Page 5 of Centurion

“Absolutelyandno way in hell,” Con said. “Absolutely, the attraction started my interest, but no way in hell is that all I want from you.”

She cocked her head. “What else is there?”

Con snapped his eyes in her direction for a second. “Dating. Getting to know you. Having fun. You know, the same things everyone does when they find someone they’re attracted to.”

She turned, facing forward. “I don’t really date.”

“Why not?”

She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “The list is way too long.”

“We have the time. Are you married? Engaged? With someone?” Actually, they didn’t have the time, but he would take a trip around the block if he needed to. The hotel was about two minutes away, but he wanted to know.

She snorted, “No, no, and no.”

He blinked, then … “Are you gay?”

“Nope.”

“Then go out on a date with me.” He flipped on his turn sign indicator.

“Look. Let’s get through what the hell happened tonight first. Then we can talk about other things.”

“Like that kiss?” Conner asked as he slowed the car to turn into valet parking. “That was one hell of a kiss.”

She didn’t respond, but the rise of color in her cheeks told him she agreed. He stopped the car, got out of it, and trotted around to the passenger side to open the door for her. She took his hand and stepped out of the car. Every last person turned to look at the beautiful woman with him. Her long black hair was fashioned in some type of Grecian updo, and that dress wouldmake Aphrodite jealous. She had a banging figure, but he knew from when they were on the island, she didn’t wear makeup and didn’t need it. Tonight, though, with the makeup and jewelry, she was an otherworldly type of beautiful.

Con tossed the keys to the valet and extended his elbow to her. She wrapped her hand around his arm, and they entered the hotel together. He went to the elevator and pressed his room key in front of the reader. The elevator went directly to the penthouse without stopping. Ronnie stepped off the elevator before him. He watched her closely. There was no surprise at the magnificent view, no awe of the grandeur of the room. Nothing but casual acceptance. She’d been around money, the kind of money his family had.

He went into the bedroom and tugged the battered case holding his computer out from under the bed. Returning to the living room, he opened the case and pulled out his most prized possession. He powered it up and started typing as soon as her screen activated. He knew Ronnie walked behind him, but he was too damn busy. Con stopped long enough to grab his comm piece from the side pouch of his bag. “Jewell, I’m ready.”

“Okay.” The woman sounded like death warmed over. “Give me a second.”

Con’s eyes narrowed as he waited. Whatever was wrong with Jewell, it was affecting her. She was never that slow. “Okay.” The word was said before she started heaving again. Con grimaced at the sound of his friend being ill. “I’m in. Jewell, get some medical attention. Archangel and the Rose are online with Con and Centurion.” Con worked the mission as if it had just started and took a moment to scan the connections. “All connections are secure. I’m calling up the video and running facial recognition.” Con continued to work. “I have the street cameras. That would be our bad guys.” He froze the frame. Two darkened limos pulledout of the main entrance to the compound. He captured the license plates.

“I need someone to run this information as I pull it.”

Ethan’s node lit up on his computer, and Con allowed him access. “Sending you license plates. Monaco registration. Dig down to the Ministry of Public Works. There should be a database there.”

“Got it.” Con could hear Ethan working.

“Facial rec has matches coming in.” Con put up the faces on the screen along with the computer’s delegation of names and percentages of matches. He didn’t read the information. He just threw it up on the screen.

“Pulling all camera data on the server for the compound. Do we delete after we secure it?”

“Yes.” That came from Archangel’s node.

“Done.” Con continued to work, singularly focused on the tasks at hand.

“Rentals from Regal Transportation,” Ethan replied. “Working traffic cameras to try to track where they’re going.”

“Check local airports, but somewhere big enough a private jet can take off. Check the privately owned strips, and don’t sift any out because they aren’t registered with the government.” That little trick got Abrasha out of France. Con wouldn’t let it happen again.

“On it,” Ethan said again.

Fury’s voice broke the silence. “Con, the facial rec.” Con glanced over at the screen.

“What do you need?”

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