Chapter Twenty-Five Shady Meetings Are Always Held in Public Spaces
West
Adelina, as it turns out, is not a big spoon. For accuracy’s sake, I think it’s better to classify her as a murderous koala. She has her arms around me, which I normally wouldn’t take issue with—because who doesn’t like being held in the soft embrace of a woman?
The only problem is that she has me in a literal chokehold. I can’t draw a proper breath. My heart is pounding in my ears. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m blue in the face.
I tap her elbow roughly. “Can’t. Breathe.”
“Hm?” Adelina yawns.
“Umbrella.”
Thankfully, she comes to her senses just in time. With a gasp, Adelina releases her death grip on my throat and pulls away. “Oh my God, are you okay?”
I give her a thumbs-up. “There are probably worse ways to go.”
Only then do I realize that the pounding I thought I heard in my head is actually coming from the front door.
Someone is out in the hall, banging their fists, eagerly trying to get our attention.
My mind turns to the worst-case scenario.
Could it be Berruci? Maybe he’s discovered the truth and learned that I’m here in France instead of searching for his thief. My fears are assuaged when I hear—
“I swear to God,” Joseph hisses. “If you’re dead in there, I am going to kill you. Open up already!”
Adelina is the first to jump out of bed, giving me a hesitant look before retreating to her room and shutting the suite doors firmly behind her.
Well. I guess she isn’t too keen on being seen together. Not that anything really happened last night to be embarrassed about. We fell asleep halfway through a midnight run of Amélie.
When she told me about her dry spell, I almost felt relieved.
Glad, even, to know that I wasn’t the only one severely out of practice.
Ever since I became Jack’s guardian, I haven’t had much time for dating.
I didn’t realize just how pent-up I was until I kissed Adelina last night.
No wonder we keep pushing each other, daring the other to make a move.
We’re both subconsciously searching for an outlet, waiting on deck and ready for our turn to play ball.
I pad across the rough carpet and open the door to a very irritated Joseph. His arms are crossed over his chest, foot tapping away like he’s trying to send me a message in Morse code. It’s strange seeing him so distressed.
“About time,” he huffs.
“Good morning to you too,” I say dryly. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Diana and I have been waiting for an update. Has the inside man called?”
I run a hand over my face. My stubble is rough against my palm. I’m going to have to shave soon. “Come on in. I’ll check right now.”
Rifling through my things, I eventually locate my burner tucked beneath my pillow. There’s a brief voicemail waiting for me, Allistair’s words clipped and quiet, as if worried he might be overheard.
“He wants to meet,” I say in partial relief. “He didn’t get into specifics. Only gave an address where to meet him.”
“Okay. I’ll come with you, and we can—”
“He wants to meet alone.”
Joseph frowns deeply at this, and I understand why.
This could be a trap. I could be walking directly into an ambush, for all I know, but I see no other option.
We need a man on the inside, or our entire plan may as well have been brainstormed by an improv group.
But maybe this is the paranoia talking. Allistair likely wants to be cautious too.
Adelina and I had him outnumbered at the hospital at a particularly vulnerable time.
If I were in his shoes, I would do what I could to ensure my own safety.
He wants to meet at a café, which is fine by me.
Alone together in a crowd of possible witnesses is as safe as it gets.
“I’ll meet him in an hour,” I say as reassuringly as possible. “You can circle the rental around in case I need to make a quick getaway.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Don’t worry. I’m a slippery son of a bitch. If anything goes wrong, I’ll get out of there.”
“No,” Joseph says. “I mean you and our hacker.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I reply casually.
“Oh, please. Since when do you smell like flowers?”
“Nothing gets by you, huh?”
“I hope you know what you’re doing. If you end up getting distracted because of some woman and this all blows up in our faces, I will never let you hear the end of it. Understand?”
“What about you and Diana?”
Joseph pauses. “We’re just friends.”
“And I assume that little hickey on your neck there is just a mark of friendship?” I ask coyly. “Getting more than friendly with our investor, are we?”
He brings a hand up to cover the light bruise on the side of his neck, fighting a grin. “That’s, uh…She promised me it wasn’t noticeable.”
I laugh. “Hypocrite.”
“I guess I am.” Joseph laughs too. “Just hurry up and get dressed. I’m getting anxious. Do you really want to be the reason I go gray before forty?”
“Alright. I’ll be down in a bit.”
When he leaves, I hear the suite doors creak open behind me. Adelina pokes her head around the frame, looking at me intently.
“I have to go,” I explain.
“I heard. Give me a second to get dressed.”
“I’m going alone.”
“Like hell you are. You need backup.”
“We can’t risk spooking him.”
“And given how vital you are to our plan,” she says, “we can’t risk you going by yourself.”
“No, Adelina.”
“You let me come with you yesterday.”
“That’s because we had the element of surprise,” I reply firmly. “He asked for a meeting alone, so we need to uphold our end. We can’t act in bad faith.”
“Why? Because of that stupid honor among thieves schtick?”
“Precisely.”
She shakes her head in obvious disapproval. “This is so stupid.”
Unable to help myself, I reach up to smooth out the notch between her brows. “I wouldn’t have you come with me anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Given how vital you are to our plan,” I say, “I need you to stay here and work on that virus, and when I get back, we’ll finally be able to move on to phase three.”
I stroke her cheek with my fingers, marveling at the way Adelina relaxes against my touch. “Fine,” she mumbles.
“Can I get a kiss for good luck?”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to be a distraction,” she says dryly.
“Don’t listen to him—”
Adelina hops up on her toes and plants a sensuous kiss on my lips, catching me by surprise.
