A Pirate's Tale: The Only Solution Is Retribution Read Online Free PDF Page A

stopping occasionally to sit down and observe everything around them.  He opened his backpack and pulled out two soft pieces of silicon shaped like half of a ball.  He handed them to her, “Put one of these on the inside of your cheeks.”
    “What are they?”
    “They’ll mold to your jawline and make your face appear fuller.”
    “Don’t you mean fatter than it already is?”
    “I prefer fuller.”
    “Why are you doing this?  I thought you were turning me down?”
    “I was but you removed one of the requirements you stipulated and I felt compelled to at least make sure you’re safe.”
    Ana’s head moved slightly back, “What stipulation?”
    “That you had to be present when I captured John Blakely.  I have no intention of capturing him and trying to do so would only make the task more difficult.  You gave me the funds without any preconditions so I feel obligated to at least make sure you aren’t killed.”
    “Why would I be killed?”
    “Someone went to a whole lot of trouble to prevent the Trillium from being delivered and you stepped in and got in their way.  I suspect that individual is very unhappy with you at the moment.”
    “I can’t understand why Serge’s Chief of Security would be working with them, whoever they are?”
    “He’s not.”
    Ana’s eyes opened wide, “What do you mean?  I saw him leading that security team and Kenneth was kidnapped right after I left the Treasury.”
    “The two events are not related.  Whoever kidnapped Kenneth is working for the Spider inside your family’s organization weaving this web you’re caught in but the Security Chief is not part of that conspiracy.”
    “And just how do you know this?”
    Leo sighed heavily, “Ana, he showed up in a marked Romanov Security Vehicle.  Do you honestly think he would do that if he were intending to do you harm?  The Security Agents went in the transportation-car with no weapons in their hands.  They were searching for you to take you to your family.”
    “Then why didn’t you allow them to do it instead of running from them?”
    “If you had looked up the street a block to the north, you would have seen a man standing next to a black vehicle with the back door open.  I suspect he had a shoulder missile launcher inside and was prepared to hit the security vehicle if he saw you taken by them.”
    Ana looked down and thought about the moment and shook her head, “I didn’t look up the street; I was focused on the security car.”
    “I think the security team and that car showed up at the same moment and both of them were tracking your communicator.  That car wasn’t there when I tossed it in the train.  It drove up and parked as the security team arrived.  Allowing you to go with him would have gotten you both killed.”
    “Those security vehicles are heavily armored.”
    “As were the Round Table Forces taking what they thought were the contents of the wall safe to the Unity Treasury.  Those missiles are the highest tech weapons currently being used by the Unity’s military.”  Ana stared at him and he smiled, “I notice you aren’t asking how they could be using them?”
    Ana sighed, “My family’s company builds them and sells them around the galaxy.”  Leo nodded.  “So you’re of the opinion that someone in Romanov Industries wants me dead.”
    “I am.”
    “Why?”
    “They must think that you are much more than you appear.  You had the code to the safe and the Spider was unaware of that and had to be surprised when the safe was opened.  You changed the plan of how the Trillium would be delivered and then disappeared.  They might be concerned that you may know who they are…or it could be something else entirely.  However, that car tells me that someone wants you dead.”
    “How can you be sure there was a missile launcher inside of it?”
    “The man standing beside the open door had a trigger ring on his right hand.”
    “And you saw it from more than a block