“Can you guys flirt after you’ve left my helicopter?” groaned Daria.
“Technically not your helicopter,” Elliot told her. “And we aren’t flirting.”
Anthony frowned. “Aren’t we?”
“No,” said Elliot hotly. “We’re arguing.”
“Sounds like flirting,” said Daria.
“Sometimes arguing is flirting,” said Anthony.
“Whose side are you on?” said Elliot in wonder.
“Oh, just kiss and get it over with,” grumbled Daria.
“Maybe later,” said Anthony, but his cheeks were still flushed. “I really should take you into custody for stealing DVM property, but I need you to do something for me instead.”
“What’s that?” asked Daria, suspicious.
“Take us to O’Leary.”
“What?” Daria sounded startled, and the entire helicopter rattled.
“It’s all right, Daria. I can protect you. But take us to him, because Elliot’s right. You’re the missing link.”
Elliot stared at Anthony, unable to say a word. Wow. Maybe he does trust me.
“I don’t even know what that means!” Daria snapped at them.
“Just take us to O’Leary, Daria,” Anthony said. “Cicero won’t stay down unless O’Leary goes down too. It’s time to end this.”
“Or what? Or my sister won’t ever be safe?”
“She won’t be,” said Elliot. “But not because the DVM won’t keep her safe. Because Cicero won’t stop trying to find her.”
Daria didn’t say anything—but the helicopter stopped rolling and shaking. Elliot breathed a sigh of relief as his stomach resettled where his stomach was meant to be.
“Thank you,” he said.
To his great amusement, both Anthony and Daria said, “You’re welcome.”
Chapter Fifteen
Daria flew them to an island just off the coast of Italy. It was little more than a garden peak surrounded by crystal blue water, but there was a helicopter pad not very far from a gorgeously designed manor. Anthony scanned the area with practiced eyes; as far as he could tell, the place was entirely deserted. Not even the barest sign of guards or staff anywhere on the premises.
Either O’Leary was very, very lax... or very, very smart with his security. It was impossible to tell which just yet.
“How do you know he’ll be here?” asked Elliot as Daria approached for the landing.
“Because this is where I was going to meet him with my sister,” Daria explained. “It’s a safe house. He should be here in about an hour. No idea what he’ll do when he sees you two instead.”
“Hopefully nothing,” said Anthony shortly, “since we won’t be here to find out.”
“Then why bother?” Daria flicked through the shut-down procedures quickly. “We could be halfway to Bulgaria by now.”
“This is O’Leary’s safe house, right?” said Anthony. “Stands to reason he’d have some sort of communication device here. Elliot needs more than circumstantial evidence of O’Leary’s connection to Cicero. Hopefully he’ll find it here.”
Elliot frowned. “What kind of idiot would keep that information at a safe house?”
“You’d be surprised,” said Anthony dryly.
“He does have a pretty fancy computer system,” said Daria, but she sounded doubtful.
Elliot grabbed Anthony by the arm as he was about to hop out of the helicopter. For a moment, Anthony wondered if Elliot was going to kiss him. Elliot held tight to his arm, an odd, fevered sort of expression in his eyes, a tense line to his jaw—as if Elliot was angry and aroused all at once.
Could jaws be aroused? Probably, when they were around Anthony. Elliot’s jaw certainly looked aroused. Anthony could work with that.
“Seriously,” murmured Elliot, pulling Anthony close. “Why are we here again?”
“You’re after O’Leary,” said Anthony calmly. “I’m trying to ensure you will have enough to get him.”
“What about all the files from Algeria?”
Anthony considered Elliot for a moment. The more connections you have between Cicero and O’Leary, the better chance we have to stop them, right? We have hours before the launch. Plenty of time to get to Bulgaria. We can spend half an hour here looking for what you need.”
Elliot, however, didn’t look like he was buying it. “You,” he said, as if trying out the words. “Are actually looking. For information? That’s your M.O. this time?”
The doubt actually hurt.
“You don’t know my M.O.,” said Anthony stiffly, before jumping out of the helicopter.
He still heard Elliot mutter behind him, “Maybe not, but do you?”
The manor was on the far side of the meadow. The walk was similar to a pleasant hike through a nature reserve; crickets and birds chirped in chorus while distant frogs croaked a bassline. Anthony strode down the narrow path with confidence; behind him, Elliot swore and slapped at the various bugs that tried to get close enough to bite.
Anthony understood their motivation. He’d have liked to be close to Elliot, too.
“Zayna didn’t start out evil,” explained Daria as they walked. “Zayna was always the smart one. She invented stuff as a baby. The things she did with a cardboard box and a couple of bottle caps!
“But it’s a hard world for a scientist, you know? Zayna had a lot of trouble finding a lab that would hire her.”
“Why not?” asked Anthony. “She’s clearly intelligent, capable, and creative.”
Elliot snorted. “Are you serious? She’s also a woman.”
Anthony frowned. “Why would that matter?”
“You’ll have to forgive him,” Elliot told Daria. As if him needing forgiveness was a given. “Anthony lives in this weird alternate bubble where gender doesn’t matter and everyone is judged on their own merits or deficiencies.”
Daria snorted, as if that concept was amusing.
“Isn’t that how everyone should judge people?” Anthony asked Elliot.
“Well, yeah. But it’s not how the real world works.”
“Also she’s dangerous,” said Daria dryly. “Being female doesn’t help, but Zayna doesn’t really have a moral compass. Tell her to invent a serum that makes a person sprout feathers—and she’ll do it, just because she can.”
That caught Anthony’s attention. “That was hers?”
Daria nodded.
“Impressive,” mused Anthony.
“Demented, more like,” said Elliot, and then yelped as he tumbled over a dip in the pathway.
Daria smirked. “Look, my sister isn’t evil. It’s all about discovery and the challenge of figuring out the impossible. No matter what the impossible is. That doesn’t make her evil.”
“I’m not saying she’s evil,” said Anthony. “But she works for Cicero, who is.”
“Why do you think I needed you guys? I hate that she works for Cicero. I’ve been trying to get her out for years.”
“I didn’t get the feeling like she was really happy there, though,” said Elliot. “She acted like Cicero didn’t appreciate her much.”