Page 33 of Wicked Intention

“I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who’s involved except that they have enough power, money, and influence to bring in the presidential brigade. I don’t know what kind of risk Zo is facing. What would you suggest as a plan?”

“Fuck,” Griff muttered. He kept cutting. “There’s nothing on your phone that’s going to lead them to San Isidro or your woman, is there?”

“No,” Finn said slowly. He mentally ran through everything loaded on there again to double-check and repeated, “No. The phone is secure. I spent too many years in Special Forces to take a risk with data. I wish someone would have grabbed it, my keys, and my passport, though, since you’d already orchestrated a rescue.”

“It’ll wipe, right?” Griff kept cutting, ignoring Finn’s mild complaint.

“Three incorrect password attempts, or hooking up a universal key device, will erase everything and brick the cell,” Finn confirmed.

“Good.” A pause, then, “Why’d you have to choose a woman who regularly travels to Puerto Jardin and always seems to be in the middle of a shitstorm? Why couldn’t you have picked someone normal like Ski did?”

Finn nearly choked. His memory flashed back to Lake Tahoe and Langley shooting an assault weapon like a seasoned soldier, and he remembered acting as Ski’s best man when he married Langley on her parents’ multi-million dollar Palm Beach estate. He half-turned in his seat. “Normal? You think Ski’s wife isnormal?”

“Hold still. I’m going to try to even out the mess you made of your hair. And yeah, the hellcat is back home. Where’s your firecracker?”

“With a little luck, safely tucked away at the inn in San Isidro. Andnormalisn’t interesting.”

“Then you haven’t been bored in two years. With the shit going down, odds are she’s not in San Isidro. Where are you going to look then? Does she know you’re on your way?”

“She knows, so she’ll stay in the area. If not around town, then around the ruins.”

“Since she’s probably armed to the teeth by now, how are you going to approach without getting killed? If the situation she’s in is as bad as it looks, she’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”

“I’ll figure it out when I find her.”

“More great planning on your part.”

“Going undercover is mostly improv. I’m used to working things out on the fly.” Griff grunted, paused in his cutting, and then resumed. Little flecks of hair rained down on Finn’s cheeks, and he closed his eyes.

“There,” Griff said after a moment. “Now, you don’t look like a kid who was playing with his mom’s scissors.”

Finn stood and brushed the hair off his shirt and neck. “Thanks. I appreciate the hand.”

“Friends help each other.” Griff shrugged and changedthe subject. “Zo might not recognize you with your hair so short.”

Grabbing the broom and dustpan from the corner, Finn said, “She’ll figure it out.” He started to sweep the mess they left on the floor. “Do you know when we’re going to roll out of here?”

“Sergeant Griffin, I believe Sergeant Lundquist could use some help. Why don’t you find him,” a voice said from the doorway.

“Yes, sir,” Griff said and left to follow orders.

The tone nearly had Finn coming to attention before he remembered he was a civilian. He continued sweeping until he had the floor cleared, and then he emptied the dustpan in the trash. He’d have to clean the sink later after the captain was finished with him.

He put the broom back where he’d found it. “What’s up, BD?”

Captain Nguyen stood, arms crossed over his chest, his expression neutral. Instead of replying, he studied Finn. Involuntarily, Finn straightened. Maybe he should have been more formal. He tried again. “I wanted to thank you, captain, for sending in a team to help me escape. I appreciate the assist.”

The captain waved the gratitude away. “Why don’t we sit down and talk?”

“Yes, sir.” The reserved tone worried Finn. He took the chair indicated, but the captain continued to stare at him even after they were seated.

“You’re supposed to be in LA,” the other man said at last.

“That was the plan, sir.” No response. It was tempting to fill the silence, but that was what the captain was hoping for. Finn was too well-trained and had gone undercover too many times to fall for that trick.

“What changed your plan?” Captain Nguyen asked at last.

“My woman.” The captain arched his eyebrows, wordlessly asking for more details. “I told you when we met inTampa that Zo was in Puerto Jardin, that I was supposed to be with her. She ran into some kind of problem, and no, sir, I don’t know what happened. I landed at LAX when my boss called. He told me Zo was in trouble, and that his admin had booked me on the next flight to Rio Blanco. That’s why I’m here. For Zo, nothing else.”

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