Without waiting for permission, Jennifer opened the case and pulled out the plastic wrapped puzzle box. She set it on the table and scooted it across to him."This makes us even," she said.Uwe Magness held up his hand and reached for the box with the other. The silent command was clear. She was to wait.Jennifer grit her teeth and watched.Uwe pulled out a pair of white gloves before unwrapping the box and removing it from the plastic. He turned the box over in his hands."Remarkable," he muttered."Okay. We're squared up. I'm going," she said."Not so fast." Bain turned toward her.The other shoe was about to drop.She'd felt this impending threat ever since they first met with Uwe Magness. It had been clear there was a larger scheme in the works, only she hadn't seen it. Not yet. And she still didn't."We made a deal. It's done. I'm leaving," she said in cold, certain terms.Uwe set the box aside, picked up the tablet and tapped the screen. He turned it toward
Sunday. Luxe Ibiza Hostel, Cala Gració, Ibiza.ORION PACED THE OFFICE. He'd given up the pretense of working about ten minutes after their last phone call. That was half an hour ago. He knew that Jennifer might have to go to a secondary location or wait for an authenticity check. There were hoops to jump through. He understood that took time and this wasn't likely to be a straight forward exchange situation.It didn't stop him from worrying.He should have tailed her, stayed at a safe distance. Something.The not knowing was the worst.For all he knew, Bain had tried something.Orion stared out of the window behind his desk and chewed his thumbnail.As a kid, it used to be his terrible habit. He'd only broken it when he'd started SEAL training. Exhaustion was enough of a reason to stop. Now, he just needed to do something.Where was she?There was GPS on the car.He whirled toward the desk and paused. Memories of last night smacked him in the face. For a moment h
Monday.IVY: HEY @JENNIFER?Ivy: Anyone seen her on? Heard from her?Lumen: No, what's up?Ivy: Not sureLumen: ?Merida: I can't say anything.Lumen: Don't give us that line!Merida: What's going on @Ivy?Ivy: Uh, Orion reached out.Sage: Hottie Orion?Lumen: That's the one. He's bad news.Merida: I see. Thanks for telling me.Haley: What's going on?Sage: From what I gather, shit is going down with Jennifer, but no one knows what.Prudence: Yeah, I was trying to put it all together.Ivy: He sounded worried.Lumen: I am worried though.Lumen: She's been quiet.Merida: Give her some time.Sage: To do what?Sage: Sounds to me like something went down.Lumen: We don't ignore one of our own @Merida.Ivy: Yeah. What the hell?Merida: Sorry, I can't say anything else.***Monday. Luxe Ibiza Hostel, Cala Gració, Ibiza.ORION SAT ON THE little sofa in Jennifer's bunkroom. He ran his thumb over the densely knit fabric of a sweat
Monday. Unknown. Rijeka, Croatia.JENNIFER LOWERED HERSELF DOWN onto the wide, stone outcrop just under her bedroom window. It was a test of her upper body strength. Fuck. She'd thought she was in decent enough shape, but not enough for this bullshit.She'd worked out this approach earlier when moving the furniture around. Five stories up, one mishap, a slip or even a miscalculation, and things could be dangerous. She'd be a smear on the concrete below. There just hadn't been time to shift the furniture yet again.The rundown building on the outskirts of the port town was some sort of a hub for Uwe's criminal activity. She'd seen quite a few large paintings on the second floor. The colorful blobs on the canvas didn't strike her as anything noteworthy, but then again she didn't have an eye for art.Her arms shook as she slid the window up, then practically fell in.She lifted her head long enough to stare at the furniture braced against the door, then let her body go comple
Friday. Luxe Ibiza Hostel, Cala Gració, Ibiza.ORION STARED AT THE shiny tiles that made up the border to the pool and dragged the broom over them. He could feel Maria's eyes on him. She didn't like the idea of him cleaning. The reality that he'd taken a broom and started tidying up himself was no doubt driving her mad.His entire staff had taken to tip-toeing around him. He'd been extra cautious to not take his piss poor mood out on them, but that didn't stop them from picking up on the signals. He'd caught two servers whispering about him when they hadn't realized he'd been right on the other side of the hanging ivy. He knew he needed to get his act in gear, which was why he was sweeping. It was an activity he could do and not screw up.It seemed like everything he tried lately failed. He just wanted to do one thing that didn't fall apart.Sweeping should be safe.Maria would just have to deal with it. He was trying as best he could right now.Mateo was avoiding him. O
Orion held his breath.Ivy turned to face him. Her expression was solemn, with no attempt at a smile. "Yes."He swallowed."Why don't we sit?" Piers suggested.Orion moved on auto-pilot to the arm chair on the other side of the room.How bad was it? What had happened?"First, can you tell us exactly what happened here?" Lumen asked. "We are still piecing together the puzzle."He nodded. "Ah, okay. About seven weeks ago now, Milan Esposito swapped two imperial eggs. The why of it doesn't matter. What does is that she got caught on camera. The person with that surveillance video waited until Milan and Jennifer were at a house party to send someone to confront them. The guy, Bain Collias, approached Jennifer instead of Milan. Jennifer blew him off, they came home and Bain came by the next day. Again, he confronted Jennifer, only this time he showed her video and sent it to her. We got the story from Milan and after realizing the imperial egg couldn't be returned, we collecti
