Page 20 of Gifted Thief
Was this more trouble to deal with? ‘It’s a letter opener.’ I met his eyes. ‘And? What else are you covering up?’ I demanded.
‘And nothing. How did it go at my house? You were quite a while.’
‘I bumped into your friend.’ Or rather his fist bumped into my head. Whatever. The Wild Man was the least of our problems. ‘It didn’t go very well.’
Taylor’s eyes widened. ‘Are you alright?’
‘I’m fine.’ This wasn’t the time to skirt around the truth. My gaze hardened. The only thing that I hadn’t seen was the newspaper. That must be what he was trying to conceal. ‘Hand over the paper.’
He shook his head vehemently. ‘There’s nothing there. I was just reading the horoscopes. You don’t want to know what mine said.’
The day that Taylor was superstitious and believed the bumph the newspapers printed was the day I stopped liking hot pink. I lunged towards him, feinting right then grabbing the newspaper with my left hand.
‘Integrity!’ he howled.
I backed away and smoothed it out ? and saw the headline.
‘I could leave the country,’ Taylor started. ‘I’ve heard Belize is nice at this time of year.’
I ignored him, scanning the story. And I’d thought things couldn’t get any worse. I should have known better.
‘You’d have somewhere nice to come and visit on holiday,’ he continued.
‘And what about Brochan and Speck?’ I sighed. There was no choice. ‘No,’ I said, pointing to the huge picture on the front of the paper. ‘I’ve got a far, far better idea.’
Taylor squinted. ‘You can’t.’
I nodded to myself. ‘I can. It’s the Lia Saifir. And look who’s got it.’
He stared at the smooth good looks of the man in the photo. ‘Oh.’ He sank down, deflated, into the nearest chair. ‘I didn’t see that,’ he mumbled in a blatant lie.
‘He’s staying at the Astor Hotel. He’s in town, Taylor. We can still get the jewel.’
‘No, Tegs. You can’t do it. It’s not fair.’
I touched his arm. ‘We steal from the Sidhe all the time, Taylor.’
‘Not like this. Not when there’s a chance you’ll be recognised.’
‘Every time I step outside I might be recognised! It’s been sixteen years. If they cared where I was, they’d have found me by now.’ I refrained from mentioning the letter I’d received summoning me back to the Sidhe court. Taylor had tried to hide the newspaper because he didn’t want me to get that up close and personal with a Sidhe who knew my real background. He’d go nuts if he discovered I’d been summoned back ‘home’.
‘I think I can handle one Sidhe,’ I said decisively, although I had no idea whether that was true or not. But how hard could it really be? ‘What choice do we have? I get the jewel and you get the money to get us out of this messed-up hole.’
‘Buthim? He knows you, Tegs.’
I smiled grimly at Byron Moncrieffe’s photo. ‘He’s a playboy with nothing more on his mind than wine and women. It’ll be a piece of cake.’
Taylor regarded me soberly. ‘You’re supposed to be leaving.’
‘Next week.’ I shrugged. ‘I can’t leave now, can I? Besides, I steal the Lia Saifire from Byron in the next seventy-two…’ I checked my watch, ‘make that sixty-eight hours, and I’ll still have plenty of time to pack and say my goodbyes. Whoever the bastard is who’s pulling the strings of this loan and screwing with our crew, they can’t argue if we actually pay up. You just need to make sure the buyer is still in place. And see if you can find out who the money lender is. We need to know so we can stop this happening again.’
Taylor still looked troubled. ‘Stealing from this Sidhe could go very badly. You shouldn’t do it. If he recognises you…’ His voice trailed off.
My eyes flickered again to the spot where Bob’s letter-opener was hiding. The genie was a last resort but he was still there if we needed him. But nicking a gem from a spoilt Sidhe Clan heir should be easier than taking candy from a baby. I could solve all our sudden problems in one fell swoop. And if Byron recognised me … well, I’d spin him a line or two. I was pretty damn good at manipulation when I put my mind to it. Not when it came to burly Wild Men or the arm of the law when I hadn’t had time to prepare but with this idiot … no problemo.
Chapter Five
Taylor wasn’t happy when I’d told him to get lost. It was, however, for the best. He wasn’t going to be able to help me with Byron. At this short notice, the only plan I had time to put into place was that of femme fatale. As much as I hated doing it, it wouldn’t be the first time. And I had to admit that it was almost always successful, even if I normally passed the dubious honour of acting as bait over to Lexie who enjoyed that kind of role-playing far more than I did. For now, it was more important that both Taylor and Lexie were safely tucked away from the moneylender’s reach until we had the necessary coin to get him off our backs. Whether he was after something else or not, he wouldn’t be able to argue if we paid him back.
