Page 104 of The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold
“I called Zoe.... There’s a service we used to use. She left avoicemail and... Paris. She’s on her way to Paris. Someone told herI’mthere, and she thinks I need her and... I have to get to Paris.”
She closed her eyes tight, and he saw what she couldn’t say—what she had been hiding for years—that Alex needed Zoe. She always had and she’d never said so—never admitted it—not even to herself. Guilt and fear were waging war inside of her, so King had to think—he had to think for both of them.
“You can’t go.”
“Of course I’m going! Ihaveto go!”
“Why, Alex? Think. Why would someone lure Zoe to Parisnow? They’re trying to flush you out. Because you’re right—they’re looking for you, and they can’t find you. And that’s just proof that you’re safe here.”
“She’s my sister!”
“She’sbait.”
It was almost like he’d slapped her, she stumbled back so quickly, looking up at him like he was a stranger—like he was the enemy.
“How dare you—”
“And that’s not all she is!”
Alex morphed from angry to afraid. “What do you mean?”
“Why are they doing this, Alex? Really? Because you’ve been in deep cover for five years, and now you’re running for your life. What are the odds that Zoe would be able to get a message to you and flush you out? Think about it. Why else would they...” But her face was morphing, changing. Her hand flew to her mouth, holding back a silent gasp. “What did you just realize?”
Alex blinked like a very scary movie was playing behind her eyes. “The bank. They need her to access the bank.”
“Bank?” But King’s mind was already leaping ahead, doing the math before he even had the numbers. “You put the flash drive in a bank vault.” Slowly, Alex nodded. “Switzerland?”
“Zurich.”
“Good.” He was looking around. Nowheneeded to pack. “You wait here; I’ll go to Paris.”
“No.”
“Alex—”
“They have my sister!”
“They don’t have anyone yet. We’ll call Langley—”
“Langley has a mole, King.” That stopped him in his tracks. She hadn’t said a word about it, but she hadn’t said much about anything. She was sick and tired and so burned out, he thought she might turn into ash and blow away, so he hadn’t pressed her. “I heard Kozlov talking. That’s why I ran, but I didn’t know who it was and—”
Suddenly, the last few days flashed across King’s mind, but this time he saw everything differently.
She wouldn’t tell him where the flash drive was. She didn’t trust him. She...
“You thought it was me.”
“No.” Her face was red and her eyes were wet. “You’re the one person I knew I could trust.”
She trusted him.She’d never said she loved him, but somehow that was better, so he pressed a quick kiss to her lips, then pulled back. “Stay here. I’ll go—”
“They have my sister!”
“Which is why you have to stay here!”
“But—”
“I’m not going to let them get you too!” He was shouting, but he felt like huffing and puffing and blowing the whole castle down. And he would have if it hadn’t been for the look on her face. “I’m going to get your sister, and then we’re going together to get that drive.” He threw open a dresser drawer. “What bank is it in?”
