“Should I …” Harley started to ask.

“I’m afraid this is something for just her and I, Harley.”

Rian and Harley looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Harley motioned that she would stay where she stood, but if Rian wanted her to join, then …

Rian turned to look at Frances, cocked her head to one side, thinking about what to do. Finally, she blew out a breath. What harm could she do? Harley would be right here, so if I need to ask for help, I’m sure Harley will jump right in.

She gestured for Frances to lead the way and then turned to Harley. She mouthed, “I’ll signal to you if I need help, ok?”

Harley nodded and pointed to her cell. She saw a text message had come in from the lead lawyer from earlier, asking about scheduling another meeting the next day. She hit her speed-dial number for Philip. I’m going to let that guy stew a little. Did not appreciate how patronizing he’d been earlier, peppering his comments with, “I’m not sure if you knew this, Ms. Barton-Ash, but ….”

Frances motioned to Rian to take a seat next to her on a bench she’d led them to that had been built into one of the alcoves of a wing of the Villa.

“I consult for one of the intelligence agencies on black market trends and while you were talking earlier, I sent an email about you to one of the unit chiefs that I trust,” Frances started, without preamble. Unlike earlier during the meeting, when she’d been charming and had even tried keeping the uptight lawyers around her loose with a few jokes, her face was dead serious now and she was even frowning slightly.

“He’d asked me to keep an eye out for new talents no one’s ever used before for a very important surveillance mission he was planning. I’d helped him find someone a couple of months ago and thought that he’d sent that mission out already because I hadn’t heard from him. But yesterday, he sent me an SOS to ask if I’d found anyone else. Apparently, the team needed one more member and had not been sent out while they tried to find someone.”