Chapter 16 #2
“It’s Grace who’s been the real hero,” Josh said. “That pocket square thing was genius. And now with Kadjic’s pocket squares becoming one of Molly’s fashion creations—”
“And the original copy of Gustav Klimt’s The Maiden,” Stirling added, like that was no big thing.
“Oh my God,” Josh muttered. “That was supposed to be my job!”
“It’ll be like the Art Institute in Chicago,” Stirling said soothingly. “You’ll sit in the truck while Grace, Carl, Tienne, and Danny pull the job.”
“That’s nothing like the Art Institute,” Josh said grumpily. “And remember how you and I almost got blown up?”
“What are you and I doing?” Liam asked, suddenly aware not only that Stirling hadn’t said he’d be in on the art job but that this plan had been arranged without his input as well.
“You’ll be with the rest of us, liberating the—”
“The Spelyy Persik,” Josh cried triumphantly.
Stirling wrinkled his nose, and Liam tapped his marginal cache of Russian phrases. “Ripe peach?”
They all grimaced.
“Fucking charming,” Josh muttered. “But yes. I traced the LLCs that owned the shell companies under Kadjic’s umbrella until I found one that specialized in—and I quote—‘maritime investments.’ If you look at it, it pays for berths in ports, various vessels, gas, employees, which I assume means muscle and not the sex workers, and miscellaneous.
It has a huge budget, so I’m thinking bribes.
Look under ‘Vessels’ and ‘D??in’ and here you have it.
In D??in, the Spelyy Persik.” He let out a harsh breath. “The ripe fucking peach.”
“Wait,” Liam said again. “Stirling, are we doing both jobs at the same time?”
Stirling gave him a placid look. “Did I forget to mention that? See, Danny said it was one thing when Kadjic had to go across the world to get to us, but this time, he’s splitting his attention damned close to the same city.
” D??in was about an hour away from Prague.
It would be close enough to put insane amounts of pressure on him, and for the crew to work the jobs in tandem.
“It has to be done both at the same time, and then we have to poof while we wait to see if he’ll go to ground so we can track him to his home next and, well, get Liam’s people in on that. ”
“Why Gustav Klimt?” Josh asked.
“Why anything?” Stirling replied disgustedly.
“I mean, I love the painting, although I’ve pretty much hated everything else Kadjic has liked, but I guess Kadjic has spent the last eight months trying to negotiate buying it from the museum.
They refuse, because, well, it’s a fucking classic.
It’s one of Prague’s top ten featured pieces of art in a lot of lists. So if it suddenly disappears, Kadjic—”
“Will see it as a finger in his face. I get it,” Josh said.
“Both at the same time?” Liam demanded, because fuck Gustav Klimt!
It had finally really hit him that Josh was going to be on one side of the city while Liam was on the other, and as he stared at Josh in fury, he saw the absolutely calm expression of a man who had figured this out about three beats ahead.
“It’ll be fine,” Josh said softly. “I’m going to be in the truck running ops. I mean, it’s not as good as the van we’ve got at home—”
Stirling snorted. “The hell it’s not,” he said. “Your Uncle Leon must really love you, because he came through in a big way. These are, like, secret police vans, retrofitted with modern equipment.”
“How do you know it’s not for my mother?” Josh asked, but he had a troubled expression on his face as he said it.
“Maybe it’s for the whole family,” Liam suggested, and Josh shot him a grateful smile.
But still, Liam could see the trouble remained, and he thought he saw the source of it.
“You want we should have supper with your mother and Leon tonight?” he asked softly, and Josh nodded.
“Apparently it’s Josh’s week to get healthy, both emotionally and physically,” he said lightly, and Liam noted the use of the third person. It was something Josh and Grace did when they were talking about personal growth.
“It’s a magic thing,” Stirling said, completely serious. “Once you start having sex, it’s like you have to.”
Liam cocked his head. “Is it, though? Is it really?”
Josh winked at him. “Maybe it’s a Salinger thing,” he said, but Liam shook his head.
“Maybe it’s that you and your friends are all really young,” he said, the age difference hitting him again.
Josh shrugged. “Could be,” he said. “Does that mean you’re going to say no the next time I try to seduce you?”
Liam felt the flush flooding from his chest, along his extremities, and up to his ears.
“No,” he mumbled, glaring at Josh as Josh resumed his relentless tapping. “So, Stirling, tell me again about the job? If we’re splitting up, I think we need a whole lot more information.”
“IT’S SO weird,” Josh said as he and Liam caught a rideshare to the hotel.
