Grinning, Jonas flipped him the one-finger bird.
“The bastard standing next to him is Trey Williams, Petty Officer First Class, USN. Designator Delta. There are two more members of this team and you already know the Marine.” He said, pointing to Bullseye.
“Now that the introductions are out of the way,” Gideon began. “Lorenzo is right. You need to find Donatella before you leave for the island. I will leave you to it.”
And just like that the line went dead.
When no one said a word, I spoke. “Look, I know you guys are used to working alone and I’m not asking this lightly but I really could use your help. Normally I would go to my family for something like this but I can’t. I don’t want them involved with any of this. So, can you help me or not?”
“Your woman, Donatella, right?” Trey asked.
“Yes.”
“Why was she taken?”
“Because she created something she shouldn’t have. A nano-transmitter thingy that can be injected into a human. I don’t understand most of it but it’s supposed to suppress something inside the body.”
“Suppress what?” Jonas asked, leaning forward.
“Hell, I don’t know,” I said, raking my hands through my hair. “Look, my woman is wicked smart, okay. She’s got degrees coming out of her ass and whatever it is she created,Legionand theDivisionwant it.”
“You’re talking about nanotech,” the young woman named Reagan said, leaning back. Looking at her, she had a smug look on her face, like she knew exactly what I was trying to say. She could be right and I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t understand any of this shit. I just wanted my woman back.
“Your lady, Donatella. Her name wouldn’t happen to be Donatella Marie Stevens, would it?” Reagan asked.
When I nodded, all the men looked at the young woman. She rolled her eyes, then sighed. “You morons really don’t know shit, do you?”
“Speak woman,” Merc sternly said.
“Oh, thank you for your permission, Galahad.”
Merc growled.
“Doctor Donatella Marie Stevens is the leading scientist in nanotechnology. That woman has more degrees than Einstein and Hawking combined. She is like uber smart. The whole scientific community looks to her when they are stumped. Whatever she touches turns to gold.”
“We got it. She’s a nerd,” Declan groaned.
“Anyway, rumor has it that she was working on some top-secret project for the government when all of a sudden it was shut down.”
“Why was it shut down?” Declan asked.
“Because when she realized what the government was using her tech for, she refused to finish. She disappeared, taking everything with her.”
“How long ago was this?”
“About a year or so ago.”
“Right after her parents were murdered,” I whispered.
“What was that?” Merc questioned.
“About a year ago, Donatella’s parents were killed in a car crash. Her sister Penny and my best friend didn’t believe it was an accident. We investigated and found out that their parents had their necks broken before the accident occurred. Then almost two weeks later, I got home to find Penny dead on my oriental rug. Three days later, Donatella shows up in Chicago after her roommate and one other were killed execution-style in her apartment. The next thing I know is that Gideon shows up and we’ve been running ever since until they got their hands on her.”
“Do you have any idea who might have her?” Jonas asked.
“Take your pick. There is Miguel Costa, a low-level drug dealer. He wants us both dead because I took a bat to his son’s head. Then there is her aunt, Sylvia St. James, who is also Gideon’s mother and is not only a bat-shit-crazy sadistic bitch but is also working for who the fuck knows. Then there is theDivisionthemselves.”
“Sylvia St. James is no joke,” Reagan muttered to herself, but it was the way she said it that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. “What do you mean?” I asked.