AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah, alas, my lovely, the paintings are being shipped tomorrow morning.”
“What service do you use?” A totally plausible question.
“I use Navis to do the packing. They will transport the paintings to my private jet.”
“Navis is probably the best.” She didn’t want to push it and ask where he kept his jet. Most likely the agency already had that information. “Thank you again, Mr. Alkali.”
“Please call me Mahdi. It would be most enjoyable to be in your company again.” He handed her a business card with just his name and phone number, engraved in gold.
“Thank you, Mahdi.” Melanie’s fight-or-flight instinct was kicking in, but she knew she had to make as graceful an exit as her entrance.
When she reached the sidewalk, she spotted James several yards away. He walked toward her, carrying the cashmere wrap.
He opened the door and drove around the corner to the entrance of the alley. Gilmour was waiting and jumped in.
“You could get fired for abandoning your post, sir,” Melanie chided him.
“Good work, Sylvia.”
The driver looked in the rearview mirror. “Good to see you, boss.”
Melanie turned to Gilmour. “Boss?”
“He’s one of ours, Mel.”
“I figured as much, but one of yours?”
“We gotta keep a tight ship. James, put the pedal to the metal, please, and take Ms. Carlyle to her humble abode.”
When they arrived at Melanie’s, she invited Gilmour in for a nightcap. “I think we earned it.”
“James, do you mind waiting for a bit?”
“Not at all, sir.” The driver got out and opened the door for Melanie. She pulled the wrap tightly around her. This one wasn’t getting away.
When she unlocked the door, the dogs were waiting and cocked their heads again. “It’s me!” She pulled off the wig and skullcap and ditched her shoes.
“By the way, you looked stunning tonight.”
“Who wouldn’t, wearing ten thousand dollars’ worth of clothes?” She chuckled and led the gang into the living room.
She poured a cognac for each of them as the dogs settled into their beds. She curled up on the sofa, with Gilmour only a few inches away. They clinked glasses.
“What’s the next step?” she asked.
“Since Navis is not covered under diplomatic immunity, their truck will be pulled over for a traffic violation tomorrow. The police officers will find a small amount of cocaine in the driver’s seat.” He used air quotes for find. “That will require the van to be confiscated and investigated.”
“How long will it take before we find out what Alkali was trying to smuggle?”
“You and I will know by the end of the day. I don’t know whether or not the State Department will make the finding public.”
Another clink of the glasses. “Here’s to Pierre Bayard, whose hissy fit will lead to a discovery.”
* * *
The following evening, Melanie got the phone call she was hoping for. “Mel. You hit the nail on the head. It was paper. Very important paper. Highly classified paper.”
“Whoa. For real?”