Sunday. London, UK.JENNIFER DID HER BEST to fuse her body with the door of the car. If she stared out of the window hard enough, she could maybe forget that Bain was driving and Uwe was beside her.Not likely.She could hope."Any questions?" Uwe asked.His voice felt like a cheese grater on a sunburn. She managed to not flinch at the sound of his voice, but just barely. The back of her thighs were still bruised from Friday when she'd pretended to not grasp her instructions. Either Uwe thought he could beat them into her, or that corporal punishment was the only way to make people learn anything. She'd quickly decided that angering him wasn't a solution."None, sir," she said.No, her best way out was to be a good little soldier, play along and wait for an opportunity to escape. There would be consequences. She fully expected to be on the hook for the theft of the puzzle box. A prison would be better than this.What about Milan? And Orion?Jennifer knew about the
"Lumen?" Jennifer didn't believe her eyes. Not one bit.Lumen's smirk was real.Jennifer covered her mouth with one hand and held onto Lumen's elbow with the other. "Oh my... Oh my God."A brisk knock at the door surprised her. It opened and another, taller woman darted in.Jennifer gaped at the newcomer.The hair was different, and the eyes weren't the right color, but..."Ivy?"The brunette beauty grinned and wrapped her arms around Jennifer. "I should have known I couldn't fool you. We dyed it last night. What do you think?""Oh my..." Jennifer clutched Ivy tight. "What are you doing here? Why? How?""Well." Ivy glanced from Jennifer to Lumen. "You kind of had us all worried about you. Then we checked in on Orion and he was about to lose his damn mind. So, here we are."Jennifer opened and closed her mouth, unsure where to start or what to say.She was so damn grateful to see them, but they couldn't be here. She couldn't allow them to get sucked into her shit.
Three months later. Ibiza.THEY SHOULD HAVE ELOPED.Lumen was ready to throw the silly bouquets into the water, scream at the top of her lungs and jump off the cliff herself. Alone.Jennifer appeared almost instantly. "Have a drink, you look stressed."Lumen considered the beverage. She'd meant to abstain from anything that might make her the least bit emotional until after the wedding, but right now it was just what the doctor ordered. She took the glass and downed the contents in two gulps."Way to chug," Jennifer snickered.Lumen thrust the glass back at her. "You. Shut it."Prudence burst in through the curtain, one sheer panel sticking to her bun of braids.Lumen jumped, startled by the sudden appearance. "Shit, what?""It happened," Prudence blurted.Lumen pressed her hand to her chest. "What happened? What now? Fucking hell, people. This is a wedding not... I don't know. What?"Prudence cringed. "I should have thought about this. You might not want to hear before th
Sunday. Hotel, Boa Vista, Brazil.MAX WAS WAITING WITH a plate the moment Lumen appeared. Jennifer and Prudence both glared at him, but he managed to get Lumen's attention and steer her into the bedroom where their things had been left. He could tell that Lumen was exhausted and in more pain than she wanted to admit. Besides, she'd never been much for messy emotions and she'd already told him he loved her today. That alone would leave Lumen wanting to avoid groups."Oh, thank you." She settled on the edge of the bed and grimaced."You seemed to be kind of done."Lumen chuckled. "You still know me so well."Max offered her the sandwich. He wished he could give her more, but it was what was on hand for now.The desire to touch her was driving him crazy, but he didn't dare. Instead he retreated to the one arm chair in the room and sat at a safe distance. She might have forgiven him for today, but he kept replaying it and all the moments he should have acted differently.Maybe he
Sunday. Hospital, Boa Vista, Brazil.LUMEN WASN'T SURE WHAT she liked the least, the pain or the way all the drugs made it feel as though she were moving through quicksand. Or that gel stuff the kids liked playing with.She sighed, only to be reminded that her ribs were. Not broken, so that was a relief. The fractures were tiny, hairline cracks, so in the scope of things it was nearly a best case situation. Didn't change the fact that right now she hurt like hell.A nurse with kind eyes stepped behind the curtain. She'd been working double time considering her grasp of English was the best of those currently working. "The doctor says you're good to go.""Thanks. Thank you. For everything. You've been a great help.""I chose the right time to come home, didn't I?" The nurse chuckled. "Do you want me to let your husband come back?"Husband.Lumen swallowed.In the confusion of arriving at the hospital, it had been easy to just let people draw the conclusion. Now, after Lumen ha
