Page 75 of A Touch of Treachery
Why did Henrika keep talking about my father?He had been sent to Mexico to kill Feliciano, not her.My father had avoided collateral damage at all costs, and he would have never even targeted Henrika, since she was Feliciano’s lover ...
Unless my father had thoughtHenrikawas a threat.
But why would he think that?And if he had, then why hesitate?Why not go ahead and kill her?
More and more questions popped into my mind, and each one shifted my perception of the Mexico mission.I thought I’d been standing on a mountain of information, a solid foundation of facts, but it was really nothing but a pile of sand, and I was rapidly sinking into the quagmire of the unknown.
Henrika pulled her gaze away from Feliciano’s photo, and her face smoothed out into its usual benign mask.“I honored my end of our bet.Your precious undercover agents are safe and will live to spy another day.Now, get out before I change my mind and liquefy your bones.I have work to do.”
She sat down behind the desk, turned the monitor toward her, and started typing, her fingers stabbing into the laptop keys with far more force than was necessary.The rare show of emotion surprised me.I didn’t know what memories I had dredged up, but in her own way, Henrika seemed just as haunted by the Mexico mission as I was.
I backed away from her and opened one of the library doors.Bryce was waiting outside.He shot me an icy glower, but I skirted past him, hurried through the foyer, and stepped into the waiting elevator.
The door slid shut, and I caught sight of my reflection in the mirrored surface.The Grunglass Necklace glimmered around my neck, and each emerald and diamond seemed to sparkle in time to the wild theories and paranoid suspicions jangling through my mind.
After fifteen years of wondering what had really happened to my father, Henrika had given me a few more pieces to the puzzle, but I still had far more questions than answers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
DESMOND
GabrielandItrudgeddown to the shore and heaved the guard’s body out into the lake.Given his heavy winter clothes and boots, Floyd sank like a stone.The water rippled for a few seconds, then smoothed out.
“We can hope no one will find him until spring,” I said.“Let’s go.”
Gabriel and I hiked through the woods, around the golf course, and back to the hotel.We hunkered down behind the same evergreen hedges I’d used earlier and waited for the guards to stroll past us.The ballroom lights were still burning brightly, but the conversation, laughter, and music had died down.It was a few minutes before midnight, and the casino party was wrapping up.
Given the gusty wind and continued snowfall, I didn’t feel like climbing back up the side of the hotel, even with my spiked gloves and boots, so I tugged my winter hat off my head and stuffed it into my pocket.I also took off my jacket and turned it inside out, so that the light blue interior showed, then put it back on.The left sleeve was ripped, and blood stained the fabric from where the bullet had grazed my arm earlier, but I was hoping no one would notice the imperfections.
Gabriel arched an eyebrow.“A reversible jacket?What good is that going to do you?”
“Make it look a little less like I was dressed in black from head to toe and skulking around places I wasn’t supposed to be.”I gestured at his outfit.“Unlike some people.”
“I don’t care if Bryce and his goons realize I was skulking around.”Gabriel popped up the collar on his black leather jacket.“Besides, I look amazing in this jacket.”
I snorted, but the two of us slipped out from behind the hedges, crossed the terrace, and stepped inside the hotel.Lots of partygoers were still clustered in the lobby, doing a final bit of drinking and socializing before retiring to their rooms.Gabriel and I attached ourselves to the back of a large group of people and walked past the guards stationed close to the ballroom.The guards gave the guests bored looks, and their gazes passed right over Gabriel and me.None of the men looked upset, which meant they hadn’t realized their buddy Floyd was missing yet.Good.
Gabriel and I were about halfway across the lobby when a flutter of movement caught my eye.Joan was hovering beside a column, pretending to check her phone.She tilted her head to the side, then walked into a corridor.
Gabriel spotted her too.“Looks like your friend wants to chat.”
We followed Joan down the corridor and into the same public library Charlotte and I had ducked into earlier.A faint hum of magic crackled around Joan’s body, and her head swiveled back and forth as though she was searching for something.
A few seconds later, she stopped in the back of the library.Joan glanced around, then nodded in satisfaction.With her transmuter power, she could sense the energy emanating off cameras and listening devices just like I could, and she knew this area was a security dead zone.
Joan spun around on her heel, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at Gabriel.“What ishedoing here?”
“Gabriel decided to tag along on my reconnaissance mission,” I replied.
The former cleaner grinned at Joan.“What can I say?I just can’t quit the spy business no matter how hard I try.”
She scoffed and turned to me.“Did you find Henrika’s lab?”
I shook my head.“No.If the lab is in the woods, it’s too well hidden for me to detect, even with my galvanism.How is Charlotte?”
“She’s fine,” Joan replied.“Diego was finally able to hack into the hotel’s security cameras.Charlotte left Henrika’s penthouse about fifteen minutes ago and went back to your suite.”
Relief coursed through me.Charlotte was a skilled spy, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to worry about her.
