16. Eyes on the Prize
CHAPTER 16
EYES ON THE PRIZE
ZOE
“ W
hat ?” I say, pulling back from Flynn a bit. There is no way he picked up on my changing thoughts about Ledger .
“ I’ve seen the way you look at him when you’re pretending to look at the art.”
I am an intelligence operative. I am sneaky for a living. Was I really obvious enough in my surveillance of Ledger for Flynn to notice? I guess observing animals for a living can make someone really good at noticing details. I choose to respond by ducking my chin a bit as if I’m embarrassed that he knows. “ It’s new, actually. Was it obvious?”
“ Not at all. Does he know?”
I shake my head.
“ Ahh . Secret love.”
The fact that Flynn noticed me look at Ledger also makes me realize that he’s much too observant to not catch me sneaking a tracker onto the piece. I don’t even go near the Trust sculpture because I don’t want Flynn to think of me in relation to it later, like after Aragundi’s men steal it. But I do want to know more about the security features protecting it.
We step up to a creation on a pedestal that looks like shattered pieces of colored glass were arranged to form a cityscape. It’s resting on the same kind of pedestal that the Trust sculpture is, so I’m checking it out fully. I admire it from one direction, and then from another, looking to see how the light catches it and casts shadows in different colors. Then I reach a hand out, like it’s just drawing me to it and I can’t help but touch it. I plan to just give it a teeny bump. Not enough to move it, but enough to tell me how sensitive the security on it is.
Before my hand can touch it, though, Flynn blocks my attempt and gently moves my hand away. “ Careful , Kaila . Every move is recorded, and each of these pieces is rigged with a state-of-the-art security system. Even the slightest shift in pressure will trigger an alarm. It’s not just a loud bell, either. It’ll immediately lock down the gallery. It’s how we can keep it easy to view without it having a physical barrier.”
I thank him for stopping me from doing something really embarrassing, but really, I’m thanking him for letting me know what I’ll need to do when I come back.
We shift to the other side of the gallery— the side where Ledger and Eliza started— and look at several pieces there when I sense that Ledger is about finished. I turn to Flynn and thank him for being so attentive and showing me around .
He leans in close and says, “ By the way, I’ve been watching how your boss gazes at you when you aren’t looking. I don’t think you’re the only one who is secretly in love.”
My eyes flash to Flynn . Ledger was gazing at me as if he’s in love? Why ? There isn’t anyone here that we need to fool. It’ll buy us nothing for Eliza or Flynn to believe we are an item. I look over at Ledger , seeing if he is trying to tell me anything or send some kind of covert message. It doesn’t appear that he is, though. It doesn’t make sense.
Maybe Flynn was just noticing Ledger’s feet. I was noticing them, too. Wherever Ledger was in the room, he always had one foot pointed toward me. But that doesn’t mean he’s interested in me— or in love with me— it’s probably because I’m his partner and I’m the one who’s been trying to plant the tracker that will allow us to complete this part of the mission.
“ It’s been a pleasure, Ms …”
“ Sonnenschein ,” I tell him.
“ Ms . Sonnenschein . I hope to see you again at the auction.”
As Ledger and I head toward the doorway, Mila is bringing another couple in for a private showing. We walk through the door as Eliza and Flynn greet them. Instead of going left, toward the front door, I steer Ledger right. We go further down the hall and down to a little alcove. I pull a makeup compact from my bag that is really a device that essentially takes our words and turns them into white noise so we can’t be overheard, and I activate it.
Ledger leans against the wall, and I get very close to him because I do want him to be able to hear me. I try to ignore how being this close to him is making my heart rate raise, my breathing quicken, and all of my nerve ends stand at attention, begging for any kind of touch from Ledger . A brush of a fingertip along my arm. An accidental bump of a shoulder. Anything . “ I couldn’t place the tracker,” I say. I hid the frustration well while we were in the gallery, but I’m feeling it now.
“ I know,” he breathes in a low voice. “ I looked over at you several times and saw that the security guy wasn’t giving you an inch.”
Oh . I suddenly get it. He was looking at me to see if I was able to complete the mission. He covered it by appearing like he was in love with me so that Flynn wouldn’t be suspicious. Smart .
“ The auction is in two-and-a-half days,” I say. “ We have to get the tracker placed before then, because Aragundi’s men are sure to find a way to be at that auction, and we don’t want to contend with them as well.”
“ Especially because it might tip them off to the tracking devices.”
I nod. “ And we need to finish here quickly so we can get to the other pieces before they do. But I got Flynn talking about the security on the piece enough to know that it’s a PX -three-twenty-six- H .”
“ Whoo ,” Ledger says in a release of his breath. “ The guy is serious about security. So our only option is to purposely set off the alarm, then.”
I take a deep breath. It really is the only way. We could break in during the dead of night to do it, but we’d still set off the alarm and could get caught. So we need to have someone set it off who won’t arouse suspicion, and the only person who can do that is Mona Liza . It’ll be extra tough since Mona Liza has been in the mansion for a week. People here know her and her mannerisms well. I nod. “ I’ll need to impersonate Mona Liza .”
From my peripherals, I see someone coming down the hall. I don’t look directly at them, but I can tell by the man’s gait and speed that he is security. I lean even closer into Ledger and breathe into his ear, “ Don’t look, but someone is coming.” I don’t look, either, but I can tell by the sound of the man’s footfalls that he’s about to ask why we are here when we shouldn’t be.
