Page 121 of Deep Cover

Leonard Clark was one of the two men we'd brought along. Cole's head of security, Matt Branch, was a short red-headed dude who was more deadly with the French martial art Savate than anyone I'd ever met. He remained in a room near the airport, only ever out of contact by minutes. Cole had told him to carry his phone and go enjoy himself, but I thought Matt would spend his time working out, reading through the news of the day to make sure nothing untoward was heading for Rio (or given it was Rio, more untoward than usual) and keeping in contact with me and the new guys.

Matt didn't look likely to relax at the hotel pool with a drink in hand.

And he was hella pissed with me.

I wasn't completely sure why. I hadn't tried to take his job away. He was in Rio. He really could have seen some sights. He'd have to make his way from the airport to wherever we were as it was, though I did understand that the airport hotel was a fixed location. He had each day's itinerary. He could more easily move from the airport to us than from another location. But we weren't always going to be in the gleaming offices Cole had rented for the meetings.

I got it. Branch was dedicated. And he was angry at being on the outside. But he got it. I was eye candy. I could hang on Cole's arm and look like a rich guy's piece. The fact that my own piece was a Glock and my backup a Smith & Wesson M&P just made me useful eye candy.

It felt good to be working.

It felt wonderful to only be doing surveillance as we took in the iconic sights. By the time you finally get to somewhere like Rio, a million images are already in memory. The iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, so much more startling in real life than in the photos. I'd seen how many bird's eye views of the thing? All vertigo inducing images but looking up at it was just as impressive. There were beaches I never wanted to leave and national parks full of birds and jungle vegetation. The air was soft, warm and wet and there was more food than fish and Cole didn't monitor what I ate.

For two days, I was on vacation with a strange pack of people I didn't know. Kind of like choosing to go on a tour with luxury accommodations but a bunch of strangers for company.

Sometimes life is officially strange.

And then it was time to go to work.

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