Page 7 of Croatia Collateral

She smiled at the other Israeli woman. “I knew the minute I saw the photos of Sasha Royce.”

“And I knew we had to test the theory,” Giva said.

Hammer gave Dax a crooked grin. “It was Giva’s idea to meet up with you at the bar instead of you coming straight here. Dmytro put the word out to the dark web that Evan Maas would meet his current woman, Sasha, at a bar in Zurich tonight incognito, without his usual bodyguards.”

“It paid off,” Giva said. “A couple of goons jumped us on our way out.”

Hammer’s eyes rounded. “Did they?”

Giva nodded. “We handled it. But your boy here was too easily led by the red dress. Got right into the car with a stranger.”

Dax glared at her. “You’d just taken down a gunman and helped me escape.”

Jasmine chuckled. “Sounds like Giva. We liked to call her Giva the Diva when we worked together in the Israeli Defense Force. She had a knack for creating drama.”

Giva shrugged. “Even if he wasn’t gullible, your man isn’t right for the assignment. He’s too rough around the edges, unrefined and gauche to be mistaken for Evan Maas.”

“Is that what the mission is?” Dax asked. “I’m to masquerade as this rich dude with Miss Haviv as my girlfriend?” He shook his head. “I know nothing about Maas, his holdings and his relationship with the other members of this so-called Nexus Collective.”

“We have a week to bring you up to speed,” Hammer said. “Our computer team?—”

“Code for hackers,” a young woman with purple hair and multiple piercings in her ears, who didn’t look like she was out of her teens, rose from a computer console. She tipped her head toward Dmytro. “The old man and I have pulled everything we can find about Maas, his holdings and his connections with the people invited to this meeting of the rich and powerful.”

“Rumor has it they’re tired of how governments are running their portions of the world and want to change it for the better,” Hammer said. “Not for the people of the world, but for their own interests, to include increasing their own coffers.”

“In effect,” Jasmine said, “pitting countries against each other to increase military and reconstruction spending.”

Dax frowned. “They can do that?”

“They’re the rich and powerful,” Giva said. “They have their government leaders in their back pockets, funding their re-elections or military coups.”

“All you two have to do is find out what they’re planning,” Hammer said. “Report back to us, and we’ll devise a plan to head it off before they start World War III.”

Dax snorted. “I thought I was coming to work as a bodyguard. You’re talking espionage, the underworld and deadly liaisons.”

Giva cocked one of her brows. “Does that frighten you, boy?”

His gaze met hers, his eyes narrowing. “If you’re not even a little scared, you’re a fool.” He turned to Hammer. “I’m in.”

Giva’s eyes widened before she quickly contained her shock. “I’m not sure you can learn all you need to know in one week.”

“Lady, don’t underestimate me,” he said, his lips thinning. “I’m a fucking sponge.”

“Good,” she said. “You’ll need to be for us to pull it off.”

Dax turned away from her to face Hammer. “What’s your plan to keep Maas and his girlfriend away from the meeting?”

Hammer grinned. “We intercepted the invitation. We have it on good authority?—”

“Dark web,” the purple-haired woman said.

Hammer nodded. “Maas is on a personal hiatus to one of his islands. Mega-star Sadie McClain and her husband are vacationing with Maas and his girlfriend with the express directive that they do so off-grid. No paparazzi, phones or internet for two whole weeks. So, we have one week of prep and one week of the meeting of the Nexus Collective to get the information we need.”

“Why are you bringing me into this so late?” Dax asked. “

Hammer held his hands out, palms up. “We only got wind of this two days ago. Dmytro happened to be surfing the dark web when he found information on a meeting of the Nexus Collective.” Hammer nodded toward Dmytro.

Dmytro’s brow twisted. “Curious, I followed the thread down the rabbit hole.” He shook his head. “The displaced Russian oligarchs were tired of having their assets frozen, and certain nation leaders weren’t acting the way they thought they should to free their funds. The rumors had it they were planning something big that would impact the world. The phrase World War III was thrown around.”

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