Ledger can sense it, too. He says, “ Kiss me.”
It’s a great way to deflect suspicion, so I do. I press my lips against Ledger’s , and for good measure, I press my body into his, too, since I’m already so close, anyway. He wraps an arm around my waist, holding me close.
Oh , my.
I forgot how incredible it feels to kiss Ledger Lancaster . How it feels to be so close to him. To have him holding me tight. To share the same air. To feel the gentle caress of his lips against mine. Even though I’m leaning into him and he’s holding me tight and security is almost to us, his kiss is still so soft and tender, like I’m a rare, undiscovered gem, showing he’s so perfectly in control of the situation.
I’ve got my hand on the wall he’s leaning against, and I just really want to run the fingers of my other hand through his hair. I want to stand here and fake kiss Ledger all day long. To feel his heartbeat next to mine. Connect with him in a way that doesn’t require a single word. Everything is taking me right back to Moldova , and I can’t believe I ever managed to repress how incredible his kisses are. How did I ever get past the craving of wanting this every moment?
The security guard clears his throat loudly, and I pull back, acting surprised that he is there, looking around dazed, as if I forgot I was even there. It isn’t a hard reaction to fake.
He says something in Serbian , and I show confusion before saying in a hopeful voice, “ English ?”
“ You’re not supposed to be back here,” the man repeats, this time in English .
“ I’m so sorry,” I say, fanning my shirt to cool myself. “ As if looking at art isn’t enough, hearing this guy talk about it just makes me unable to wait a second longer before planting my lips on him.” The guy looks unimpressed, so I add, “ We’ll go, though.”
I’m not saying the words with my own personality, so Ledger knows it’s all a show, but in reality, I’m feeling the words deeply. I felt the kiss deeply. I reach up and squeeze the locket of my necklace as if it can somehow ground me and help me force my head back into the mission. “ Oh , and I left my handbag with a young woman in dark slacks and a light blue blouse. She told us her name… Um , Mila , I think? Mika ? Where can I find her?”
“ Head straight down this hall,” the guard says, emphasizing the word “straight,” in case we were thinking of going somewhere else we shouldn’t. “ You’ll either find her in an office on your right just before you get to the lobby, or she’ll be in the lobby itself.”
I thank him, and Ledger and I start walking down the hall. Ledger glances over at me, and I know he’s probably trying to assess whether the kiss was as real for me as I’m sure it seemed while we were kissing, and suddenly everything feels awkward. I’ve kissed people while undercover before, and it’s never been a big deal. Ever .
But I shouldn’t ever kiss Ledger . It makes me desperately want things I can never have. Plus , we are partners on this mission, so having one of us get our feelings tied up in things is very much not helpful. I need to shake myself out of this. Is that even possible? I let out a breath that comes out as a huff of a humorless laugh. Now I remember why I repressed what kissing Ledger feels like. Because it’s hard to work with the man when I fully remember.
I need to figure out how repressing works again.
I start by reminding myself that it isn’t real. Just because Ledger is a great kisser and can make it feel like there is a lot of emotion being poured into a kiss, doesn’t mean that there actually is. He’s an intelligence operative. He fakes things as part of his job. And he’s really good at his job.
So I just look at Ledger with what I hope is an expression of pure focus on the mission and not any lingering kissing bliss, and I mouth to him, That was close.
He clears his throat and then nods.
Yeah , the awkwardness is still there.
As we near the office on the right just before the lobby, a woman’s voice carries through the open door. She’s speaking Serbian , but it isn’t hard to tell by the tone of her voice that she’s berating someone. My guess is it’s Petra , and the someone is Mila . No wonder Mila hates her boss— Petra keeps going on, relentless about chiding Mila for whatever she feels she did wrong.
We reach the door, and Ledger knocks on the frame to get the attention of the two women. Mila sees us and immediately hurries over, looking embarrassed that we heard whatever her boss was saying. “ I’m sorry,” she says. “ Let me go get your bag.”
When we reach the lobby, Ledger glances back in the direction of the office. “ I don’t speak Serbian , so I don’t know what your boss was saying, but I can see why she’s no fun to work with.”
Mila looks a little relieved at the reminder that we couldn’t understand her boss even though we heard her words, and she just nods. “ It’s okay.” But the girl does look rattled, and I hate that she’s exposed to that daily. I’m glad that we’ll be able to help her.
“ Mila ,” I say, “do you have access to Eliza’s schedule? Or can you get access to it?” If I’m going to impersonate her in a place where everyone knows her face well, I’m going to need to have her face.
“ I know it well since I’m the one doing all the work around here.” She glances back toward the office.
“ Do you know what her schedule is today?” Ledger asks.
“ She has private showings all morning, then she’s meeting a…” she searches for the word, “collector for lunch at two at Kafe na Reci , near the waterfront.”
“ And do you know what hotel she’s staying in?” I ask.
She does. It’s the hotel directly across from ours— the same one that houses the grill with the overcooked meat and bad music where our hotel’s manager wants us to put a Bite Nite Burgers location.
I give Mila a grin. “ Thanks , Mila . You’re amazing. Don’t believe Petra if she tries to tell you otherwise.”
Mila smiles back, and I tell her that we’ll be in touch with her soon.
As we exit the mansion, Ledger pulls out his phone. “ I guess I need to call Damjan to see if he has a contact who can print some 3- D facial appliances for us.”