Free Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows) by Mell Corcoran Page A

continued presence of Max and the others around the McAllister compound. Technically it wasn’t a lie. One of Max’s numerous business interests was his ownership in one of the most prestigious security firms in the world, Aegis International. They dealt in both corporate and personal security as well as government contracts world wide. Aegis had headquarters in New York, London and Dubai and were responsible for the recent recovery of four German citizens who’d been taken prisoner by the Iranian government. They had been accused of being spies when their only mistake had been hiking on the wrong side of the border. It had made international headlines and helped sell the security cover story. Max had originally intended on using his law firm as cover for relocation to the West Coast but setting up a Los Angeles office for Aegis International proved far more prudent.
    “Dillon has a theory and there is evidence to support it. We could use an expert opinion on it and Max might just be our guy.” Vinny liked Max well enough but he had let on to Lou that he believed Max was more than he let on. Vinny was convinced that Max was also C.I.A., N.S.A, or some sort of covert agent. Vinny would never know how close to the truth his instincts were. Lou would just grin and let Vinny believe what he wanted. It couldn’t hurt.
    “Who’s Max?” Dillon looked oblivious.
    “You ever heard of Aegis International?” Vinny polished off the last of his hot dog and started cleaning up his mess.
    “Who hasn’t?” Dillon still looked pretty oblivious.
    “He owns it.” Tossing all of his trash in the paper sack, Vinny leaned back and waggled his eyebrows at Dillon. “One hell of an expert consult on you’re stealth helo, don’t ya think?”
    “Stealth helo?” Now it was Lou who looked oblivious.
    “You are gonna love this, kiddo. Go ahead sport, fill her in.” Vinny got up from his stool. “Shevaun, you mind if I make us some coffee?”
    “Don’t ask stupid questions.” Shevaun swatted at him. “This is your house Vinny, help yourself. No foam on mine though, please.”
    By the time Vinny got back with a tray of coffees for everyone, Dillon had explained his stealth black hawk theory. As with their captain, if it hadn’t been for the supporting forensics, Lou and Shevaun would have thought he was insane.
    “Niko or Yuri would probably be better suited to consult on that.” Lou offered after considering a while. She knew those two were obsessed with weapons, gadgets and anything high tech.
    “Did I meet them?” Vinny didn’t find the names familiar.
    “Yes, last week when you came up. We were sparring out back.” Lou tried to time her training sessions so that they wouldn’t cross paths with Vinny any more then necessary. It meant having to lie less.
    “Ah right. The scary guys.” Vinny remembered now. “Yeah they looked like they know their stuff. Can you get us a meet?”
    “I’ll try. I’m training with them tonight so I’ll ask.” Lou knew damn well the guys would be happy to help. She was also sure she could come up with way more information on some stealth helicopter with all her new gadgets and toys than Vinny or Dillon ever could. Going through the cover of the security firm was just icing on the cake.
    “That would be awesome.” Dillon said as he got up from his stool and began clearing everything from the island. “I have some familiarity with the helo from my volunteer work with the Coast Guard up north but I don’t have any serious connections for intel.”
    “I’ll clean all that up Dillon.” Shevaun started to stop him.
    “Thank you Mrs. McAllister, but I got it.” He stuffed Vinny’s bag of trash and the rest of the remnants from lunch into the garbage pail. “I have a compulsive need to earn my keep.” He gave her a genuine smile.
    “Call me Shevaun, please.” By the way her mother was gushing, Lou could tell that she liked the guy.
    Dillon was likeable though and that struck