17. When in Doubt, Add More Flowers
CHAPTER 17
WHEN IN DOUBT, ADD MORE FLOWERS
LEDGER
I should’ve known better than to tell Zoe to kiss me. We could have done something different to cast off suspicion. Anything different. Gotten into an argument. Looked like we just got worrisome news. Zoe could’ve started crying about something and I could’ve comforted her. Yet I chose the terrible option of her kissing me.
Because kissing Zoe just reminds me how it felt to kiss her a year and a half ago in Moldova . Back when it was real. Or at least when I thought it was real. It turned out to be fake then, just like it is now. During the kiss, though, it felt anything but fake. It felt like a glass of cool water after a year in the desert. It felt like longing and surprise and apprehension and exhilaration. And it wasn’t just coming from me. It seemed that Zoe was mirroring my emotions.
But then the look on her face after told me that it was just as fake as I should’ve known it was.
Still , though, I’m beginning to see a side of her that I haven’t seen before. Like when she apologized last night about taking the win in Moldova . That one line from her hasn’t really addressed the bigger picture, of course, but I got the sense that she wasn’t ready to address more yet. And that’s okay.
It does make a tiny, hopeful part of me wonder if her giving me the look after that told me it wasn’t real is actually the part she’s faking. Maybe it was the kiss that was real. Maybe she is feeling everything I’m feeling.
Of course, I tell myself to quit being so hopeful. Because , really, what is it that I am hoping for? A relationship with an intelligence operative? Round One with the two of us should’ve been enough to convince me how bad of an idea that is.
Besides , it’s not like I’m looking for any relationship. Spy or not. I love my freedom.
But I am spending a lot more time thinking about Zoe than I ever have. Including Moldova .
While Damjan meets with his contact about doing a 3- D face overlay for us, Zoe and I scout the location where Mona Liza will be meeting a collector for a late lunch. It’s an outdoor café near the waterfront, and because of the Waterfront Summer Fest going on, there is a lot of action around it. A whole line of street vendors has been set up in every free space around. Under a canopy right next to the café is a flower shop that seems ideal for our needs.
Because Eliza just saw us both, and because there are so many vendors in the area, Zoe and I take the opportunity to shop all along the waterfront to find disguises. We both get exaggerated floral-print outfits and oversized hats. Pretty much everyone— the outdoor vendors and everyone shopping in this area— is wearing sunglasses, so we both get sunglasses, too. That’ll help.
Then we head back to our cozy concrete chamber at the hotel. I dig through all the disguise options that Abraham hooked me up with, and Zoe goes through her stash. I put on an absurdly large mustache and Zoe pulls her blond hair into a wig cap and puts on a wig with straight, black hair that barely brushes her shoulders. Then we put the new outfits we bought on over the clothes we wore to the private showing at the mansion.
“ We look ridiculous,” Zoe says as we both stare into the warped mirror in our room.
I grin. “ And nothing at all like ourselves.”
I feel the buzz of a text and pull out my phone.
Charlie: Just wanted to check in to see how your enemies-to-lovers arc is coming along.
I darken the screen and shove the phone back into my pocket as quickly as I can, then run a hand over my face. Zoe’s looking at me, curious, so I smile and say, “ It’s nothing. Just my sister being a sister.”
We pick up Damjan , who now has the laser scanner we need to use to make a mask overlay of Eliza’s face to affix to Zoe’s face, and we all head back to the waterfront. We scan Zoe’s face since Damjan’s contact needs both. But , I don’t think that Eliza will let me just walk up to her and say, “ Hey , can I scan your face? No particular reason— I just want to.” We think we can hide the scanner in a bouquet of flowers, though, and get her to smell them long enough to scan her face.
Damjan goes to find a lookout spot, and Zoe and I , in our very floral disguises, go to the pop-up flower shop to talk the owner into letting us take over for thirty minutes or so. The owner doesn’t speak English , but he does speak Czech , so he and Zoe have that in common. Zoe talks to him while I stand there like an idiot, not having a clue what they are saying.
