“I told him I was going to get you out of the shower so he could tell us both. He should be calling back any minute.”
“I better grab some clothes.”
“Don’t dress on my account.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “In your dreams.”
Nicholas grinned. “And was I dreaming, or did you kiss me last night?”
“You were definitely dreaming.”
“And was I dreaming when you called me a lamebrain?”
“That you didn’t dream,” she said, and grabbed her bag and carried it into her room.
When she returned a few minutes later, he said, “Eat something. The coffee and pastry weren’t enough.”
She helped herself to a plate and sat with her legs drawn up, eating Brie and grapes. She looked tired, and he couldn’t blame her. He’d been drugged up, but still he’d gotten a good ten hours. He couldn’t imagine she’d enjoyed much rest in that chair.
“After we talk to Savich, we’ll work the computers, find the trail. And stick around here tonight. You need some rest.”
She swept her arm around. “This is nice.”
It was nice, which was the reason he’d wanted to bring her here. Half showing off, half wanting to give her some kindness, after the kindness she’d shown him last night.
He said, “You’re a good partner, Mike.”
He caught her by surp
rise. She paused for a moment, then said, “You know what? You are, too.”
He laughed. “When do you want to examine my stitches?”
78
Paris
Saturday afternoon
Kitsune stopped for an espresso and a bathroom break at a roadside travel station. She was dragging. Paris was an hour away; she needed to hold it together a bit longer, then the job would be finished and she could rest. This was why she trained so hard, and saved her energy between contracts; once she started a job, proper sleep and food weren’t priorities.
She set the empty cup down on the bar. The place was filled with tourists, teens in tight jeans and mismatched colors, flirting, harried parents with small children, the odd lingering glances of single men. Normal. It was all so very normal. She didn’t remember ever having normal.
She turned to leave and heard her mobile ringing from her jacket pocket. She drew the phone out and looked at the screen. It was Mulvaney.
She shouted with relief. She ran out of the building, jumped in her stolen Fiat, and answered the phone.
“Mulvaney! Thank God, I’ve been so worried!” She got hold of herself. “Well, it’s about time. I thought you were dead.”
“Hello, Kitsune.” Her heart stopped. No. Please, no.
“Lanighan?”
“You’ll get your man Mulvaney back when you hand over the diamond.”
Her heart pounded at her temples, fear clogged her throat. “What have you done to him? Where is he?”
She knew who held the power now. Lanighan’s voice held both contempt and pleasure. “You will do exactly what I say. No more mistakes, no more trying to screw me out of my diamond. You give me the Koh-i-Noor, in person, and I will let him go.”