“Home to North Carolina for me,” Edison announced. “Thought I’d get a little of my sister’s cooking and a few weeks of PT. I’ve got a friend who’s a licensed therapist who can help get this shoulder back in shape.” He lightly lifted his left arm, which was still in a sling.
Will sat up, his expression turning serious. “Definitely get an MRI while you’re in town. Have an orthopedic surgeon look you over to make sure I didn’t miss anything.”
Ed winked at him. “No worries, Doc Will. I’ll be good. You just keep an eye on that one,” he finished with a jerk of his chin to Charlie.
“We’ve got a line on a possible job in Geneva,” Soren broke in. He motioned with his thumb toward West. “We thought we’d drag this one along for the fun of it. We’re worried Charlie isn’t exercising him enough.”
“Asshole,” West muttered, glaring at Soren from across the table.
Alexei leaned forward, a wide grin on his beautiful face. “Come on. It’ll be fun. We promise to find lots of interesting things for you to shoot. We might even invite my uncles. Gabriel gets cranky if he’s not shooting or stabbing enough bad people. He starts using my other uncle as target practice.”
To Kairo’s surprise, West’s scowl softened and a hint of a smile perked up one corner of his mouth. It wasn’t hard to warm to Alexei. The young man was full of boundless energy and mischief. Of course, he was also deadly, ruthless, and scary when he wanted to be, but there was zero doubt in his mind that Alexei would keep Soren and West safe.
“What about you, K? Any plans yet?” Will inquired and Kairo inwardly flinched, wishing the sweet man had forgotten about him completely.
“Back to see my mom, actually,” he admitted with a sigh.
“Where’s that?”
“She’s still in Boston, right?” Ed supplied.
Kairo shook his head. “She’s teaching at the University of Cambridge right now. They’ve got her on loan or something for the next few years.”
“You don’t sound excited…” the doctor hedged cautiously.
Kairo shrugged and forced a grin he didn’t feel. “My last memories of the UK aren’t the best, so I can’t say I’m all that eager to return. And my mom wishes I’d devoted my life to academia rather than what I’m doing now.”
That was a fucking understatement. Dr. Janet Jones was the foremost expert on Egyptology and no matter how many years passed, she still went out of her way to express her disappointment that her only son failed to follow in her footsteps. Her favorite argument was that it was part of his heritage, but she didn’t care to recall that he was more than a bunch of people who had been dead for millennia.
“Should I ask what she thinks you do now?”
Okay, so that brought about a much bigger grin. “IT specialist.”
Will tipped his head into Charlie’s shoulder and groaned loudly while several people around the table laughed.
The trip to see his mom wouldn’t be so bad once she got her needling and harping out of the way. It would be nice to kick back and relax for a bit. And if he got bored, it wouldn’t be hard to jump onto a plane and head off to somewhere more interesting.
After a few more rounds and way too much meat, Kairo stumbled toward the bathroom. The alcohol was definitely starting to make his brain fuzzy, while the most delightful sense of well-being was coursing through his veins. Everything was right in the world at last. Charlie was happy and in love. The team was together. It even sounded like Soren and Alexei were planning to hang out with them for a while.
Kairo finished his business and shuffled out of the bathroom again. It was time to return to the hotel and sleep some of this off. They were driving to Montevideo early in the morning to catch flights to various parts of the world.
As he turned to walk down the narrow hallway to the main seating area of the restaurant, he found his path blocked by a man as big as a mountain. He would have towered over Ed by at least six inches, and his shoulders were wide enough that they nearly brushed both of the walls on either side of him. The man’s head was shiny and bald, but there were tufts of black hair sticking out from just above the top button of his shirt.
Kairo paused and blinked at the large beast a couple of times, his sluggish brain trying to figure out how he was going to get past this mountain. Did he back up? Did the other guy? Should he try to climb over him? No. Climbing would be bad. He might fall.
“Are you Kairo Jones?” the stranger inquired in a low, rough voice.
Kairo’s thoughts scattered and he stared up at the stranger. His first reaction was surprise that the man knew his name. His second was even more surprise that he had spoken in English rather than Spanish. And his English was heavily accented…like Greek. That was weird.
“Yeah. Who are you?” Kairo asked, trying very hard not to slur his words.
The guy grunted with a little nod. “Sorry about this.”
Kairo’s brow furrowed as he frowned at the stranger. He was about to ask what he was apologizing for when something incredibly sharp stuck him in the side of his neck. He hissed and tried to jerk around while slapping his hand to the spot that stung. Was that a damn bee? How did a bee get inside the restaurant?
As he twisted, he saw only a glimpse of another person behind him before his knees turned to water. He was falling and darkness was swallowing him whole.
Fuck.Someone had drugged him.