“Hey Hunter, time to do the meet and greet thing.”
“Okay, come on down into the galley. Watch the hatch lid. Don’t want to hit your head again.”
“Yes sir. Something smells delicious and looks like you’ve made enough for an army. I didn’t know you even cooked.”
“Learned at the feet of Uncle Grey. Frittatta’s. Want any?”
“Yes, please. Who is Uncle Grey?”
“Grey Lee, owner of the Blue Steel. He’s not my real uncle. My
grandmother lived in the neighborhood and took me in after my parents
died. I was eight. His kids, Connor and Danny, we all hung together.
He called us the 3 musketeers. Whenever we went into the grill, he’d
put us to work. Cleaning, food prep, busing tables. If you wanted to
eat, you had to work for it. He sort of adopted me or maybe I adopted
them. We served together, Connor, Danny and I.”
“What branch of the military?”
“Marines. Special forces reconnaissance. I moved on to the FBI, Connor
became a doctor and Danny just retired. He’s coming over in a bit with
another buddy of ours. Jeremy Krause.”
“His name sounds familiar.”
“I told you about him before. He started a new company called Krause Solutions, based in Montana.”
“A security company, right?”
“Not just a security company. Troubleshooters in high tech electronics and security, protection, kidnap negotiations.”
“Ah yes, I remember now. Sort of a private black ops operation.”
“You didn’t hear that from me. Here, try the enchiladas. He wants me and Danny to come in as partners.”
“What about the FBI? I thought you were taking the attaché job in Africa.
“Since the accident, it has been taken off the table. Frank said since
Schoebel is dead, the case is closed. My only option now is the desk
job in Washington.”
“But wait. Schoebel had a partner, didn’t he? The woman, Dominique something?”
“Dominique Resparte, the Black Widow.”
“How can they do that? You were close to finding out who was behind both
her and Schoebel and creating the nano devices. She liked you, didn’t
she?”
“Too much. Every man she married or slept with died and she wanted me in her bed.
“How can you just let it go?”
“Jeremy has a client, works for the University of Montana. She’s a
teacher in biochemistry. She has a sister, also a scientist whose
specialty is nanotechnology. She’s disappeared, thinks she’s been
kidnapped.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“The woman who rescued me after the explosion, looks like her sister. She left me a calling card.”
“Who? The sister? When did you see her?”
“Don’t know if she’s the sister or not. I never really saw her whole face. But I saw her in Maputo.”
“Then she couldn’t have been kidnapped if you saw her. Did you talk to her”
“Right. And no. She disappeared but left something for me. A key and this picture.”
“Holy crap, she works for the Black Widow!”