My hands find her hips, pulling her close as she teases me with the tip of her tongue.
She tastes minty, like toothpaste, with a delightful note of underlying sweetness.
I think I could get lost in the sound of her soft, contented sigh, be perfectly happy to spend the rest of the day learning all the ways I can hold her tight.
When she pulls away, I give chase, determined to savor her for a few more seconds, only for her to press her fingers to my lips.
“There will be more,” Adelina whispers, “when you come back safely.”
I nod, kissing her fingertips instead. “I will.”
“Good boy,” she says before stepping into her room and shutting the door.
The address Allistair provides leads me to a small café by the beachfront.
I have a clear view of the promenade, as well as the calm ocean waves sweeping up onto the sand.
It’s surprisingly chilly out thanks to the wind sweeping in off the water, but there are plenty of people out enjoying the sunshine.
Sometimes the safest place for a congregation of thieves isn’t in the shadows but beneath the protection of day.
I spot Joseph driving the rental car around the block every now and then, discreetly checking in on me from behind the wheel. He comes around every ten minutes or so, giving me plenty of opportunity to bail without making things so obvious that it will raise Allistair’s suspicions.
I agreed to come alone, and technically I have.
Seated by myself at the table in the far corner with my back against the wall, I’m in the perfect position to see Allistair coming in through the front door.
I already scoped out the exit—just like Michael taught me to do—and I’ve chosen this spot because the back exit is only a few yards away.
Michael made sure I knew how to cover my bases.
Allistair arrives on the hour. I’m grateful for his punctuality.
There’s nothing quite like the anxiety of sitting alone waiting for shit that may or may not hit the fan.
We greet each other with a sturdy handshake.
To an outsider, this looks like a perfectly friendly interaction.
They would never be able to tell that my muscles are clenched and my heart is pounding a mile a minute.
Years ago, a meeting like this wouldn’t have fazed me.
I’ve been out of the game way too long, and I hope it doesn’t show.
I need Allistair to put his faith in me, to chance it with us rather than cave to his fear of Berruci, and he’s never going to agree to work with me if he thinks I’ll snap under the slightest pressure.
We both take a seat, ordering two espressos if only to keep the waitress from hovering over us while we discuss business.
He looks like he had a rough night—tired and restless and emotionally drained.
There are dark circles under his eyes, and I’m fairly certain he’s wearing the same clothes we saw him in at the hospital.
“How is he?” I ask politely. “Your brother.”
“The doctors say his recovery will be slow, but he will be alright.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Allistair reaches into his pocket. My muscles tense. While I’m confident he isn’t about to draw a weapon, it’s better to err on the side of caution. There are no guarantees in this line of work.
Thankfully, it’s nothing nefarious. Allistair produces a small black thumb drive. I reach for it, but he closes his fist around the drive and pulls his hand back. Figures. This wouldn’t be a proper meeting without a little tug-of-war.
“I have conditions.”
“I assumed you would.”
He sets the thumb drive between us in the middle of the table, a bargaining chip as much as it is a bomb. “Everything you asked for is on that drive,” Allistair informs. “Personnel files, our daily rotations and Berruci’s personal schedule.”
I do my best to swallow my excitement. This is better than I could have hoped—a stockpile of ammunition for the taking. If we can keep track of Berruci’s comings and goings down to the nearest second, we’ll be able to move forward with our plan without so much as a hitch.
“How much would I have to pay you to deliver a package for us in my place?” I ask. “If I were to have you insert a USB directly into Berruci’s server, for instance.”
“I don’t have that kind of clearance,” Allistair explains. “I work the gate and patrol the perimeter; only Berruci’s top lieutenants have access downstairs. Even if I tried, I wouldn’t be able to get past the lock.”
“What kind of lock?”
“Key card. The internal code is updated every use. Even if I stole you a key, there’s no guarantee it would work.”
I hold my breath. Damn. I could have saved myself so much time, but I get it. He’s already sticking his neck out for us. “What is this information worth to you, friend?” I ask.
“When all of this is over, I want to take my little brother away from here. A different country where we can start fresh. That takes money.”
“Everything does.”
“Whatever your cut is,” Allistair says, “I want double.”
I do the mental math. Fifty billion six ways is…Well, let’s just say it’s not as neat and tidy as it could be. “I’ll have to talk it over with my crew,” I reply.
Allistair shakes his head. “No. I’m risking everything just being here. You either agree now, or I walk.”
Ah. I guess we’re playing hardball.
I personally have no qualms about taking a smaller cut.
I’ll still come away with enough to set Jack up for life and ensure Berruci can never get his mitts on her.
And I’m sure Adelina won’t mind too much either.
She doesn’t strike me as the greedy type.
She can still help all the causes she’s passionate about with that kind of money.
Diana probably doesn’t care, so long as Berruci gets what’s coming to him.
Joseph is the only one on our crew who might make a bit of a stink, but I can always take from my cut to make up the difference if it comes down to it.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s a small price to pay for the treasure trove of information an inside man can provide. I can’t even fault Allistair for wanting more. He’s just being a good businessman. A good brother.
I stick my hand out to shake. “Welcome to the team.”
“Actually, I have one more condition.”
“What is it?”
“I want Berruci for myself,” he says darkly. His fists are clenched, the vein at his temples pulsing with anger. “I want revenge for Elliot.”
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want the honor. After Jack and I managed to escape to the States, there was a time when all I could think about were ways to take Berruci down. But I can see how badly Allistair wants this. There’s a fire in his eyes—a fire we can use.
I nod slowly. “He’s all yours, my friend.”