Page 99 of The Art of You

A hesitant look crossed Alfie’s face before he joined me. “The one at my back, yeah.”

“Love to know how you wound up with my Glock.” I did my best to keep my shit together, and instead of waiting for an answer, I turned and went to our suite.

I ordered the hotel security to hang back in the hall and ushered Alfie inside, closing the door behind us.

“He’s carrying,” I let Constantine and Alessandro know, not taking my eyes off my current target. “My nine mil?”

Alfieshowed me his palm while reaching around his back with his other hand.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Constantine coming closer with the short-barrel rifle meant for close-quarter combat.

“We’re on the same side,” Alfie said while returning my Glock. “I’m hoping we are, at least.” I released the magazine to check it as Alfie added, “Missing one.”

I side-eyed him while returning the magazine in place. I arched my brow, waiting for him to continue. It was hard for me to believe Triple A was really in front of me and not a figment of my imagination.

Alfie scanned the room, saying, “Just removing my phone from my pocket. Easy with your trigger finger.”

That was more than likely meant for Constantine. The man could intimidate even the most skilled operators on the planet.

“How’d you even find us?” Alessandro asked.

“My teammate tracked you. Should be more careful.” Yeah, that kind of remark wouldn’t win any of us over, even if he was right. Although, I’d thought we’d covered our asses leaving the airport.

“Just tell us what’s going on,” Constantine hissed. “Talk.” He let the word hang low and flat in the air.

Alfie turned his phone around and showed us two images of Chris and Eduardo—the ambassador’s security detail—from before they were killed. “These two men were turned by terrorists who are responsible for multiple attacks around the world. I now know that Chris and Eduardo were tasked with getting information from the ambassador. Specifically, the location for a black site here in Spain where their boss was being held,” he cut to it. “My team’s working with the theory that the terrorists realized the only way to get the ambo to give up the address wasby having her daughter taken. They must’ve concluded torturing Ambassador Aldana wouldn’t be a viable option to get her to talk. The terrorist cell outsourced and hired American mercenaries to take her daughter, keeping themselves clean of the hit.”

“How in the hell do you know this? You’re not CIA. Where do you fit in?” I asked, stumbling my way through shock as he casually pocketed his phone.

“I’m in the private security business now. My guess is you are as well, and that’s how our paths crossed Friday.”

I wanted to believe him, fuck did I ever. But I’d need more to go on before I felt comfortable enough for Alessandro and Constantine to lower their weapons.

“I was hired last week to take down the assholes responsible for a terrorist attack at a U.S. embassy in Algeria last year that killed a man’s wife.”

Alfie’s words were both a punch in the face and a gut shot. “I’m sorry, but what?He’sthe one who hired you? Green?”Rose Green’s husband?

“You know about Peter Green?” He scrutinized me for a long moment, attempting to put two fucked-up pieces together.

All I could do was nod.

He stroked his red beard. “Yeah, well, Green hired my team. Works at the Pentagon. He had access to a ton of intel to help expedite our search, leading us to the ambassador. We discovered too late the ambo’s daughter had been taken. We used aliases to get into the party, and?—”

“Green was with you at the party?” So, my gut feeling we had other eyes on us that night had been spot-fucking-on.

“He came late, but yeah, he was there,” he confirmed.

“What happened next?” I didn’t need to fill in the details. Not yet. But I did have to find a way to calm my racing heart pumping up into my ears so I could better hear him.

He cleared his throat, coughing into a closed fist, and I caught the gold band on his wedding finger.

I wasn’t sure why, but knowing he was married somehow made me feel, well, better. Like maybe his life didn’t suck after leaving the Navy.

“My team was hoping to help find the ambo’s daughter, as well as figure out who was corrupt on her team to interrogate them. We wanted a location for the terrorist cell, as well as to determine their plans to free their boss.”

I tore my free hand through my hair, trying to wrap my head around how disgustingly butexpertlywe’d all been played.

“Your name wasn’t on the party list when my team checked it, and although it was your old man’s event,” Alfie continued, “I didn’t expect to see you there. I was actually shocked to see you, to say the least. I did my best to keep out of sight after we made eye contact.”

---