Page 17 of Into the Gray Zone

She let out a little smirk, showing me she still had the ability to penetrate my armor, and like clockwork, I got aggravated. I said, “Enough of this shit. What do we have?”

She squinted her eyes and pushed her knee into mine, letting me know that she was kidding and that I was being an ass. Which I was, but it washerfault.

Knuckles said, “Well, she’s not a conquest yet—and probably won’t ever be—but she’s a wealth of information. Everyone on the staff here is on pins and needles because of the billionaire mining guy’s visit. He’s ostensibly here to check out a location for a pre-wedding party, but we know that’s shit. The good news is there’s no indication that Bostwick or the RAW are having a meeting. The staff all think the security upgrades are for the rich dude. The bad news is Nadia knows his visit here is fake.”

“How?”

“Believe it or not, she’s friends with the daughter who’s getting married. They’ve already settled on party locations in the upstate. Jaipur and Agra. She knows he’s not here for a recce.”

“Does she know why he’s here for real? That could be a compromise.”

“We didn’t get that far. I didn’t want to push it.”

I nodded and said, “How is a hostess at a resort in Goa friends with a billionaire’s daughter from Mumbai? That doesn’t make any sense.”

He raised his hands and said, “How would I know? That’s just what she said.”

Which set a little tick in the back of my brain. Something to explore later. I said, “When’s he getting here?”

“Tomorrow. Two days before Bostwick. I guess he’s either really checking out the place for a party or just wanting to relax for a few days on the Indian government dime.”

Nadia showed up with our drinks, setting ours on the table but handing Knuckles his bourbon straight to his hand, saying, “Are you enjoying the stay?”

I had to admit, she was definitely a damn hammer. She’d give Jennifer a run for her money any day. Not that I’d say that out loud.

Knuckles said, “Best ever. Sorry, everyone, this is Nadia. Nadia, this is everyone.”

She smiled, a radiant shine that would captivate every single American male under the age of ninety, and said, “So, do any of you have names that don’t resemble a fish or a part of the hand?”

Jennifer smiled and said, “Not specifically. In our line of work, everyone gets a nickname.”

Nadia scrunched her eyes and said, “Archeological work makes you have nicknames?”

Jennifer glanced at me, clearly wondering if she’d said too much, then said, “It’s more of a company thing than an archeological thing.”

Nadia nodded, then said, “What’s yours?”

Jennifer took a breath and said, “It’s a company thing.”

Nadia waited, and finally Jennifer relented. “It’s Koko.”

Jennifer absolutely hated her callsign, and having to say it out loudto a woman who was genuinely interested must have driven a spike into her self-esteem.

Nadia looked confused, turning to Knuckles. He said, “It’s the talking gorilla. The one that died a couple of years ago.”

If possible, she looked even more confused. She went back to Jennifer and said, “Your nickname is from a gorilla?”

Jennifer said, “It’s complicated. I don’t like it either.”

That caused all of us to laugh, and it clearly made Nadia uncomfortable, thinking we were making fun of her because she was a woman. Which absolutely wasn’t the case. She just didn’t get it.

More sharply than was probably allowed by the Hyatt staff, she said, “If you want anything else, let me know,” and then stalked off.

Knuckles said, “Was that necessary? Jesus. She now thinks I’m a Neanderthal.”

Jennifer chuckled and said, “Sorry about that, but honestly, it’s your fault. You gave me the damn callsign, and now you can live with the repercussions.”

Knuckles said, “Touché, I guess.”

---