Page 70 of Wicked Ambition

KW smirked, looking amused. No doubt because Oz had insisted on meeting. “Here’s where it gets more interesting. She asked Mother Teresita if she could do some research in the convent’s library.”

“You think she found something out and wanted to verify?”

“Yeah, it’s the only thing that makes sense, right? The Nerd is an archivist. She’s better at research than most other people, and she already went through all the documents in the convent from that time.”

“Would someone please fill me in?”

KW’s gesture made it clear this was Oz’s call. “You remember who the Nerd is?”

Ayla’s brows furrowed for a moment as she thought about it. “BD’s fiancée, right?”

“Right. She works as an archivist, and she reports to Archer. One of the locations where she did some research was the convent’s library. KW and I are assuming that if your twin asked to work in the library, too, that she discovered something.”

“Or that Archer asked her to either confirm some fact or to get more intel about something,” KW added.

“What kind of something?”

Oz shook his head. “That’s a question for Archer.”

“Call him. It might help us find Io.”

“Pollita, I don’t have his number.”

Ayla’s gaze went to KW.

“I can’t contact him either.”

Oz knew that wasn’t the truth. KW was going to work for Archer when his enlistment was up. There was no way he didn’t have a phone number. His teammate might be an occasional pain in the ass who liked to stir the pot, but he was backing Oz up.

Winter pointed toward the pionono. “Are either of you going to eat that?”

A quick glance at Ayla gave Oz the answer. “You can have it,” he said. As KW took the plate, Oz said, “BD has Archer’s number, and we need to stay away from him and the house.”

“What about Kyle? Can’t he ask BD for the number? Then we could meet him again and get it.”

KW froze, spoon in his mouth. He quickly finished his bite of pastry. “No. I’m being followed every time I leave the convent. Shaking these dudes isn’t easy. Just getting here today without being tailed took a while. We can’t meet again. It’s too risky for you.”

Ayla looked at him and raised her brows. Oz said, “The men following KW work for an arms dealer and they have the convent surrounded. He’s not lying about the risk.”

Both her hands clutched the water bottle. “If those men are surrounding the convent, would they have followed Io after she left last week?”

“It’s possible.” Not only possible, it was probable.

“And you’re just telling me now?” Ayla shook her head and her voice was a near whisper when she said, “They could have grabbed my sister.”

“I knew about the men around the convent, and I doubt they’re involved in Iona going missing.”

“You can’t be sure of that. The last time we know she was fine was when Kyle saw her last Wednesday, the day she missed her check-in with Archer. How can you just assume those men had nothing to do with her disappearance?” Her hands had such a tight grip on the water bottle, Oz was surprised the cap didn’t pop off.

“Baggs investigated the possibility. He didn’t find anything.” That didn’t seem to reassure Ayla. “Pollita, you know how serious Baggs is about finding Iona. You know he didn’t doa half-assed job of checking it out. He’s still out every night, searching. Trust me.”

“I do.” Ayla relaxed her grip on the bottle. “This is getting scarier and scarier. I didn’t think we’d still be looking for her five days after I arrived.”

“I know, Pollita. We’ll find her.”

Ayla’s eyes filled with tears, but none fell. “It just feels like you and I haven’t accomplished much. We should be farther along with the search.”

A shiver traveled down Oz’s spine. If Ayla figured out he was trying to keep her out of harm’s way while some of his team looked for her twin, she wouldn’t trust him anymore. He needed to be careful, or their relationship could crash and burn.

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