Hell was the name of a small village near Vaernes, and not surprisingly, the festival took advantage of the catchy name.
Before Nils could ask her any blues-related questions,she asked him what she’d been wanting to ask since he sat down. “I wonder if you crossed paths with him while he was here?”
It was the same question she’d asked a handful of other soldiers stationed here the past couple nights with no luck. She was trying to be careful, but if this didn’t yield something soon, she was going to have to come up with a way to show the picture to more people without drawing attention to it or herself.
She’d always taken the get-more-bees-with-honey approach to her investigating. In her experience, people didn’t like reporters—especially aggressive ones—and were naturally defensive around her if they thought she was trying to question them or wanted something. She got a lot more just by talking to people and being friendly.
Flirting wasn’t usually part of the repertoire, but with young soldiers it seemed the best way to relate and not seem suspicious. When in Rome...
“Maybe,” Nils said doubtfully. “What’s his name?”
“Brand,” she said, and took out her phone. “I have a picture.”
It was the same photo from the beach zoomed in on his face. She was going to hold it out to show it to him, but Nils took the opportunity to slide onto the bench seat next to her.
Maybe he was more of an operator than she’d given him credit for. He was sitting close enough for their legs to touch. She could feel the muscle of his thigh pressing against hers. He was tall and lean, but not physically overwhelming like—
Stop.
He took the phone, gave it a brief glance, and then looked back with a small frown. “He looks familiar. When was he here?”
Brittany tried to control her excitement, but her heartwas beating so hard she thought he might hear it. “End of May. He didn’t stay very long. But after his description of the area, I knew I had to add it to my itinerary.”
He handed the phone back to her, and the way he was looking at her made her realize he was more savvy than his age suggested. “Yeah, I remember him. He and his friends were only here about a week. They kept to themselves and didn’t mingle—even with their own guys. I assumed they were some kind of Special Forces.”
Brittany acted embarrassed. “I’m not supposed to talk about that.” She bit her lip in an effort not to burst out with a bunch of questions. But with her first confirmation, it wasn’t easy. “I’m impressed that you remember him. Did you talk to him or any of his friends?”
He shook his head. “Not me. As I said, they weren’t interested in meeting the locals, but you do this long enough and you begin to pick out guys like that. Intense, all-business, focused.” He shrugged. “My friend Johan drove them to one of our training facilities. He said they barely spoke two words and their uniforms didn’t have any kind of military branch or unit on them. Just some kind of patch.”
“Johan?” Brittany hoped she didn’t sound too eager, but every bone in her body was screaming“Yes!”If she could get a description of the patch, it could be proof that Team Nine had been here—especially if it matched the new tattoo she’d noticed on John of the trident and net, which she suspected was some kind of unit or platoon badge. “Is he one of your friends over there?”
She motioned to the group of guys who were still standing by the bar. They’d lost interest in Nils’s progress and had concentrated on their own, mingling with some of the women Brittany had noticed earlier.
Nils shook his head. “No. He had a late shift tonight and was just going to hang out at the barrack bar at the garrison tonight.” He leaned in a little closer, and hiseyes fell to her mouth. Uh-oh, he wasn’t going to try to kiss her, was he? He was definitely smoother than she’d thought. “I don’t suppose you have any interest in checking it out? It’s quieter there.”
Definitelysmoother than she thought. His hand was stroking the top of her arm and the strands of dark hair that she’d left loose around her shoulders. Her skin was buzzing, but it wasn’t with awareness.
It almost felt like someone was watching her. She’d had that feeling a few times since arriving, but every time she looked, it wasn’t anything. It was just John making her paranoid.“You don’t know what kind of hornet’s nest you are stirring up....”
Yes, she did. She’d been inside a government cover-up before, but so far the only hornet here was one with eight hands. She’d better watch out or this guy was going to be all over her.
But she couldn’t let the chance go to meet someone else who might recognize or have spoken to her brother.
She debated for a minute. “Okay, but just to go to the bar, right?”
“Right.”
His brilliant smile made those caution signs go way up. “Did you drive?” she asked. He nodded. “Good. I’ll follow you in my rental.”
She felt a lot more relaxed and less claustrophobic when he slid out of the seat next to her and stood. She also felt less like she was under a microscope, but she looked around all the same. No one was paying attention to them.
“Where did you park?” he asked.
“In the back.” The lot had been packed by the time she arrived. “I’ll drive around and meet you by the entrance.”
He told her the model of the car, and they walked out the front door. She pretended not to notice the knowing smirks on a few of his friends’ faces.
When they got outside, she could see that the skies had darkened with rain. She pulled out her travel umbrella and told him she would see him in a few minutes.
