Page 77 of Stuart Woods' Golden Hour

“Do not worry about a thing. And, Billy?”

“Yes?”

“The next time you are coming to Italy, be sure to let me know. I’ll make sure you see all the sights.”

“I’ll do that.”

Three minutes later, Bianca’s voice boomed down the hallway, drowning out her ex’s pounding. “Eduardo!” The rest was spoken in rapid-fire Italian, of which no sane person would want to be the recipient.

Soon, the hallway fell blessedlysilent.

28

The next morning, theStorm’sEyegroup flew to Budapest, arriving a few minutes before 9:30 a.m. From there, a trio of SUVs whisked them through the Pest side of the city to the Ritz-Carlton, near the Danube River.

Though a new Strategic Services detail waited for them outside the hotel, there were no screaming fans to hold off.

“Good job keeping our arrival a secret this time,” Peter said to Lizzie.

“I leaked to a few fan sites that we were staying at the Hotel Clark on the other side of the river,” she said.

“Sneaky!”

“All part of the job.”

As the group entered the hotel lobby, Mark pulled Stacy aside.

“Can you check with the front desk and see if a message has come in for Billy?” he whispered.

“On it,” she said.

He’d awoken that morning to a text from Rick awaiting him, confirming that Danielle Verde was on her way to Budapest. She would be traveling under the name of Monique Ortega and should be in the city before he arrived. She’d been told to leave a note for Billy Barnett at the hotel with details on how to contact her.

When Stacy returned, she said, “Sorry, nothing. But I told the desk to call me if something arrives.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I need one more favor.”

He handed her a credit card.

“Is this a reward for having done a great job?” she asked.

“Did you miss the part where I said ‘one more favor’?”

“If you give me a reward, I’ll be extra attentive, and that would be a kind of favor, wouldn’t it?”

“How about this? I promise to buy you a nice memento while we’re here.”

“My choice?”

“Within reason.”

“What do you consider within reason?”

“Three hundred dollars or less.”

“Make it five and you have a deal.”

“You realize you’re trying to extort me to make you do your job.”

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