Free More Than a Mission by Caridad Piñeiro Page A

cups. “I had room service bring this up. Figured you could use the jolt, Aidan.”
    â€œThanks, Lucia,” Aidan said.
    Walker added his own thanks and then asked, “Were you able to see where she went? MI6 says there’s been a lot of chatter on the wires lately about the Sparrow. She may be on another assignment here.”
    Aidan shook his head while filling up a cup with the heavenly smelling brew. He loaded it up with a few sugars, but kept it black since as Lucia had guessed, he needed a jump start this morning. “Someone slipped out through a secret passage in the cellar of the restaurant. Definitely dressed for a covert op and she was armed…with Mitch’s gun.”
    Walker paused with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth. “How do you know that?”
    â€œAlthough earlier ballistics had the Sparrow carrying a Sigma SW9F, she tucked an HK Mark 23 into her holster. Mitch’s gun was the same make and has been missing since his murder. Plus, it’s not that common a weapon,” Aidan advised.
    â€œConnect the dots, huh? But what about connecting the dots to Prince Reginald’s murder?” Walker challenged and shifted his gaze to Lucia.
    â€œNothing yet.”
    Walker cursed beneath his breath. “Not good, guys. Corbett called this morning. A friend has warned him that the local tabloid—”
    â€œThe Quiz? ” Lucia asked.
    Walker nodded. “The Silvershire Inquisitor, or, as you noted, the Quiz. Seems one of the reporters has a lead on Prince Reginald’s last night alive.”
    â€œIf this Quiz is a gossip rag, why the worry?” Aidan wondered out loud as he sipped on the hot sugar-laced coffee.
    â€œBecause unfortunately, the story seems to have some truth behind it,” Walker advised.
    As Lucia fixed herself a cup of coffee, she asked, “So what is the story?”
    â€œIt seems the prince met an attractive young lady earlier in the day—slim athletic build, dark-haired.”
    â€œThe Sparrow?” both Aidan and Lucia said in unison.
    Walker shrugged. “Fits the description, doesn’t it? Anyway, rumor has it that the prince locked himself in the room with this lady for a night of pleasure.”
    Aidan laughed harshly. “From what I saw in the file about the prince, that seems to be pretty routine behavior. So why the worry about this magazine’s article?”
    â€œCocaine and murder,” Walker answered quickly. “There had been some hint of drug use before with the Prince. A few months ago, immediately after the prince’s death, the Quiz ran an article claiming that the prince had overdosed. No respectable news service would touch the piece.”
    â€œAnd now?” Lucia pressed.
    â€œThe paper claims to have proof positive that the prince was not only using drugs on his last night, but that he was murdered.”
    â€œDo the results of the toxicology reports confirm the drug use?” Lucia questioned and at that, Walker leaned down and extracted some papers from his briefcase. Laying them out on the coffee table between them, he motioned to the results.
    â€œI’ve reviewed them myself and it seems clear. The prince had cocaine in his system along with a poison. The drugs are embarrassing to the royal family and the murder—that may add more fuel to the political fire the Union for Democracy keeps stoking.”
    Aidan leaned over, grabbed one of the papers and turned it so he could get a better view. Examining the results, he said, “So the prince got his coke and in addition, a little something extra—digitalis.”
    â€œNot a hell of a lot, but enough to stop his heart,” Walker explained, and then continued. “The thing is, it wasn’t pharmaceutical-grade digitalis.”
    Lucia peered at the documents, obviously unsure, and inclined her head toward the papers. “How do you know?”
    Walker flipped through a few pages of the report