Sunday. Creed of Truth Sanctuary, Brazil.LUMEN FELT AS THOUGH she were being grilled alive lying in the bed of the pickup with the afternoon sun baking her. Her shoulder throbbed and if she breathed too deeply her ribs hurt. She didn't think they were broken. Fractured or bruised, but not broken. That was good.Thomas spat curses as he wrestled with the newly flat tire."Hurry up," Blair demanded.Lumen winced.That wasn't going to go over well."What did you say to me?" Thomas said in a dangerous tone.There was a heavy thud.Lumen imagined Thomas dropping the tire iron as he rose to direct his wrath at a new target."They're going to find us. We need to get clear of here," Blair said."What the fuck do you think I'm doing?""God, I never should have listened to you.""If it weren't for me, you'd be locked in your daddy's pleasure palace waiting on him to stick you with a needle and turn you into a good little daughter.""Shut up!" Blair roared. "Why don'
Sunday. Creed of Truth Sanctuary, Brazil.THE DRAMA AT THE front gate dragged on.Max ground his teeth.They couldn't take off down the road without raising questions. They were stuck here, with all eyes on them, until someone made a move.He prayed Lumen was safe, that she could last a little longer."Canteens are full," Prudence said from the back of the SUV."Did we find sunblock? These meat heads won't think about that until it's too late," Jennifer said."Yeah, there's some." Prudence shifted behind Max. "Everything's ready. How's it looking out there?""The same," Vito replied. It was pretty much the only thing he'd said since indicating he would be going with them on this adventure.That left Brett and three other Aegis Group guys to guard Nabanita and her family. Those weren't great numbers given the situation, but Max was willing to believe they could hold their own."Have we heard from Zain?" Max asked."Nothing yet," Prudence replied.Max pulled ou
Sunday. Creed of Truth Sanctuary, Brazil.LUMEN SAT ON THE bottom bunk watching the only door to the room, but it was still shut.Had Blair really not realized her phone was missing? Was something else going on?"Breakfast should have come by now," Buzz said for at least the fifth time, if not more. "Something's not right."That last bit was new.She turned her head and watched him pacing, eyes on the door like hers."Hey?" she said. "It's going to be okay.""You don't know that.""I do."She still hadn't told him what she'd done, though he'd seen. He had to have seen.He kept pacing, not listening to her at all.Poor kid, he'd been locked up for over a week from the sound of things. She doubted he'd had a lot of company."What's their reasoning keeping you locked up like this?" she asked to get him out of his own head."I don't know," Buzz said."Okay, well, what have they said? What do you know?""Nothing. I know nothing, okay?""I see."He sighed
Sunday. Creed of Truth Sanctuary, Brazil.MAX SAT IN THE backseat of another SUV and watched as Nabanita and William once more tried to reason with the idiots at the gate.This time, however, there hadn't been just an attendant at the gate. They'd been met with four armed men who appeared to be from Sonny's personal guard. Just how many of them were there? A truck was parked in front of the entrance. There was no way to easily drive in.This was all Zain's plan.Max didn't pretend to understand the maneuvers, only that they were testing the waters today. Dangling Nabanita and William as a decoy was their aim."Think they've brought up the book?" Jennifer asked."If I were them I'd be sweating bullets," Prudence muttered.Orion glanced back and caught Max's eye.He looked away quickly. The last thing he wanted to do right now was talk."Notice anything off that we might not?" Orion asked.Max sighed and looked back at the gate. "Thomas isn't out there this time. H
Sunday. Creed of Truth Sanctuary, Brazil.LUMEN LAY ON THE top bunk staring at the ceiling. Buzz had fallen asleep again finally.They'd spent most of the night doing that. Talking, drifting off into silence and sleeping a bit. Eventually one of them would wake up, then the other and it began again.He'd seemed to understand without her needing to say it that there were some things they just couldn't talk about.Buzz was a perceptive kid.Like his sister.It killed Lumen that they needed to be this grown up.Kids should get to be kids.She prayed Max and Aspen were safe, that they'd gotten to the others and were hatching some mad scheme. Lumen had no doubt that the girls wouldn't rest until she was sprung from this prison. Unlike Jennifer, Lumen knew the lengths her coworkers and friends would go to for one of their own. She'd never doubted the resolve of those she worked with. Aegis Group had become her family in a way.The real question was, how long would it tak
Sunday. Safe House, Boa Vista, Brazil.THE GRAY DAWN BROKE on the horizon as Max and the others rolled through the front gate of the safe house. He eyed the surveillance men. They were mostly the same ones he'd seen before he'd left. Still the battle hardened faces of men who knew what they were doing.Which meant it was Sonny keeping an eye on them and bypassing Thomas.Max hadn't seen it until the very end, but there was a dividing line between Thomas and Sonny. The two didn't always know what the other was doing.Fuck all of them.Vito pulled the SUV into the garage where they could safely unload. They needed to keep Max and Aspen's whereabouts under wraps for as long as possible.It had taken them hours to land and get back. More time than he'd have thought necessary. All of which meant that Lumen was still back there. Alone. Going through who knew what.Max stuffed all the frustration down inside of him as he opened the SUV door and helped Aspen out. She'd held he