The Boss Assignment (Rogue Protectors Book 3) by Victoria Paige (red scrolls of magic txt) 📗

with Martinez? What did Renata tell them?

“Get to the point, Martinez. What is this all about?”

“We found another victim.”

“Victim?”

Martinez leaned in and whispered by his ear, “Do you really want to have this discussion here? I have orders to bring you in from the colonel.”

Okay. That made sense. Martinez’s boss was on his case. Antonio glanced at Charly. If this was the Z-9 series virus, she needed to work on the antiviral. “Are your cultures ready?”

“What time is it?” she asked Oscar.

“One p.m.”

“If I leave now, I’ll be hitting the ground running.”

“She comes with us,” Martinez said.

“No,” Antonio clipped.

“You have no choice, Mr. Andrade,” the BOPE captain said. “These orders come from the top. They are aware you have a scientist who could help with a virus that appears to have originated from your lab.”

“Antonio,” Charly cut in. “Didn’t you send them my findings? That you are being framed?”

“I did.” He dared Martinez to deny it especially since the BOPE captain was there when Charly established that fact.

His friend shrugged. “We’ll have to confirm it ourselves.”

“I don’t think you have the expertise to double-check our findings,” Antonio said.

“Then it’s a good thing Dr. Bennett is coming with us. She’ll be explaining the data to our superiors.”

Every fiber in his being balked at having Charly within range of the military police. What if she changed her mind? Asked them for help? When he felt her fingers touch his, he realized that everyone was waiting for his response.

“Tá bom! Let’s get this over with.”

Antonio was brooding in the vehicle on the drive to the military police headquarters. Charly changed back into her clothes in the car.

“I’m sure everything will be okay,” she said. “Don’t let this ruin our day.”

He glanced over at her as she pulled the shirt over her head. “I didn’t even have the pleasure to suck on your tits.”

She glanced frantically at Oscar.

He grinned. “The divider screen.” He drew it up for Charly’s wardrobe change. “Activates the soundproof features. He can’t hear us.” Sometimes Antonio had secure conversations in his car that he couldn’t risk a driver hearing. He trusted Oscar, but he didn’t want any man seeing what belonged to him.

He was more possessive with Charly. Should he be worried? He was never this way with his past women.

“Well, thank goodness for that,” she chided.

He picked up her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

“Is that so?” she teased.

“I have more to give you.”

“Work first,” she said firmly. “Maybe we could ask for a tissue sample.”

Antonio should be seizing this moment to resolve this issue, but a part of him was annoyed how work kept getting in his way of exploring more fun things with Charly.

It took them about half an hour to get to the BOPE headquarters. It was a multilevel building since it housed the military police of Rio of which the BOPE was a division.

Oscar dropped them at the entrance and Martinez met them at the lobby where they got their visitor passes.

“Was this where Renata had to come?” Antonio asked as they were led to the second floor and down a hallway.

“Yes,” Martinez said. “My colleague, a peer of mine, had to interview her for obvious reasons. We didn’t treat her badly, Antonio, but I think she’s hiding something.”

“Is this why you brought me here?” Antonio said. “And not go to the office or the house?”

Martinez sighed heavily. “We really found another body similar to how Pierre died. He was one of the men who took the XZite pills from the warehouse.”

“Known Pierre associates. You should ask Renata.”

“We did and that’s how we found him.”

“Where’s the body now?” Charly asked.

“It’s in the Health Ministry lab. We’ve engaged the experts from FioCruz.”

“That’s good. I’d love to meet their experts,” she said.

“We don’t need you for the initial interview. The lab is a few minutes from here,” Martinez told her. He called one of his men. “Escort Dr. Bennett to our lab.”

“No,” Antonio snapped. “She stays with me.”

“What’s the matter, Antonio?” Martinez asked in a way that pissed him off. “You don’t trust us?”

They arrived at the door at the end of the corridor.

“It’s not that,” Antonio said. “Charly’s work is important. And I don’t want people who are responsible for this bioweapon snatching her away without my men or me to watch over her.”

“Snatch her away?” Martinez repeated his words as he opened the door to the interrogation room. “How about you tell me how you kidnapped an American citizen, huh?”

Charly gasped.

Antonio felt his stomach drop at the sight of the person inside the room waiting for them.

John Garrison.

18

“What is this?” Antonio snarled, turning on Martinez. “You set me up?”

“You set yourself up, amigo,” the BOPE captain snapped. “No one is above the law. I don’t care what your billions tell you.”

“Good to see you too, Mr. Andrade,” Garrison drawled. The CIA officer looked relaxed in a Hawaiian shirt, sitting at the end of a six-seat table. This man, not four days ago, was evading the Mexican Army just like Andrade. The difference was Garrison and his men were doing it on foot. And now he was here looking like a tourist? Didn’t this man ever slow down?

“John Garrison,” Antonio said tightly. “Glad to see you’re fine.”

The CIA officer leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his torso and eyed him as he refused to cross the threshold. “I would be more fine if you returned my asset. Please step inside.”

“Come on, Antonio,” Martinez muttered. “Stop being so difficult.”

“I see you’re still a Boy Scout.” Antonio entered the room while clamping down on Charly’s elbow and ushering her in with him. Then he barked in Portuguese, “You sell your own people out to these gringos.” .

The BOPE captain shut the door. “This isn’t what’s happening here, Antonio. You committed an international crime.”

He laughed, switching back to English. “You know Brazil abolished extradition, right?”

“I’m not here to charge you with kidnapping,” Garrison said smoothly. “That’s