Page 5 of An Epic Voyage
Indy whistled.“The head of the Black Serpent Syndicate?The African Assassin?”
“That’s him,” Jackson confirmed.“We do have photographic evidence that the warhead is housed inside a silver canister, probably in a suitcase lined with iron.What we don’t know is whether it’s on his boat or his private island.That’s where the meeting will commence.”
“So, I need to search both.”
“Yes.”
Indy’s glance bounced from Jackson to Evangeline.“What’s my cover?”
“Yourself.Van Houten’s current girlfriend, Jinger with a J, insists on traveling with both a personal stylist and a beauty consultant,” Evangeline explained.“Pammy Baxter, her usual makeup artist, is indisposed.”
“In other words, we took her into custody,” Jackson expounded.
“Just until the op is over,” Evangeline clarified.“She thinks she’s in mortal danger and we’re protecting her.”
“Jinger and Van Houten don’t know that Pammy is MIA and won’t until you arrive at the yacht tomorrow morning,” said Jackson.
“That means you’ll be a surprise and may need to do some fast talking,” Evangeline warned.
“Not a problem,” Indy assured them.“I’m looking forward to it.”
#
After they discussedlogistics and more details, Indigo departed, leaving Evangeline and Jackson alone again.
“This might be one of the more dangerous operations we’ve sent one of the women on,” Jackson murmured.
Evangeline nodded slowly.“If anyone can handle it, it’s Indigo.”Indigo had become the unofficial leader of the trio, the one the others went to for advice.“I would’ve felt comfortable with any of the three taking the lead, but Indigo is as tough as they come.”
“I can attest to that,” Jackson agreed.“She’s kicked my ass plenty of times in the ring.”
Evangeline almost rolled her eyes.No one got the better of Jackson Rushing.No one.He was a former Navy SEAL and a former Secret Service agent.Despite how busy he’d been, he’d managed to earn both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.And he had done it all before the age of twenty-five.An overachiever if there ever was one.
Evangeline was no slouch either, having graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Yale at twenty and a master’s from Oxford at twenty-two.
But Jackson was the superstar.There was nothing he couldn’t do, and she would know.At one time, he’d been her entire world, the most important person in her life.
Now, being in the same room as him was unmitigated torture.She should’ve argued more when the president had established their shadow agency and named Evangeline and Jackson as the leaders.They had both been part of her Secret Service detail when she’d been a senator.They’d earned her undying loyalty after they had saved her life when someone had opened fire at a press event.Evangeline had thrown her body over the then-senator, while Jackson had disabled the shooter, earning a gunshot wound for his efforts, and saving dozens.They’d been named part of her staff when she was elected commander-in-chief.
Even though the president hated to lose them, she knew they were the best choice to head the clandestine division created to handle problems that the president didn’t want to leak to the public.Their cases were diverse and challenging, but as Jackson had said, this one might be the most dangerous.Jabari Abdullahi was as lethal as they came.He’d been described as a soulless monster and evil personified.He was a warlord in every sense of the word.
Evangeline would worry about Indigo until she returned.She did the same with all her handpicked girls when they were on assignment.She and Jackson had trained them to be warriors.All three were experts in firearms, hand-to-hand combat, and strategy.They had undergone extensive preparation for their covers as cosmetologists as well.
Knowing it wasn’t the career they had chosen, Evangeline had hired an entire staff for the salon.Indigo, Piper, and Chelsea didn’t have to work often, but all three liked to keep busy and took on clients when their schedules allowed.None of the other beauticians knew about what really went on inside the salon.
It had become profitable as soon as the doors opened—a tremendous success.
Evangeline’s globetrotting parents had owned the building where the shop was located, and it became hers when they both passed away.The government had paid for the overhaul of the salon and the lower level, while she had converted the top five floors into loft apartments for her, Jackson, and the women.
Besides the five of them, two other people were aware of the true mission of Epic Beauty Salon.Iris Hinton was the manager and Evangeline’s aunt.She trusted her implicitly.Thurman Price had been Jackson’s father’s best friend.He’d recruited Jackson into the Navy.Thurman had been restless after early retirement and now handled maintenance of the building and anything else they needed.He was a jack of all trades.
Evangeline shook her head to clear her thoughts.Jackson’s scent drifted toward her, a heady mixture of clean male and musky aftershave.It had weakened her knees the first time she’d smelled him years ago, and it did the same thing today.
“Don’t you have to be getting back to Washington?”She tried not to sound snippy.It was a legitimate question since Jackson split his time between the two cities.
“No, I’ll work from my office here, so I’ll be around for the duration of Indy’s op.This one has the potential of being a major world crisis.”
Having Jackson around made Evangeline feel better professionally, even if it irritated her personally.
