Page 18 of Wicked Ambition

“Yes,” he said slowly, drawing out the word.

“It seems as if you don’t have another job yet, so I’ll hire you to help me find Io. How much do you charge?”

Shit.He should have guessed she’d come to this solution. Oz debated his reply. He was on an op, but she was now in imminent danger simply because she looked like her sister. He might be able to convince BD to let him work with Ayla.

The kitchen door opened and he pushed to his feet, turning to face the entrance to the dining room. Speak of the devil. The Big Dog stopped at the threshold, his gaze going between Oz and Ayla.

“Don’t tell me, let me guess,” the captain said, tone dry. “She works for the Paladin League.”

“How did you know that?” Ayla asked.

“The Wizard isn’t the first man who’s brought a woman to the house, and they’veallworked for the Paladin League.”

“Including your fiancée, BD,” Oz pointed out.

“I’m aware of that,” the captain said.

A note in his voice had Oz straightening, barely resisting the urge to come to attention. “Yes, s—” He stopped short before sayingsir. “Understood, BD.”

The Big Dog entered the room, letting the swinging door between the dining room and the kitchen close. “Why did Archer send you to Trujillo?” he asked Ayla.

“BD—”

Ayla spoke over him and she sounded confused. “Archer? I’m a Public Relations Specialist for the Paladin League. I don’t report to Archer. He’s the VP of Strategy and Systems, not Corporate Communications.”

“Public Relations Specialist?” BD’s eyes went to him.

Oz cleared his throat. “Ayla came to Puerto Jardin to look for her sister. She thinks that she’s in trouble.”

Ayla stood and glared at him. “Iknowmy sister is in trouble, and you do, too. You were there when those Russian gangsters forced their way into my hotel room, so don’t talk as if I’m making wild guesses.”

“Ivanov’s men?” BD asked. “Which hotel? Palacio Monasterio?”

“You’re aware Ivanov is staying at the Palacio Monasterio? Why didn’t you tell me? If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have taken Ayla there.”

BD leveled a hard look at him, probably over his tone of voice, and then said, “First, Ivanov isn’t in Trujillo. It’s Petrova and his team. Second, you were working for Vargas when Lurch mentioned that the Russians were staying at the hotel. Since it had no bearing on anything you were doing, there wasn’t a need to tell you. Third, why did Petrova send men to her room?”

Careful to keep his tone respectful, Oz said, “Ayla is an identical twin. The men thought Ayla was her sister. They called her by her name.”

The captain scowled. “What’s her sister doing in Puerto Jardin?”

Oz began his report with the Big Dog’s question before segueing into what happened when Ayla got off the bus, what he knew about Iona and the trouble she was in, and then finished with what had gone down at the hotel.

There was a moment of silence as the captain digested the intel. “Your sister also works for the Paladin League. Did I understand that correctly?”

Ayla nodded.

“And she works for Archer?”

“No. She’s a photojournalist for our donor magazine. That’s part of Corporate Communications. Why would you think?—?”

BD interrupted Ayla. “And the Russian mob wants her.”

That wasn’t a question, but Ayla nodded again. “It seems so. I was trying to hire Oz to help me find Iona when you walked in.”

BD’s gaze returned to his. “The last time Petrova was in town, he was here to buy arms from Torres.”

“I know. I’m wondering if Ayla’s sister didn’t inadvertently learn about a weapons deal.”

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