Like I said, I like blondes.
Most men do.
Not McEwen. Slys into redheads with green eyes. Heard from him and Eva?
No. Not yet, but Im confident that when the final lab reports are in, and were able to confirm the Chameleons identity, Sly and Eva will suddenly surface from whatever Greek island theyre sunning themselves on.
Theyre not fishing?
Merrick snorted. Would you be fishing if you were with a woman who looked like Eva Creon?
Its true. Sly hooked a beautiful femme.
Are you sure you dont want Q?
Like Eva, Nadja Stefn has it all. But that doesnt mean I want to carry around a spring-loaded cock day and night on this mission.
I see your point. Still, I was sure you were going to choose Polaxs candy queen.
Bjorn kept walking. This was for the best, he told himself. He needed to focus on Holic and the file.
The brunette is Polaxs recommendation. Shes pretty, he said as if saying it out loud would convince him that hed made the right decision.
Have you asked yourself why Polax wants Lenova on this mission? Or maybe a better question is, why does he want his cotton-candy queen left behind? He seemed awfully taken with his bedroom assassin. Maybe hes got something going with her.
Hes not her type, Bjorn said, then wished he hadnt spoken so freely. Uh, hes too short, dont you think?
Merrick raised a gray eyebrow. Short? What does that have to do with it?
Youre right, it doesnt.
If Polax isnt screwing her, he wants to.
We cant fault him if hes got a sweet tooth, Bjorn said, using Polaxs own words.
Someone else who has a sweet
tooth is Holic Reznik. I cant imagine Holic walking away from the candy queen. Q is definitely a better choice bait-wise.
Bjorn couldnt argue with that. Holic would be drooling. What man wouldnt be? To deny that their night in Vienna haunted him would be a lie. And thats why sharing a mission with the woman responsible for the picture-album of memories hed been carrying around for five years would be crazy.
Emotional baggage had no place on a field mission. It was the quickest way he knew of to get your ass fried. And once it was fried, the mission usually ended up in the toilet being flushed, along with the agent assigned to it.
Being fried and flushed held no appeal. He had gotten used to certain things in his lifehot food, clean air to breathe and a bed of his own. The vital three is what he called them.
No room for error. Nadja was out and Pasha Lenova was in.
He needed a kick-ass partner with an ugly attitude, not a ball-handler with velvet-soft hands. A natural blonde, no less, with amazing breasts and hug-me-tight thoroughbred legs.
There was also that lie he had told in Vienna that needed to be skirted. Hed told her he was the owner of a shipping company in Denmark.
Not a complete lie. He had worked on the docks as a boy, and he had lived in Denmark. But as far as owning anything He hadnt owned more than the clothes on his back for the first eighteen years of his life.
As Merrick turned left and headed for the conclave, Bjorn turned right and started back to the Quest commanders office. Over his shoulder, he said, Tell Polax that Lenova better be everything he claims she is. Tell him I want her at the airport at midnight. And tell Agent Stefn, Bjorn Odell thanks her for the peep show. It was a pleasure.
Bjorn was in Polaxs office staring at monitor C, wondering why the chair that Nadja had occupied minutes ago was now empty, when the door swung open. He turned, expecting to see one of Polaxs flunkies enter, but it was Nadja.
Hed just sat down, and now he eased back up and stood as she kicked the door closed and locked it. She had her Springfield in her hand and it was aimed at his chest.
He said, This is a surprise.
Somehow I find that hard to believe, Agent Odell. Bjorn Hmm I never really thought you looked like a Lars. She glanced at the wall monitors that could disappear into the wall at the flick of a switch. Surveillance cameras in the elevator. I should have suspected as much.
With sound and zoom. If youre curious, even in diffused elevator lighting your ass is still beautiful ten times its natural size.
She digested his words, and Bjorn could tell she was going over in her mind her recent ride into the bowels of the Vysehrad. She had put on quite a show, and she knew it. Im not the enemy, Nadja. Put the gun away.
Why Pasha Lenova?
She had heard him in the hall. That didnt explain why she was there, but it did explain her question. Polax says shes top-notch.
And Im?
Not an endurance player. Polaxs words. He says he handpicks your missions.
So its all about endurance with you, then. Are you saying I lack stamina? Did I lag behind in Viennaat any time?
She never blinkednot a single eyelash flutteredeven though she knew that her question would require two separate answers.
He glanced back at monitor three. Merrick and Polax had joined the other two women, and Polax was asking Casmir Balasi where Q was.
Her answer was, out getting coffee.
Bjorn turned back to face her.
It looks like you forgot the coffee. He wondered how much of his conversation with Merrick shed overheard.