The Export by J.K. Kelly (read along books txt) 📕

A380 from Singapore to Munich in a few days. That gave him, gave them, some time to play.

“That bag of tricks you stuck your nose into is the type of gear we carry on assignments like this. If we’re working a job on a plane, we load them with rubber bullets, so they don’t pierce the plane’s skin if they need to be fired.”

Vicki looked to Eve again and then back at Matt. After a few more minutes of talking Vicki down off her self-imposed ledge, Matt decided to show them both one of his many government IDs. It was his FBI ID, and that seemed to convince them.

“Now, here’s the deal. Everything you’ve seen and heard on this flight is confidential ladies, got me?” he said. You screwed up, dummy. That can never happen again. Next time, put the guns in locked storage, he told himself. This could have ended badly.

Crisis averted and with both of his guests having given way to alcohol and fallen asleep in their reclining captain’s chairs, the plane landed in Munich and taxied to the private jet arrival area to await customs clearance.

The girls woke up, took turns using the bathroom, and freshened up for a new day. Matt disembarked with his three bags in hand and entered the customs area ahead of his guests. He’d use his diplomatic passport to gain entry and protect his luggage from being screened. Then he came back on board and handed each of the attendants an envelope, their tip for their service and discretion.

“Thank you both very much,” he said as he shook hands and then waved for his guests to follow him off the plane. “Thanks, skipper,” he called into the cockpit.

Minutes later, after passing quickly through customs, the three were in a black Mercedes luxury mini-van headed for downtown Munich. Once they checked into a suite he had reserved at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, a five-star Four Seasons property, Eve quickly jumped into the shower. Vicki and Matt sat quietly drinking coffee and juice in the suite’s elegant living room, but then, without a word, Vicki got up and sat down beside Matt on the plush green sofa.

“I have to thank you for the ride over, Matt,” she began, “but I have to be a poor sport and leave you here.”

He looked at her with surprise but he wasn’t disappointed. He liked them both, they each had their own looks and intricacies that intrigued and entertained him. But Eve was much more to his liking, and he had been looking forward to their time alone together here, to see if he could peel back the onion a bit more to find out more of what was inside.

“I don’t want to be a third wheel, as you say.” Her French accent made anything she said sound sexy. “Besides, guns make me nervous. And, as I told you on the plane, looking back at the way you handled yourself in that club in Montreal, there is much more to you than shows on the surface. I’m not sure I want to find out what that is.”

Matt smiled and then leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek.

“I am not a threat, Vicki. Not to you or Eve. And I’m not doing anything that is against the law,” he assured her. Then he thought back to that night in Montreal.

“I never asked, did you girls go back to the club that night?”

“Bien sûr,” she said in a French whisper. “Of course. We lured that prick into the ladies’ room, then we kicked the crap out of him. No man talks to Eve, or me, that way.”

“And you got out of there, no problem?”

“Yes, you aren’t the only one with special talents,” she said, smiling. She leaned closer to Matt. He expected she was going to kiss his cheek, but instead, she whispered in his ear. “There is much more to Eve than meets the surface,” she teased. But, as she sat back to look into his eyes, she added, “Never cross her, my friend. Eve, she has a, what do you say in your line of work, a hair-trigger temper. You don’t mess with her.” Then she leaned in and gave Matt the kiss he had been expecting. And more. Her kiss was long and on his mouth.

“Be careful, my dear,” she said as she stroked his cheek and then left the room to join Eve in the shower.

Matt smiled at the thought and then reached for the remote, hoping to find CNN or the BBC for the latest news. He picked up his new iPhone and didn’t see any messages. Then he turned on one of the burners and entered Dale’s cell number. CUM he typed in. She would know where he was. Reversing the letters spelled MUC, the three-digit aviation abbreviation for Munich. Soon it would be time for his shower, fresh clothes, and a walking tour of one of his favorite cities in Europe. Eve had said she had never been there before, so this would be fun for both of them.

Once Vicki was packed and in a taxi, headed home or wherever she might wind up, they were off.

Matt took Eve through the Marienplatz, the city’s central square that was the home of the Neues Rathaus, the new city hall. She gazed up at the massive Glockenspiel and watched at the top of the hour as the life-size characters paraded around the face of the enormous cuckoo clock. In studying the building’s history, Matt had seen a photo of the same tower, taken during World War II, with a red, black, and white German flag bearing the infamous swastika hanging down the front of the spire. Matt told her what he could of the history back then, but she wanted more.

They found a walking tour, the “Hitler Tour,” the guide called it, retracing Hitler’s footsteps throughout the city. They went to the original Hofbrauhaus where Hitler, much like the Roman emperors, had given