Page 122 of Secret Weapon

“We can change your appearance.Bradley?”

“I’ll get right onto that.You won’t even recognise yourself by the time I’m finished with you.”

Darya looked kind of dubious, and who could blame her?Bradley was wearing a pair of pink skinny jeans with sky-blue boat shoes—no socks—and a matching blue sweater with fluffy clouds stuck to it.No sunshine today, probably because he was still hung-over.

“I can put together my own disguise,” she said.“Do you have a wig I can borrow?”

“Yes, but I’ll help because I’m theexpert.”

Before she could argue, my phone rang.Naz.I beamed him through to the screen on the wall.

“Is this a good time?”he asked.

“Depends.If you’ve got a lead for us, then it’s a good time.If you’re calling to shoot the breeze, then no, it definitely isn’t.”

“It might be a lead, or it might be a dead end.”He sipped something turquoise from a glass and grimaced.Another fad diet?“You asked me to take a look at Yuma Loslov?For connections to California?”

“You found one?”

“I’m sending a photo to your encrypted mailbox.I don’t have a name yet, but there are rumours the girl is a daughter.”

“And how is she connected to California?”

“You’ll see.”

Thirty seconds later, I did indeed see.We all saw.We saw Yuma Loslov grinning for the camera beside the Golden Gate Bridge, his arm around a pretty blonde.In this picture, he was a decade or so younger, the furrows that creased his forehead less pronounced than in the mugshots Mack had dug out for us.

“She must have inherited her mama’s looks.”Naz chuckled to himself.“My source believes the girl’s mother is American.Want me to keep digging for the name?”

“No need.Her name is Miroslava Novikova, and she works at the Russian Consulate Field Office in Huntington Beach.”Finally, we had our link between Timonenko and Loslov.“But I do want you to keep digging into a man named Ilya Molotov.Also known as Six, probably known by a hundred other aliases too.”

“You won’t find him under his real name,” Darya muttered.“Just like you won’t find me under mine.”

“But he’s still active, and he has to be touting for business somehow.He doesn’t have Zacharov pimping him out anymore.Which means there’s a trail back to him, although I don’t doubt it’s well-hidden.”

“Six?How many of these people are left?”

“Only one more, but his name hasn’t come up in connection with this case.”

Yet.Right now, I was ruling nothing out.

“Sure, I’ll ask around, but very carefully.”

“I appreciate it.”

Naz’s pale face faded to a black dot in the middle of the screen, and I felt the familiar buzz as I saw the pieces slotting into place.Thiswas why I did this job.Because of the rush that came from solving puzzles and conquering challenges and generally achieving the difficult if not downright impossible.We were getting closer to the Marshmallow.I could practically smell the s’mores.

But we were also at a disadvantage.If Ana and Darya had to back off, I’d need more manpower, but in what form?That depended on our next steps.

“Where were we?Point number three: assuming Ilya is at the property, we need to set up a surveillance post, which leads us to point four: work out who else is in the house in Naples.”

“Would they really plan a party if the weapon was in there?”Alex asked.“Wouldn’t that be a risk?”

Darya picked up one of the glasses of OJ that Bradley had brought in and took a tentative sip.What, did she think he’d drugged it?The worst thing he’d do would be to add extra vitamins, and he’d only do that if Toby put him up to it.

“Yes, it’s a risk, but absolutely Ilya would take it.Hell, he’d probably get a kick out of it too.He assumes that he’s smarter than those around him, and usually, he’s correct.He’s arrogant, but he isn’t stupid.And as long as he monitors the guests, it’s also a shrewd move.Who on earth would look for a secret weapon at a party full of luvvies?”

“And besides,” Ana continued, “it makes it easier for him to move the weapon if he needs to.All he has to do is load it into a truck for Ilya’s Party Supplies and drive it wherever he pleases.”

They were both right.Unfortunately.

“Which brings us nicely to point five: if we conclude the weapon could be at the house, we’ll have to find a way to get in there and search for it and—point six—retrieve it.”

I expected a snarky comment from Darya, but it didn’t come.She understood the stakes, didn’t she?We couldn’t let the Marshmallow stay in the wrong hands.Together, the six of us came up with a plan—Bradley would give Darya a makeover, and she’d spend a few hours in Long Beach with Alex, scouting out the area, although we weren’t expecting much to come from the evening.It was too dark.But maybe we’d get lucky and Ilya would decide to head out for pizza.Stranger things had happened.

As Darya followed Bradley out the door, she leaned in close.

“I should have charged ten thousand a day.”

“Yeah, you should.I’d have paid it.”

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