Page 14 of Centurion

“I was there two weeks ago,” she said softly. “The roses are absolutely beautiful. She would have been so content to sit there and stare at them.”

“I think you may be right. Please be careful.”

“Always, Daddy. I love you.”

“And I love you, too. Even though you’re as stubborn as a mule.”

“Momma says we were hit over the head with the same bat.”

“Yes, yes, we were. Do your job, honey. I’ve okayed using your airplane for the mission. It’s being filled up as we speak. It has all the secure comms you’ll need.”

“Thank you. I’ll be safe, and I’ll do whatever it takes, Dad.”

“As long as it takes, honey. As long as it takes.” She tapped her earpiece, placing it in silent mode again. Maybe they were too alike. Who knew? She loved him with the fierceness of a million suns. He was her hero and bigger than life, but she was suffocating in the protective hug he’d put on her since Charley was taken. Their family’s entire world had shifted, and her father and mother watched all of them like a hawk. It took years for the boys to break free. Charley was never really the same after the incident, and she marched to her own drum. That left Ronnie fenced in as the last one he could protect, and even with her training, he still tried to keep the world from her doorstep.

Her phone vibrated in her hand. “Hi, Mom. Dad just contacted me and gave me the go-ahead. I hear you’ll be in London, too.”

“That’s good. I’m glad he listened to reason. What do you mean, too? I thought you were in Monaco?”

“I’ll be heading to London shortly.”

“Do you think we could meet for lunch or just for a hug? I know you’ll be busy, but if I can get a hug, I won’t complain.” Anna laughed.

“I’ll see what I can do, and that’s a solid promise, Mom.”

“Well, it would even the score of me having to talk to Sophia twice inoneweek. That woman.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. I wouldn’t have asked you if we weren’t pressed for time. What did she say?”

“Someone at the embassy called. She couldn’t remember the name, but she’d confirmed the call did come from the embassy in Marseille, France, because she had her secretary take a message, and she called them back. I didn’t get the number. I figured that was a bit too far.”

“It would have been. We can access that information, though. Thank you so much. And I’m looking forward to my hug.”

“So am I. I’m going to go smooth your father’s feathers. I love you, sweetie.”

“And I love you to the moon and back, Momma.” Her mom hung up, and she hit three keys, permanently removing the numbers from her phone. The log of the call would have disappeared in the next two minutes, but she never wanted to take a chance with anything being traced back to her family.

CHAPTER 5

Con headed down the hallway and found Ronnie beside the printer. She looked up. “It either ran out of paper, or it’s done.”

Con woke up the screen on his computer with his fingerprint. “Done. Did you get any information?”

“I did. The call came from the embassy in Marseille, France, from some State Department person, but Sophia didn’t recall the name of the individual who called.”

“My God, could you imagine how puffed up Sophia would have been to have someone from the embassy call her?” Con disconnected the printer and put the small device in his backpack.

“I’m sure she’s having second thoughts about it now,” Ronnie said as she watched him put away his equipment. “The reason your computer looks that way is camouflage, isn’t it?”

He winked at her. “You bet. This little princess is beyond anything out there. She’s my own creation and more powerful than ninety-nine percent of the systems in the world. There are only three like her. My brother Brando and my cousin Ring have the other two.”

“Brando and Ring?” she repeated.

“Brandon and Cyrus. Brando and Ring are their handles.”

“Like Con is yours,” she said.

“Yep.” He put his computer into the backpack and made a last check for anything he’d forgotten. “Fury said the car would be here for us in ten minutes.”

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