Their discussion goes on for a bit, with much gesturing by both of them. Then Zoe slips him a stack of bills and both he and his assistant take off their aprons and hand them over to us. He says a few more things that I’m sure are instructions, then he leaves.
As I put my apron on, I ask, “ What did you tell him?”
Zoe ties hers on, too. “ That we are part of the Security Information Service in the Czech Republic , that we are trying to track down a gem thief, and that we think that the people running the booth next to us are trying to sell the gems to a buyer through the jewelry they are making. I told him we needed to be close so we could investigate undercover. He seemed kind of excited by the idea of his shop being so close to some action.”
I look over at the jewelry vendors next to us— a mom, a dad, and a kid who is about ten— and I can’t imagine a group looking less like international gem thieves.
Zoe works on getting the laser scanner situated in a bouquet of flowers while I talk to customers. And by “talk to them,” I mean I alternate between saying, “ Ne govorim srpski,” which I’m pretty sure I butcher every time, and “ English ?” in a hopeful voice.
This would be so much easier if one of us spoke Serbian . Or if Damjan could man the shop with one of us while the other keeps watch, but since we can’t use him in an active mission because the CIA worries his cover will be blown, he’s on comms and it’s all up to Zoe and me.
I do make a few sales, though, and I’m feeling pretty proud of myself.
A customer who responded with a “ Yes ” to my English question has been eying some sunflower starts on one of the shelves. She turns to me and asks, “ Do these require special soil pH levels? I’ve heard they do.”
Yeah , I have no idea about soil pH levels. “ These aren’t your average sunflowers,” I say. “ They prefer a pH balance that’s equivalent to a light gourmet coffee. Just sprinkle coffee grounds around them every now and then— they love the caffeine boost, especially just as the sun is rising.”
She nods slowly as if she’s trying to decide if I know what I’m talking about or not. Apparently , she decides on not , because she walks out of the booth without buying them.
Zoe turns to me holding a giant bouquet of flowers, with a paper thing wrapped around the outside of them. “ What do you think?”
“ Ten out of ten. I like that you skipped colors that traditionally look ‘pretty’ together and instead went for the bold choice of combining very conflicting reds, purples, and bright oranges. It makes it… festive.”
Zoe rolls her eyes. “ I chose based on which were the most scented ones since we want her to smell them. Come on; give it a test.”
I take the flowers, lean in, and breathe deeply through my nose. The combination of the three “most scented” ones isn’t horrible. Of course, it isn’t exactly pleasing, either. But it is interesting. Enough to take a second sniff.
“ Got it,” Zoe says, looking at an app on her phone. “ Hmmm . One of the flowers got in the way and kept it from scanning the bottom right quarter of your face.”
She rearranges it, then has me try it again between customers.
This time, it works.
“ Did you see the scanner when you were smelling them?”
I shake my head. “ It was the red light that I mostly saw.”
Zoe bites her lip, which takes my attention right to them, and I try not to think about earlier today when those lips were on mine. Or last night, when I felt so connected to her in an entirely different way. “ Well , then, I guess we’re going to have to get her to smell them with her eyes closed.”
“ Head’s up,” Damjan says in our earpieces. “ Mona Liza is on her way to you. She’s about five booths away.”
“ I think she’ll respond better to you,” Zoe says and puts the bouquet in my hands.
I pull back. “ Wait . Are you saying that you think I am going to be better at this than you would be?”
She nearly takes the flowers back, but I turn away. “ Nope . I’m doing it because I agree that I’d be best at it.” I know what kind of flirting Eliza responded to earlier, so I can do it again. Just not with the same voice.
I go to the front of the booth and hold out the bouquet, offering to let people smell it as they walk past. From my peripherals, I see Eliza nearing. She’s ditched the navy blazer but is still wearing the cream blouse and dark pants from earlier.
