Page 30 of Six
“No.”
Cyn arched a brow but didn’t say anything. Instead, she reached into her wine refrigerator and pulled out a second bottle. “You’ll need a ride home if you drink that,” Cyn pointed out, unnecessarily, as she popped the cork on the second bottle.
“I’ll walk,” Six replied.
“He got to you, didn’t he?” Cyn asked quietly. Joe and Gavin had taken their beers and were standing on the patio looking out on the ocean.
“Gavin and I aren’t you and Joe,” Six said, pinning her friend with a look. Cyn and Joe had one of those easy kinds of relationships that were foreign to Six. They had their spats and little fights, what couples didn’t? But they also shared their lives and their space with remarkable ease. Six always hated the analogies that referred to couples as “two halves” or “pieces of a puzzle” because it made it sound like the individuals weren’t whole people without the other. But in the case of Cyn and Joe, it was hard not to think of them as puzzle pieces, because theyfit.
She and Gavin didn’t fit and even if they could, she didn’t want that. Sure, a tumble or two in bed might be—would probably be—worth it, but she wasn’t going to go there. Not with someone she had to work with for an unknown length of time.
Cyn studied her and looked about to say something but stopped herself when Nora walked back into the kitchen. Without a word, their friend joined them at the island. Since Six still hadn’t relinquished her hold on her bottle, Nora grabbed the second bottle of wine and a glass, then poured herself a healthy dose.
“Candra and Shinta have scars,” Nora said once she’d had a couple sips.
Six knew she should have expected that, but even so, the wine she’d drunk threatened to come back up. “They let you help them?” she asked instead.
Nora nodded as she took another sip. “You must have told them Devil is a doctor?” Six nodded. “Candra had an open wound on her back that wasn’t healing and Abyasa convinced her to let Devil have a look. After that, Shinta admitted to having a few on her inner thighs.” Nora paused and took another sip. “They looked like cigarette burns that had gotten infected.”
Six released her hold on the bottle of wine and traded her glass for a tumbler of cold water. “Did they say anything about what happened to them?”
Nora shook her head. “Not yet, but they know they have to. I think we shouldn’t press tonight, though.”
Six and Cyn nodded.
“Abyasa said they talked to Jeremy and that he recorded their interviews. You didn’t find the interviews in your files?” Nora asked.
“Find what?” Gavin asked as he and Joe joined them at the kitchen island. “Gavin Cooper, by the way,” he said, holding out his hand to Nora.
Six braced herself for an inappropriate innuendo, but she should have known better. It wasNora. Her friend offered a soft smile and took Gavin’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, and thank you for helping today.”
Gavin gave a nod of acknowledgment. “We need to compare files,” he reminded Six.
She bobbed her head. “We can do that later, but my files didn’t have any transcripts. At least not that I found,” she said, then she filled Joe and Gavin in on what the women had told Nora.
“Definitely not in my files, either,” Gavin said. “In fact, my files didn’t contain anything about what he was doing regarding…” he added, with an upward gesture toward where the women were.
“Not a surprise,” Cyn said. “British intelligence would have had no reason to even have Jeremy on their radar. When they pulled the file for you, it would have only been what they could get their hands on quickly.”
“The women are showering and resting. They said they’d be down within the hour,” Devil said, stepping into the kitchen. “Nora told you about their wounds?” Everyone nodded. Devil reached for a glass and the wine bottle. “I now have a few more people to add to my list of those I’d like to get my hands on.”
“Are Candra and Shinta okay?” Six asked.
Devil’s expression darkened as she relayed the results of her cursory exam of the two women’s wounds. As she spoke, Gavin’s expression turned to stone. Perhaps Six had been wrong about him; apparently, he did have emotions other than happy.
When Devil was done, Six turned to Gavin. “Did you learn anything from the two men?”
“I didn’t give the young one a chance to talk, and the slick one had nothing to offer. I did get their fingerprints, though.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit a few buttons. “Hmm,” he said. “Turns out Mr. Saturday Night is Anthony Alberti—which might explain why he was so confused when I called him ‘Tony.’ The other one is…” He pressed a few more buttons. “Albert Vecchio, goes by ‘Vetch.’”
Six had no idea what Gavin meant by his reference to Tony, but before she could ask, her phone dinged. Glancing down, she saw that Gavin had already texted her the files on the two men. Picking up her phone, she automatically forwarded the information to Cyn, Devil, and Nora.
“Cyn and I can look into them,” Joe offered. “It sounds like you two need to compare files.” He pointed between Six and Gavin with the beer bottle he held loosely in his fingers.
“What did you find out about the people in the white SUV?” Six asked Joe, referring to the two men who’d tried to run her off the road. With the events of the last few hours, she’d all but forgotten the original intention of their get together.
“Brothers. William and Harry Oswald.” He held up a hand to stop the commentary that would follow. “And yes, those are their real names. Apparently, their mother was a royal watcher.”
“What else?” Gavin asked.
