Page 5 of Savage Beauty

CHAPTER1

One Month Later

Max

Doctors and nurses pass in the manila hallway with stern expressions and swift steps.

“Have you been to the Petronas Twin Towers?” Mom asks.

I’m speaking to my mom through my earpieces, and she doesn’t hear me as well when I do that, so I’ve got the phone held up to my mouth like it’s a microphone. None of the physicians or nurses spare me and my mumbling a second glance.

“Riva, he’s not there for a joyride,” Dad pipes in. He’s on the line, too, because yes, my folks still have a landline and one phone in the den and one in the bedroom, specifically so when I call they can each easily join in on the call.

“But surely he has some free time. You have some free time, don’t you? There’s also the Batu cave, and you liked Chinatown in New York City when we took you. You might like it there too.”

Mom continues reading through a list she must’ve prepared specifically for this call when a dark-haired, middle-aged man about six-foot-one and wearing a money suit, slows near Sloane Watson’s hospital room. My buddy Knox approaches him.

The guy’s hands aren’t near his waist, but from this angle, I can’t tell if he’s packing.

“Mom, Dad, I’m gonna need to go. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

“When’s your flight?—”

“Riva, you know he can’t share that.”

“Love you guys.”

I end the call but remain on the bench, wary of the suit. I increase the volume on the earpieces, using the devices like a hearing aid.

“Can we go outside? My car’s in the parking lot.” The suit’s question to my friend has me wondering who the hell he is. We’re in Kuala Lumpur, for fuck’s sake. Lawyer? Unlikely. High-end hired assassin? Conceivable.

“Why would I go outside with you?” Knox asks nicer than I would’ve.

Knox and I served on the teams together. Not the same team, but we know each other, and when we left the military for the private sector, we joined the same outfit.

“So we can speak. Without being overheard.” Who does moneybags think, besides me, is listening?

“And you are?” Knox asks.

“Tristan Viognier. We met once on a business call. You might remember me as Nomad.”

Ah, that makes sense. He’s Interpol. They provided us with the intel that led us to Sloane Watson, the woman we extracted from a hostage situation. We’re still piecing together all the whys.

Sloane is the sister of Knox’s girlfriend, Sage. She’s also the sister of Sam Watson, a former SEAL who died in combat two years ago. That’s probably a big reason Arrow, the black ops security firm we work for, took Sloane’s case pro bono. The interest from the CIA in the eleventh hour was an unanticipated bonus for our private security firm. The CIA is just one of the government agencies on Arrow Tactical’s client roster.

Knox and Sage haven’t left the hospital since Sage arrived fifty-two hours ago. Each night, I’ve gone back to the hotel alone, and their room has remained unused.

“She’s groggy. She’s been in and out of sleep all day. We haven’t questioned her yet. I don’t have anything to share with you.”

Knox speaks the truth. The escape plan the CIA concocted for us to rescue Sloane from a Cambodian compound entailed unanticipated complications. Therefore, here we sit in a hospital on foreign soil.

“Let’s go see if she’s ready to talk,” Knox says. Together, Knox and the Interpol officer enter Sloane’s hospital suite.

I remove my earpieces. This guy isn’t here to hurt anyone. Knox must’ve come to the same conclusion, or he would’ve never led him into the suite with the Watson sisters.

I edge my way into the doorway behind them.

Sloane rests on a stack of pillows in her inclined hospital bed.

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