Page 60 of Wraith
“That’s going to take forever,” Barbie said. “We don’t have much leave time left and we can’t leave CIRO for much longer.”
“Barbie is right.” Beast added. “We’re going to have to figure out something before we can—”
“Guys!” Tex shouted as the screen came alive.
Amelia must have been stunned because her fork clattered from her fingers to the plate. She swore under her breath then glared at Tex on the screen. “Oh my God, John Keegan, what the actual fuck!”
“Um…” Tex blinked at her.
“You scared the crap out of me!” Amelia chastised. “Ugh!”
“My bad!” Tex smiled.
But everyone, aside from Amelia, knew he didn’t mean it. Tex got a kick out of popping up wherever and whenever he could.
“I come bearin’ news,” Tex said. “Hopefully that will make up for me scaring you, Amelia?”
“Do you know how to bring a man back from the dead, so I can kick his ass?” Amelia asked.
“Can’t say I do, but if it’s on a computer, it’s only a matter of time!” Tex joked.
Amelia glared at him. “Anyone ever told you, you’re a dick?”
“All the time!” Tex laughed boisterously. “But you gatta adore me.”
Though Wraith could tell Amelia wanted to stay mad at Tex, twitches of laughter stole the corners of her lips. She picked up her fork and looked away from the screen.
Wraith smiled.
Yup. Hummingbird would fit into this group perfectly.
“What did you find?” Wraith asked.
Tex cleared his throat and began typing. Almost immediately his face slid to the top right-hand corner of the screen and security footage took up the rest. It was a bit grainy but still a bit watchable.
“This man tried to sell the Lala to an art dealer in the Presnensky District.” Tex explained. “The dealer, well I saved his life a couple of times. Even though I’ve been telling him not to worry about it, he insists he owes me favours—so, I called one in. I asked him to be on the lookout.”
“Can you ask him to contact this person, pretend to be interested so he’ll come back?” Barbie asked. “We could be there waiting for him.”
“Great minds and all.” Tex gave her a corny gun salute.
Barbie giggled. “Aww, stop.”
“How far is the Presnensky District from here?” Amelia asked.
“About fifteen minutes.” Wraith replied. “I say Amelia and I go in and Beast…”
“Don’t worry, brother.” Beast winked. “We got you.”
Quick as a flash, Tex had an answer and the trap was set. They quickly headed on the road again. They hadn’t had time to go over the lay of the land. Wraith hated heading into any job blind. But they didn’t have a choice. He shifted into his seat, trying to clear his head. Amelia seemed to have steeled herself against the situation we were in. She didn’t so much as flinch as sped along.
Wraith said nothing. Honestly, he wouldn’t know what to say. Instead, he leaned over and kissed her cheek, nuzzled her with his beard then kissed her again. She smiled.
The moment they parked, Beast and Barbie went wide. The area was desolate, except for lamp posts. Wraith figured shady business deals must always be done at nights or with little light as possible. It struck him as strange someone would still be in the office, but he didn’t question it.
They entered and it seemed Tex’s friend had left word they would be coming. Security let them up the elevator and soon they were standing in a posh office.
“Thanks for coming,” the man said. “I am Aleksei Nagchek. I heard from Tex the painting was hot. I did not wish to have it in my collection.”
