Page 71 of After 5
“Not a clue.” I gestured toward the chair next to me and we sat down. “The Mafusos are being tight minded about their plans. They probably won’t jump because of the wedding.”
“Blimey, me mum was mad Uncle Cai didn’t want us at the wedding.”
“You spoke to him?” I reined in my surprise.
“Nah, Mum told me he rang her when the news hit the telly.”
“The wedding was on the news?”
“Only local, ye know he inherited the title. Mum’s been on holiday at the family estate in Scotland.”
I’d been there once. It was more than an estate, it was a freakin’ castle. Would Mahlia be Lady McGregor after she married Caiyan? Over my dead body.
Campy continued, “’Tis time for Mum to go back to work, and she sees how the town’s famous Lord McGregor is weddin’ the skinny American. Mum couldn’t take the time off to fly across the pond, seein’ how she only just returned from ’er holiday. Called ta yell at me.” Campy huffed. “Like I can control Lord McGregor, the cheeky git. She’ll have his head on a pike next time he shows up on ’er stoop.”
“Why aren’t you going to the wedding?” Tina asked, looking up from the map.
“He told Mum he didn’t want us there,” Campy dropped his head.
“The guy’s lost his mind, marrying that one,” Gerry said. He pointed at me. “My money’s always been on you.”
Marco’s chair scraped tile as he shot up and stomped out of the room. Everyone watched him leave in silence.
“What’d I say?” Gerry did a palms up.
My blood boiled at the mess Caiyan had gotten himself into. I had to be at that wedding and stop him from being stupid.
“I’m sure Caiyan has his reasons,” I said to Campy.
Ace slumped in wearing skinny jeans and ballerina flats. “Can you believe it? General Poopy Potts has us confined to base.”
“What?” I asked him.
“He’s expecting this one to go AWOL and disrupt the wedding of the century.” He hiked a thumb at me.
I frowned. It’s exactly what I had planned but hadn’t figured out a way inside—yet. I stood and grabbed a bottle of water, asking if there were any other takers in the room.
Ace took the seat Marco had vacated, and I handed him a bottle of water.
Jake entered, a handful of files in his arms. “Good afternoon, everyone. Take your seats. As soon as the cycle opens, we’ll have the destinations.”
I returned to my chair, but my inner voice paced the room.
Jake set the files down and rubbed his eyes. He’d already put in a full day. The other teams’ marks jumped from their European locations. The moon cycle opened earlier for them.
“The Russians just left,” Jake said. “Their mark jumped to Zakynthos.”
“Oh, man,” Campy said. “It figures. As soon as I change teams the bastard jumps to the Greek Isles. I’ve been freezing my ass off in Dudinka for the last six travels.”
“Except for the travel when you caught the Cracky,” Brodie said, giving Campy a fist bump.
“Hell yeah, I did.” Campy’s energy ramped up the room. “Too bad he got out of jail on a technicality.”
“Ya got to wait until he actually steals the booty. You nabbed him before the take,” Brodie said to Campy.
Jake pulled out his glasses. He only wore them when he couldn’t use his contacts due to fatigue. I stood and made Jake a cup of coffee and returned to my seat next to him.
“Thanks, I’m beat.” He clicked around on his keyboard opening windows and watching for the map Pickles would send him when he had the coordinates of the jumps. He took a generous sip of his coffee.
