Jigsaw (Black Raven Book 2) by Stella Barcelona Read Free Book Online Page B

we’re in transport, and whenever instructed to do so. The only time you won’t wear the vests is when you’re secured in your hotel rooms.”
    Mark Small handed Sam her vest. The weight of it carried a reality that chilled her. Before she could voice the question, Eric asked, “Are vests necessary?”
    Zeus glanced at him. “Yes.”
    Had she never been around Zeus, had she not personally witnessed him taking a bullet for her grandfather without hesitating, she’d have argued with his high-handed, imperious style.
    He glanced at her. “Put the vest on and let’s go.”
    “We need to have dinner first,” Samantha said, forcing her voice to be low and equally as authoritative as his. “And we need to discuss why we need to leave tonight. We’d prefer to make the move tomorrow morning.”
    “Departure time isn’t up for discussion.” She’d never met another man who could convey so much with so few words, while his expressions and body language filled in the blanks. He remained in the hallway, slightly to the side of the door, suggesting he expected them all to walk out in single file on his order. “No time to eat.”
    She glanced over her shoulder at her team. Charles stood in shocked, open-mouthed silence and Abe met her glance with a puzzled look in his blue eyes and a frown line bisecting his brow. Eric, who was the furthest from her, was focused on Zeus, and he was giving him a slow negative headshake. When she resigned herself to her grandfather’s demand that she have Black Raven protection, she’d given Eric, Abe, and Charles an option to take it or leave it.
    The conversation had taken place as they were focusing on trial exhibits of the metro bombings that were the subject of the Paris ITT proceedings. Abe had been in the States, Eric and Charles had been with her. The grisly photos had acted as persuasion devices more than anything she could have said. Though she had warned Eric that Black Raven transfers could be abrupt, she could tell by his narrow eyes and flushed cheeks that Eric was only now grasping the reality.
    “This is ridiculous,” Eric said. “I didn’t agree to being manhandled. We’ve worked all day. Our dinner was just delivered. Let us eat while we discuss how this will work.”
    “I agree with Eric,” Abe said. “Aside from our preference that we leave in the morning, we were all set to leave at 11:15.”
    “Actually, I’m not sure moving makes sense at all,” Eric said. “This hotel is crawling with security because the judges are here. We’ve got a team composed of marshals and DHS agents.” He shrugged. “Plus, the French military is providing security.”
    “Zeus, if there’s a reason for the urgency, it would be best if you explain it,” Samantha said. Explaining himself wasn’t something he did naturally, but perhaps in a business capacity he’d be more transparent.
    He didn’t hesitate. “Thirty minutes ago the ITT prosecution team from Columbia was leaving a restaurant.” Zeus’s tone was calm and matter of fact, while the faces of the Columbian prosecution team flashed through her mind. “A car bomb detonated as they approached their vehicle. One dead. Two critical.” He glanced at her. “If you had answered your phone when I called, you’d have known this.”
    “Aw, hell,” Eric said, collapsing onto a chair at the dining table.
    Sam turned from Zeus, her attention on the marshals who had been overseeing their protection and who were now hovering near Zeus in the hallway. “Why weren’t we apprised of this?”
    Marshal Robert Smith shook his head. “French authorities are investigating, along with ITT forces.” ITT security forces were made up of law enforcement personnel from the four countries. “We’re not sure yet that the Columbian prosecution team was the target. It happened at a crowded café on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, known to be frequented by American tourists.”
    “The fatality?” she asked.
    Marshal Smith shook his