drama and self-flagellation.
Devon hung his head and snorted out a laugh. “I can’t deal with you when you throw geek quotes at me.”
“Geek is the new cool.”
“Sure it is.”
“Before you two have this argument—again—let’s make this phone call.” Juliette slid out of Franco’s arms and then out of the bedroom. She and Franco had a first-floor office for Trinity Masters business, which they hadn’t used until this last week. Tonight, they’d need it since the hardline phone in there, totally separate from their personal phone and internet, was secure and encrypted.
Sophia picked up on the third ring. “Grand Master.”
“Ms. Starabba.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“The timing of our last meeting, and the plan we developed, was fortuitous.”
There was a brief pause. “The bomber?”
“Yes.”
“He’s in the U.S.?”
“Not as far as we know, but he knows we have a copy of his data and is searching for it. Digitally. We have people working on tracking him, but once they do…”
“We must be ready.” Sophia’s voice was hard and merciless, her accent making it sound elegant. Like a beautifully crafted dagger.
Juliette glanced at each of her husbands, then said, “We need to activate the Masters Protection Force.”
Owen Fraser opened the drawer of his desk. There were four cell phones inside. It was the one way in the back, the newest but least used, that was ringing. Calm settled over him as he picked up the phone and answered it.
“Fraser.”
“Mr. Fraser, I didn’t anticipate needing you so soon.” The woman on the other end of the line spoke with a crisp New England accent. He hadn’t been at the now-infamous all-society meeting where the new Grand Master had been introduced—and where it had been clear from her voice that for the first time in the secret society’s history, they had a female leader—but he now recognized her voice from the series of conversations they’d had over the course of the last few days.
“I’m here to serve, Grand Master.”
“There’s been a development in the situation with the Italian bomber. There’s a potential lead, and we need the Masters Protection Force ready to mobilize.”
“In Europe or in the U.S.?”
“Current intelligence says he’s in Europe, but it’s possible he will return to America in an attempt to locate Oscar Hayden and Selene Tanaka.” The Grand Master quickly summarized the situation while Owen jotted notes in his personal code language.
Outside the window, the city of Frankfurt was bustling with morning traffic. Through the glass wall of his office, he could see the activities of the small team of agents and employees who made up the Frankfurt sub office of the FBI’s International Operations Division.
“Has Percival been notified?” he asked when she’d finished.
“The Masters’ Admiralty’s acting leader was going to call him right away. They’re most likely on the phone now.”
“I will wait ten minutes after we finish and then call him.”
“You know how to get ahold of my counselors if you need anything…or if you have any information I should be made aware of.”
“Yes, Grand Master.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Agent Fraser.”
The call ended and Owen sat back in his chair, whistling. As an FBI agent working abroad, his job was fairly complicated. Taking on the role of leader of the U.S. half of the Masters Protection Force would only add to the complexity. Regardless, he’d accepted the position without hesitation.
Owen unlocked the lower drawer on the long, low filing cabinet he had in his office. Amid all the other files was a slim one he’d labeled “MPF” in Devanagari script. Carrying it back to his desk, he flipped it open, using the action of re-examining the file’s contents as mental preparation time before he made the call.
The Masters Protection Force was an international, interagency law enforcement task force. At least that’s what it would have been called if it had been organized by governments or Interpol. The Trinity Masters and Masters’ Admiralty were not adversaries, but they also weren’t allies. Rumors of the existence of a European arranged-ménage-marriage secret society had been swirling through the Trinity Masters membership for months, even reaching him here in Germany. When he’d first heard, he’d tried to poke around and see if he could confirm the existence of the European society, but there’d been nothing.
Then the Grand Master called, he was read in, and, more interestingly, she’d asked him to head their side of this new task force, which had been the brainchild of herself and Sophia Starabba—the acting head of the Masters’ Admiralty. Sophia herself was a law-enforcement agent with the