Page 27 of The Mouse and the Maestro

“Because I was afraid it would come out all breathless and shaky,” she said.

“I like you breathless and shaky,” he said.

“That’s how I feel all the time when I’m with you,” she replied. He advanced, rolled her onto her back, and kissed her for a minute before she paused to speak again.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“For what?” he asked, smiling. Then he felt a sting on his neck, kind of like a bug bite. He turned to look and saw two men wearing masks and everything faded to black.

Chapter 13

Blue woke disoriented and groggy. What had happened to him? Something…something strange and bad, but what? Something about Jane. He couldn’t quite grasp it at first, but his heart hammered hard with anxiety as he tried to remember.

The room around him was dark. His head was on something soft and good smelling. He tried to touch it with his fingers and realized his hands were bound behind his back.

“Are you awake?” It was Jane. She was the soft, delightfully scented thing beneath him. The thought brought him no pleasure, only fear, but why?I’m sorry.Her words floated back to him from the same moment the men drugged him. She had done this, she had tricked him, trapped him. He jerked away from her as fast and as far as possible, until he butted into the wall behind him.

“It’s okay,” Jane said in a soothing voice. She reached out a hand, feeling for him, honking his nose by mistake. “You’re safe, you’re all right. Everything is fine.”

“Don’t touch me,” he hissed. Her fingers froze. He turned his head away from her grasp, and she withdrew her hand.

“Are you all right?” she whispered.

“Am I all right? Of course I’m not all right. Are you insane? Where are we?”

“I think somewhere on the wharf. I smell fish and kind of hear the water,” Jane said.

“Who took us?” he growled, not because he meant to but because his voice was heavy with sleep and sedation. He cleared it, wishing for water.

“I have no idea,” she said.

“Drop it, Jane. You don’t have to pretend anymore.”

There was a pause, and then she spoke again. “Pretend about what?”

“Is Jane even your real name?” he asked.

“What are you talking about? What did they give you? Are you having some kind of memory problem?”

She sounded almost convincingly alarmed. He laughed humorlessly. “No, I remember everything. I remember you saying you were sorry and then the men showed up. What was that phone call, really? Was it the signal for them to come get me? You pretend to call your dad and say a series of things to let them know you had me where you wanted me?”

“Huh?” she said.

“Stop, okay, stop pretending. Be honest about this whole thing. You set it all up, and you’re the forger.”

“Seriously, what?” she said. He could hear her shifting, and he braced himself in case she touched him again. He didn’t think he could stand it, not after he had almost fallen for her, not after she had kissed him so freely, had urged him to believe they had a chance at something real. “You think I’m the forger? Why?”

“Because it all makes sense,” he said.

“None of it makes sense. Why would I work with you?”

“To deflect attention,” he said.

“Why would I say they were forgeries? Why wouldn’t I authenticate my own work?”

“In case we get a second opinion.”

“Let me get this straight—you think I’m not only a forger, but a talented criminal mastermind who somehow lured you into my web, made out with you, and kidnapped you in the middle of it? Riddle me this, Columbo, why did I kidnap myself?”

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