Page 17 of Wicked Ambition

“Sorry,” Baggs said, voice polite. “I didn’t expect to walk in and find a woman in the house. I apologize for scaring you, ma’am.”

“Who is that?” Ayla asked, taking a step forward to stand beside him.

“Ayla, this is Baggs. He’s a friend of mine. Baggs, this is Ayla.” He didn’t tack on a claim to her, but Oz issued the warning with his posture and his tone of voice.

Baggs nodded when he heard the name. “Ayla. Nice to meet you.” He looked at Oz. “Has BD been introduced to her?” There was amusement in his teammate’s eyes, the anger completely gone.

Oz shook his head.

“Do you have a handle for her yet?” Baggs asked.

“I call her Pollita.” Baggs was right. They needed to use Ayla’s handle rather than risk exposing her given name, but he wasn’t sure how she would react to his entire team using his nickname for her.

With a grin, his teammate asked, “Little chickie? Are you okay with Pollita, ma’am?”

Ayla’s arm brushed against him as she shrugged. “It’s better than being called scrawny.”

“Yes, ma’am. Pollita it is.” Baggs looked back at Oz. “Why’s your woman in Puerto Jardin?”

Theyour womantold Oz the warning he’d given had been received. Some of the stiffness left his posture. “Her sister is in trouble. She’s down here to find her and get her home.”

All traces of humor disappeared from Baggs’s face. “What kind of trouble?” he asked, an intensity in the question.

“Ayla doesn’t know,” Oz said slowly. “All she knows is her sister needs help.”

Baggs nodded, and as Oz watched, his teammate took it down a few notches. “And you’re down here to look for her. Any ideas on where to start?”

Ayla stayed quiet and Oz debated before he said, “She was sent to photograph the ruins near San Isidro. You know, the ones where Lurch met Vargas a couple weeks back. There’s no guarantee, though, that she left Trujillo.”

“Basically, she could be anywhere in Puerto Jardin.”

“Why are you so interested in my sister?” Ayla didn’t hide her suspicion.

“Friends stick together,” Baggs said, inclining his head toward Oz. “If the Wizard is working with you, I’m going to do everything I can to help him.”

Ayla looked up at him and Oz nodded. There wasn’t one man on their team who wouldn’t rally to help another, and despite Baggs being new, he’d already proven he was a solid teammate. But something felt off.

Baggs shook his head and said, “I’m heading out to grab some food. You want me to bring back something for you and your woman?”

“Yeah, pick up a fewbutifarrasandwiches for us.”

“Will do.” Baggs turned but gave one more apology before leaving. “Sorry again, ma’am. I didn’t mean to make you uneasy.”

He went through the swinging door and an instant later, Oz heard the kitchen door open and then close. Ayla turned to him. “What’s a butifarra sandwich?”

“It’s a pork sandwich with onion, tomato, chili and mustard. If you buy it from the right place, the bread it’s served on can make it a top ten meal. Baggs knows where to get them.” Oz put his hand on the small of Ayla’s back and steered her to the table, but instead of thinking about her, he was puzzling over his teammate’s reaction. Yeah, he could understand the surprise, but there’d been anger at first. It didn’t make sense.

“Your friend is another mercenary?” she asked as she returned to her seat on the bench.

Oz made a motion that was half rolling his shoulders and half shrug. “Let’s discuss your idea about looking for your sister,” he said as he took his seat. A stubborn expression immediately settled on her face, and he sighed.

“You realize that if the Russians are searching for Iona, you’re going to cross paths with them again, right? You didn’t say so, but it’s clear you’re identical twins. How easy is it to tell you apart?”

Ayla’s smile was weak. “Even our parents don’t notice the difference between us.”

That just fucking figured. “Okay. That means the mob is going to think you’re her every time they spot you. They won’t believe you’re her twin, and on the off chance they do, they’ll use you as bait to get your sister out of hiding.”

“She’s not in hiding. She’s in trouble.” Ayla straightened in her seat. “You’re a mercenary. You said you used to work for the drug lord in the past.”

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