from behind the computer.

“Nope.” She popped the “p” like she was mad at it. “Your clearance isn’t anywhere near the top of that pole, and if you needed to know, someone higher in the food chain would brief you.” There was no way in hell she’d ever tell anyone she was David Xavier’s daughter. Her father felt he had to rein her in, even though her younger sister was the wild one in the bunch. Her mother was on her side, surprisingly. Her mom didn’t coddle any of them, and once they decided what they wanted in life, she supported them. On the other hand, her father didn’t like that she’d forced his hand and gone through Shadow training, but it was that, or she would have gone out on her own and found someone to train her. Yeah, none of that would come to the light of day. She’d die before she let that info out of the bag.

“Why not? And how high in the food chain are you? Above Archangel?” Con narrowed his eyes. “How is it you can tell him what he’s going to do?” Con stared at her. “Who are you?”

“I’m me. I’m an assassin, and I’m a fashion designer when I’m not killing people. I have nothing further to say to anyone about my identity. Continue down this path, and there won’t be a second date. There might not be a Conner Solomon.”

Con’s mouth snapped shut, and he stared at her for a full minute before his face split into a wide smile. “So, where do you want to go for our date?”

Ronnie cocked her head and lifted an eyebrow before she said, “London.”

CHAPTER 4

Con decided to sideline the question of who Ronnie, aka Jackie Harriger, was. It didn’t matter. He’d be able to find information about her as a fashion designer with what he had. Anyway, he was okay with sidelining that thread for the time being. Instead, he worked on backtracking from where they were to when all hell busted loose at that event. He pulled everything and hooked up his printer to his computer. Sometimes, looking at something in a different medium put things in a different perspective. As the sheets of paper came out of his printer, he slid them into a folder that would accompany him to London. Once he was out of the airplane, he’d find a hotel, spread the sheets across the floor, and process each of them as a global document. Inclusive of everything and then weeding out the useless information, keeping the pertinent. It was logical but time-consuming. He’d work on a program to find similarities, factor in the players, work with time, travel, jobs, and … wait a second … how did the Undersecretary and Eisenberger get invited to Sophia’s gala? Every person on that list was hand-curated and a member of a very elite group of people. If it weren’t so, the majority of the personnel who were there that night wouldn’t have dreamed of showing up.

Ronnie walked down the hall sans his shirt but wearing a linen pantsuit that had been delivered about ten minutes ago. His eyes traveled up and down her gorgeous body. “You look fantastic.”

“And you’re still in your tux. We need to leave shortly. You should shower and change.” She watched the printer spit out pages. “I can put those into the file for you.”

He nodded. “I have a question for you.”

“And I might have an answer.” She sat on the couch, and he noticed the red bottom of the soles of her high-heeled boots. He knew that brand. It was one of his mother’s favorites.

“How did the Undersecretary and Eisenberger get invited to the gala last night? Those invitations are hand-curated.”

“Sophia would know.” Ronnie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. “I can call and see how she is after such a traumatic night.”

“Do that. Archangel told us to dig deep.” Con stood up. “If you could add those to the file as they come out, I’ll shower and change. I’ll have my earpiece in if you need me.”

Ronnie blinked at him and then laughed. “To make a telephone call and put papers into a file? Do you think I’m going to get a paper cut and need a blood transfusion?”

Con frowned. “No, I just … You’re pretty touchy about being independent, aren’t you?”

Ronnie’s smile slid from her face. “More than you’ll ever know. I’ve got this.”

Con added that comment to the others of hers he needed to weed through. He tossed his tux into the bag his mother had shipped to the hotel. His mind raced with a thousand different thoughts as he soaped up and rinsed off. The obvious question was who had arranged invitations for the victims? Why did they arrange the invitations? Why in Monaco? Why were they meeting? He shifted through the methodology of how hewould compose a program to find connections between the two victims. He needed permission to access both victims’ digital footprints. He could do it without permission, but Archangel was having a bad enough day as it was. Adding fuel to that fire probably wasn’t the smart thing to do. On the other hand, if he could make Joseph’s day a bit more miserable, he’d be all over that.

He pulled on jeans and an eighties metal T-shirt he’d paid too much money for and laced up his hiking boots. Those were his work clothes. He and his younger brother, Brandon, aka Brando, had not inherited his older brothers' senses of duty and responsibility. They took after their father. His mom ruled the business world, but his father ruled the relationship and home. Their father was the ultimate computer nerd, and he’d instilled a love for all things digital in both of them. His mom already had an heir and a spare for her empire, so she let them follow their interests. When their cousin Cyrus came to live with them at the age of ten, he immediately fell in love with the computers Con and Brando had. Their dad hooked him up, and the rest was history. Cyrus became Ring and worked with the best in the Fortune 500 companies. Con had accepted a position with the NSA, and Brando worked for the DoD. After Guardian was blown to hell and back, they all agreed the company needed an advantage and proclaimed that advantage to be their employment.

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