My mind threw every nightmare at me: Brooke stumbling upon Fenix agents preparing the Greek Fire deployment; thedeadly liquid spraying across her skin; or worse, her captured, used as leverage?—
Focus!
But I couldn’t. Not when it was Brooke who’d come in alone.
I’d told her to wait, goddammit. The woman never listened. No, she used to listen. Six years ago, she’d listened to me. But it had been her government-issued responsibility to listen to me.
But she was also twenty-five at the time. She was young.
Câlisse,wewere young.
The shed finally came into view, and I slowed to a jog, suddenly conscious of both the curious stares from nearby tourists and the fact that carrying a sidearm was illegal in Italy. If I were caught not just possessing one, but concealing one, that would be the end of my looking out for my team.
The door stood ajar. I approached with caution. In a quick mental scan, I mapped potential exits and cover positions before gently pushing the door wider with my foot.
“Buongiorno?” I called, using as neutral a word as possible.
“We’re in here, Rav,” came her immediate reply.
My heart gave a thunderous beat of relief, so intense I had to steady myself against the doorframe. She was all right.
I stepped inside, blinking to adjust to the dim light.
Brooke—in a long blonde wig and horn-rimmed glasses—stood bent over a workbench with Percival beside her, both studying the screen of a smartphone. She looked up with a crooked smile. “That was fast.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” The words burst out before I could stop them. “I told you to wait for backup.”
“I had backup,” she said, gesturing to Percival. “The entire Pendragon team is inside the park.”
Percival nodded. “Bobcat and three others are within thirty seconds of this position.”
I blinked, realizing I hadn’t spotted a single one. “Your whole team is here?”
“Four agents plus Brooke and me,” Percival said. They hadn’t brought any new members after losing two in Mnemis. “Ready to move at a moment’s notice.”
Brooke’s lips quirked. “Look at that, Percy. It appears the team really is keeping things low-key for once.”
Her casual tone only fueled my frustration, and I hissed, “Fenix knows the Pendragon team, Brooke. This was a risk.”
She slid the glasses down her nose to look over the top rims at me. “I came in separately. They wouldn’t have recognized me, so I’m safe. Percival and the guys are the only ones who are exposed.”
“You should have waited.”
“There wasn’t time,” she countered, pushing the glasses back up and turning Malcolm’s phone to face me. “Will’s drone is already in the tunnels.”
I moved closer, recognizing the feed from one of Will’s micro-drones. The small device navigated the narrow passages with remarkable precision.
“Will’s piloting remotely?” I asked, forcing my brain back to the mission.
“I am,” came Will’s voice from the phone. “She patched me into Malcolm’s phone on the way in.”
Through the drone’s camera, we could all see the centuries-old stone walls of the drainage system. The feed was impressively clear despite the low-light conditions.
“There,” Percival pointed to a moving shape ahead. “Mario’s already in position.”
The archaeologist moved through the tunnel, whistling and occasionally muttering to himself in Italian. Beyond him, partially obscured by shadow, was the robot dog.
“He’s actually doing a good job of looking like he’s down there for work,” Brooke said.
