Page 125 of The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold
He had (more than likely) taken it to his suite at the hotel.
The last time they’d seen the suite, there had been a giant hole in the window and two bodies on the floor.
King’s Vegas safe house was the epitome ofblown. Alex was certain that, at some point, Merritt would have sent a team, and the team would have cleaned up the bodies and the blood, but the suite had been, otherwise, unguarded for days. Anyone from housekeeping to MI6 could have torn the place apart by that point. There was no telling what they’d find when they got there.
“If they’d found it...” Alex put a hand on King’s leg.
“Tyler wouldn’t have still been looking for it,” he filled in as they zoomed up to the hotel and climbed out, tossing the keys to a valet.
No one said the rest of it: that Tyler might not have been the only one who was looking.
When they finally made it to the hall outside the penthouse, King stopped with his hand on the door. He glanced at Zoe. “I don’t suppose you would just—”
“He’s going to tell me to wait here, isn’t he?” Zoe asked her sister.
“No. He’s not. Because King is too smart for that, isn’t he?” Alex asked pointedly. Sawyer scowled, but Alex just reached for the door and pushed it open. She didn’t know what they were going to find. She didn’t know where they were going to look or how long it was going to take. She just knew—
“It’s about time.”
That voice.
The four of them jolted to a stop, and, for a moment, all they could do was gawk at the woman with the white hair and knowing eyes and bottle of champagne.Pop.The cork went flying, but still, nobody moved.
“I took the liberty.” Merritt poured a glass, then took a sip. “Excellent.” Then she removed the silver dome from a tray of fruit and treated herself to three ripe grapes. “Hope you don’t mind I took the liberty, Michael.” She settled onto the long couch. “When I placed the order, the concierge offered to send that up as well.” There was asmall velvet box in the center of the table. It was ring-sized and ringlike and just the sight of it brought to mind bended knees and white veils and really excellent cake.
“The jeweler did a lovely job resetting the loose stone.” Merritt reached for a tray of croissants and peeled off one fluffy strip. She seemed so casual. So cool. A touch smug, because it hadn’t been a contest, but she’d won all the same.
“Jeweler?” King said, then he seemed to process the rest of it. It was strange, watching Michael Kingsley’s mind work slowly. “Wait. How did you know about the stone?”
“Oh.” Merritt made a sound that could almost be described as a giggle. She sounded light and free and twenty years younger. “Because I’m the one who broke it. Banged it against a banister. Clumsy of me.” She took a sip of champagne.
King and Alex had seen the photograph. They knew that ring had once graced Merritt’s finger, but there was still so much they didn’t know.
“It was at a jeweler’s?” King sounded amazed. “All this time... Did they...”
“Figure out thatthis”—Merritt reached for the box—“is a Soviet-era camera containing film that could compromise one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Cold War?” Merritt pulled out a ring that was even more beautiful than Alex remembered. Then she raised an eyebrow, as if silently daring them to guess, but the words from Amalfi were already ringing in Alex’s ears.
“Viktor Kozlov’s nuclear option,” she whispered.
“It was indeed.” Merritt looked down on the little piece of platinum like it was an old friend she thought she’d never see again. The rest of them looked at it like it was a monster.
“It’s a camera?” Sawyer asked. “Is the film still in there?”
Merritt nodded. “It is.”
“Could it still be developed—after all this time?” King asked, but Merritt had to cock her head, uncertain.
“Possibly. If done carefully.”
“Do we even want to know what’s on it?” Alex asked, because she knew better than to pull at a string that might make your life unravel.
Spies should have been the most curious people in the world, but they weren’t. Because they knew better. Secrets aren’t just about keeping things shielded—they’re about keeping people safe, and so Alex waited for Merritt to slip the ring into her pocket—for her to declare that it wasneed-to-knowand no one in that room had any need at all. In fact, at that moment, Zoe was as much a spy as any of them. Sawyer, Alex, and King had all left the life.
There was absolutely no reason for Merritt to look at King and say, “Guess.”
“Missile sites!” Zoe blurted, because Zoe couldn’t help herself. “Launch codes! Double agents!”
“Very good, Zoe.” Merritt turned to her, and a slow, approving smile spread across her face. “It’s nice to finally meet you, by the way. I’m a big fan of your books.”