Stirling was meeting up with Tienne at the museum so they could scope out the place with Danny, but Josh was under strict orders to rest. Logistics—and the noisiness of the group as a whole—dictated they get a room at the hotel because Danny’s apartment had become, in Danny’s words, “A bohemian commune,” and Leon had provided them with a private room on the same floor as the suite.
“What’s weird?” Liam asked, feeling like his head was on a swivel.
The idea that Kadjic was practically in the same city after his interaction with Josh—hell, with the entire family—was making him paranoid.
He couldn’t get over the absolute horror of being seen on the street, in a shop, at a restaurant by the mobster, who undoubtedly had access to a whole lot more muscle here than he did in the States.
“I feel fantastic. The plasma infusions are like a magic potion, but the time I spend getting them feels like the ultimate in being an invalid. I can’t even explain it.”
“Right, boy-o, that’s weird.”
Josh regarded him mildly. “And the bug up your nose is named…?”
“I’d rather not say his name,” Liam muttered as they got in the back of the small vehicle. “Not in public.”
“Freaking you out?” Josh asked, grinning.
“Too right,” Liam muttered. “But tell me more about you feeling better.” He offered a less-distracted smile. “I can’t get enough of that.”
Josh sighed and leaned his head against Liam’s shoulder. “I’m hungry,” he declared. “Can we get something amazing to eat on the way to the hotel?”
“Apple strudel?” Liam asked, eager to hear it. To his memory, Josh hadn’t voluntarily eaten since he’d asked for real food on the train. They’d managed to get a pretzel down his throat before he’d really gotten scary.
“Schnitzel,” Josh said. “I understand there’s a fusion place that does garlic tomato breading on their schnitzel—Grace hasn’t shut up about it. Want to stop there? It’s about a block before we turn off into the hotel.”
From the front of the Uber, a young woman with her hair done in several braids and tipped in purple, as well as sporting a nose ring, said, “I know the place. I’ll stop there while you run in for takeout if you like.
” Her voice was lightly accented English, and while Josh engaged her in conversation—and arranged for Liam to stop for takeout, it seemed, Liam sat back and allowed himself to relax a little, as he hadn’t done since Stuttgart.
“So where are you from originally?” Josh asked. “Mm… eastern Canada? Maybe Toronto?”
“Good ear!” she said delightedly. “I’ve been here for ten years. My original job was as a nanny, but the kids grew up, moved out, and I’d fallen in love. I did not want to leave.”
“Well, it is a beautiful city,” Josh said.
“Not with the city!” the girl chortled. “With my girlfriend! I mean, Prague is beautiful and all, but as soon as she gets her passport and visa, we’re going to Toronto immediately.
I’m dying to get married, and my parents can afford to throw us the works, but not if they have to fly the whole family to Prague! ”
Josh chuckled. “Absolutely fair. Well, I appreciate the rec for the food. The Mozart is amazing, but I miss eating on the streets of a city, you know?”
“You’ve traveled a lot,” she said knowingly. “Always hoping to find that wonderful little hole in the wall that is magic for your visit to a new city.”
“Exactly!” Josh crowed. “You understand. My best friend is here too. I’m glad he can do the exploring since I can’t right now.”
She was paused for traffic at the moment, but she took him in as he leaned against Liam.
“At the hospital—it was bad?” she asked delicately, and Liam knew without looking that his cheeks were hectic with his newfound vigor but that his face was pale with the almost chronic lack of oxygen.
“Not so bad,” Josh said. “Bad would be cancer again. This is just getting too worn down before I was fully up to a hundred percent.”
“That’s still a shame, particularly when you are on a romantic vacation.”
Liam felt more than saw Josh’s eyes on his face, and some of the panic that had seized him on the train from Stuttgart bled out of his body.
He met Josh’s eyes happily—but with a certain resignation.
This would be life together. Whether Josh’s body was 100 percent and he was pushing it to 120 percent, or whether he was trying to rest after pushing himself too hard, the anger at Danny wasn’t the only thing that drove Josh Salinger.
Josh Salinger drove Josh Salinger. He wanted to see, do, be, explore, enjoy, manage all the things. And he was so bright, so competent at everything he tried, he could fool the world into thinking it was no big deal.
Liam understood what a big deal it was. It was Liam’s job to catch him when he got knocked down.
“It hasn’t been bad,” Liam said softly. “I understand our balcony overlooks the river.”
Josh smiled delightedly. “Some blankets—”
“—a heater,” Liam added sternly.
“And some takeout. I mean, it’s the Mozart. How could it not be romantic?”