Page 96 of A Touch of Treachery
My eyes narrowed, and I remembered another photo of a beautiful sunset and a glimmering ocean I had seen recently.My mind whirred, and a few pieces of a different puzzle clicked into place.I leaned forward and hit some keys on the laptop, searching for a new topic.It was ridiculously easy to find, and a rueful laugh escaped my lips.
“What are you looking at now?”Gabriel asked.
I stared at him over the screen.“I know someone who can help us rescue Desmond.”
“Who?”
“Nemesis.”
Gabriel jerked back in his chair.“Nemesis?Why would you thinkshewould helpus?She hasn’t contacted me since the Tannenbaum mission.It’s been radio silence since her last call on Christmas Day, and I don’t have any way to reach her.The number she gave me was disconnected, and it was burner phone, so there was no way to trace it.She’s a ghost, Char.”
I gave him a grim smile.“Then it’s a good thing I’m in the business of tracking down ghosts, even the Ghost of Christmas Past.”
I picked up my phone and sent a text, along with my current location at the hotel.Then I laid the device on the table.Nothing to do now but wait and see if I was right about who Nemesis really was—
My phone lit up, and a grin curved on my face as I read the message.“She’s on her way.”
Twentyminuteslater,thepale blue glow of magic sparked and shimmered around the library door.The lock turned, the door opened, and a woman stepped inside.She was wearing a long black trench coat that made her look exactly like the spy she was.
Joan Samson’s sharp, searching gaze landed on me and Gabriel, and her lips flattened out into a thin line.She stalked in our direction, her coat flapping around her legs in time to her quick, angry strides.
“She’sNemesis?”Gabriel muttered.“Seriously?Ms.By-the-Book Section Liaison?”
“We need her help, so maybe don’t call her juvenile names?”
Gabriel shot me a dark glower, which I ignored.
Joan yanked out the chair at the far end of the table and sat down.Gabriel eyed her, as if mentally comparing her to his idea of Nemesis, but he didn’t say a word.
“Hello, Joan,” I drawled.“So nice to see you again.Neat trick, using your transmuter magic to manipulate the metal lock and open the door.”
Joan arched a dark eyebrow at my snide tone.
“It’s been, what, two hours since you upbraided me in the honeymoon suite?That was a nice touch.A very convincing performance for General Percy’s bodyguards.Brava.”
“It wasn’t a performance,” she replied.“Everything I said was the truth.”
I winced and clutched my heart, as though she had wounded me.“Ouch.Tell me, did General Percy order you to stay behind at the hotel to keep an eye on me?Or did you volunteer?”
“I volunteered,” she replied in a tart tone.“Someone had to make sure you didn’t screw things up any more than you already have.”
I winced again, this time for real.She was right.I had screwed things up, and now Desmond was paying the price for my mistakes.
Joan’s pale blue eyes frosted over even more, and she leaned back in her chair.“I got your rather cryptic text.What do you want, Charlotte?I’m busy overseeing the strike team while they hunt for Niles Perran and Oriana Luzzo.”
“If my message was truly cryptic, you would have ignored it.”I held my hands out wide.“Yet here you are.”
Joan pulled her phone out and held the screen out where Gabriel and I could see it.
Love the photo of your Greek vacation.You should visit Germany next.Hope we can work together again soon.XOXO Charlotte.
“That is the very definition of cryptic,” Joan muttered.
“Still going to play dumb?”I shook my head.“We’re both too smart for that.”
Agreement flickered across her face before she could hide it.Gabriel kept glaring at Joan, but she ignored him and kept staring at me.She wasn’t going to crack unless I made her crack.
I leaned back in my own chair.“Don’t you want to know how I figured out you’re Nemesis?”