I run my finger and thumb down the two sides of my big handlebar mustache to make sure it’s stuck well. One of the languages I speak best is Russian , and I’ve got the accent down pat, so I’ll use that accent to keep Eliza from recognizing my voice.
As she reaches our booth, Zoe goes out and around me, like she’s trying to get to the other side, nearly knocking into Eliza . She apologizes, and I take the moment with Eliza halted to say, “ You are a beautiful lady. You’re the first person whose beauty matches the beauty of this scent. I’d be honored if you would stop to smell.”
I suddenly don’t think she’s going to say yes. She doesn’t seem like the type of person to stop and smell the flowers often.
“ Oh , thank you.” She looks toward the café, then glances at her watch and nods. “ Okay , I think I’ve got a tick.”
I think it’s my voice that got her to say yes. My accent is very different from the accent I use as Tobias , but something in the sound of my voice seems to enthrall her in the same way. It’s too bad it’s not a universal thing for everyone I run across. It sure would make life easier.
Just as she’s leaning in to smell, I pull the flowers back and say, “ Wait . I need to set the scene. Okay , now close your eyes. I want you to picture yourself standing in the middle of a meadow.”
She looks wary for a moment but then I guess she decides to throw caution to the wind because she closes her eyes. I continue, trying to make my voice extra… whatever it is this woman likes about it. “ You’re standing with your arms out, eyes closed, tilting your face toward the sun.” I hold the flowers up to her, and I can see Zoe on Eliza’s other side, pressing the button in the app to start the scanner. “ Now breathe in deeply,” I say as the red line moves across her face from top to bottom, “taking in the scent of all the flowers that surround you.”
She does, keeping her eyes closed. And then just as the laser is crossing her bottom lip toward her chin, she inhales three breaths in quick succession then sneezes, loud and big. I barely pull the flowers back before the gale hits them.
“ Oh ! I apologize. That’s a bit whiffy,” she says, pressing a knuckle under her nose. “ I wasn’t expecting that. Um , if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get to a lunch date.”
I turn to Zoe , who is looking down at her phone. She lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “ It’s not perfect, but it’s probably enough.” She meets my eyes. “ You did good.” She takes the bouquet to the back of the booth, reaches into the middle of the bouquet, pulls out the scanner, and then slips it into her bag, all while I’m in shock at the compliment.
I’m in the middle of selling a woman some flowers when the owner comes back. He apparently doesn’t agree with the amount of money the woman is offering— and I’m accepting— and starts to say something in Serbian , but then he sees the bouquet that Zoe made, and he seems even more upset about that. And a little overdramatic.
If I had to guess the translation of his words, it would be along the lines of, “ Why would you put those flowers together? Are you trying to make people’s noses sad? Make their eyes want to cry? I cannot occupy this space for one more second with such a travesty in my midst!” He takes off the paper thing wrapped around the bouquet and starts putting each of the stems back where they go. Once they’re all back, he calms, like the world was made right again.
Then he seems to remember that we don’t speak Serbian and talks to Zoe in Czech , glancing over at his jewelry-making neighbors. I’m guessing that she’s telling him that they weren’t the gem thieves we thought they might be. He nods a few times, and when the people look over, obviously sensing that they’re being talked about, he smiles big and waves. But when he looks back at Zoe , he seems disappointed that he wasn’t part of some big dramatic thing. She pats him twice on the shoulder before we leave.
We head over to Damjan and hand him the scanner. He’s going to take it back to his contact, the contact is going to make the mask, and Damjan will get it to us later tonight.
As we walk away, Zoe says, “ We are going to have a difficult time finding something for me to wear as I impersonate Mona Liza . She has a distinctive style that we aren’t going to find just anywhere. I think that if we want to be successful in the morning, we need to break into her hotel room and borrow an outfit. We already know where she’s staying.”
“ True ,” I say. “ Do you have a plan for how to break in?”
Zoe grins as she pulls a keycard from her bag and holds it up. “ I swiped it from her purse when I bumped into her. We’ll just need to find a hotel employee to cozy up to so we can get them to give us her room number.”