Page 34 of Dark Soul

They raised their glasses, looking each other in the eye as they did so. And in that instant, Dark realized how much he’d missed having a team. He didn’t regret the actions that had ended his military career. He’d done what needed to be done to protect his team and the local community. He’d known there would be a price to pay, and he’d been okay with paying it. But here, now, he realized how much he’d missed the camaraderie—how much he’d missed this feeling of … belonging.

Even if it’s tenuous as fuck, in this case.

Dark’s phone rang. It was Thorne.

“Dark,” he said.

“That restaurant has a great wine cellar. Don’t get carried away.”

“Jesus, are you following us now, Thorne?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. Pascale told me where you were.”

“Fine. Here we are. Is that all you wanted? To check up on us?”

Thorne’s voice went serious. “There’s been another email exchange. One of our Iranian friends is buying a plane ticket.”

“A plane ticket? Is he coming here?”

“We’re going to need Rogue to help us figure that out. But don’t do anything. If the Iranians are coming here, we need to wait.”

Great.

The plot thickens.

“Any luck getting close to the nanny?”

“She’s the boy’s tutor,” Dark said automatically, but Thorne didn’t pick up on the distinction. “I’m still working on that.”

“Good. Stay close to her. She may be our ticket into the house.”

Dark’s stomach heaved at the thought of using Alexia like that, but he didn’t say anything.

“I’ll let the guys know,” he said, finishing the call.

Four pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly, the cheese pots forgotten.

“Thorne’s analysts picked up some additional insight on the Iranians,” Dark summarized quickly. “It looks like one of them may be heading this way.”

“He’ll have to get a visa. That’ll take time,” Griffin said thoughtfully.

“We’re going to need you to look into it, Rogue.”

The man nodded. “I’ll get on that tonight.”

“Not tonight,” Dark said firmly. “Tomorrow.” He turned to look at Slate. “Is that wine you ordered expensive, Slate?” Dark asked. “Let’s order a couple more bottles.”

“Now you’re talking, boss, now you’re talking,” Slate said. “To the soon-to-be-fractured friendship between Kvyat and the Iranians,” he added, raising his half-full glass and draining it in one large gulp.

13

* * *

Dark

“She’s leaving the house on foot, Dark.” Slate’s voice was loud and clear on the earpiece, as if he were standing right next to him, rather than up in the hills beyond the house.

Dark wasn’t worried that anybody would see Slate. He knew the Navy SEAL would remain in position for as long as he needed to, only moving when it was safe to do so.