“Why do peoplealwaysunderestimate me?”Grace retorted.“Why doesn’t somebody go online and check for it?”
And Josh realized hehadunderestimated his friend.
“Stirling!”he whispered, clicking his earpiece three times to change receivers.
“Josh?”Stirling asked, sounding frantic.“You okay?”
“Cramped,” Josh admitted.“And would love some fresh air.But Grace just told Kadjic to look online for a stolen Rothschild Egg at the museum.”
“Did he really?”Stirling squawked.
“Does it matter?Trace that request to Kadjic’s phone, and then you can track him should he ditch this vehicle!”
“Oh my God.Oh my God—that’s brilliant.I don’t know ifI’mthat brilliant—”
“Please-please-please-please…,” Josh whispered.
“I’m working!”Stirling practically sang.
Josh kept his begging to himself after that and tuned in to what Grace was saying.
“Well, did you find it?”Grace asked, presumably speaking to one of the flunkies.
There was a flurry of Russian, too fast for Josh to follow, and then Stirling said, “Woohoo!I found it!”
“I’ll leave a tracer here,” Josh whispered.“And one wherever he?”
“Josh, he’s heading here.”
“He’s what?”Josh squeaked.
“What was that?”Kadjic asked.
Josh held his breath, and Stirling told him, “He’s heading straight for Decin.It worked—we spooked him.But he’s heading for us, and we’re not done yet.”
“Shit,” Josh muttered.He was thinking,Reveal myself now or wait to see… reveal myself now or wait to see….But at that moment Grace spoke up again.
“You found it,” Grace said smugly.“I can tell.See?Left that egg right there.Why, did you want it?”
“Iwantedthe Klimt!”Kadjic snarled.“And now I get neither Klimt nor egg.What do you say to that, you rank guttersnipe?”
Grace started to cackle.“Mister, my father can buy and sell you for spare parts.You don’t have to be born in the gutter to know how to snipe, you hear me?”
Josh winced, and in his ear, Stirling—who must have tuned in to Grace’s frequency too, said, “He must be really scared.”
“I should get their attention,” Josh murmured.
“No!”Stirling yelped.
“No!”Grace yelped too.
“Stay there until you can really help him,” Stirling urged.
“Fine,” Josh grumbled, and he didn’t state the thing he knew and they didn’t.Even if the hatch popped, he would need help getting out.His body, the thing he’d valued for his independence, was giving out on him when he needed it most.Careful in the confines of the trunk, he rolled to his side, making sure not to crush his earwig.There was an emergency foil blanket back there, and he pulled it over his body, not sure if he was overheated from the engine or freezing from the fifty-degree coolness permeating the trunk, but knowing a shock blanket was never a bad idea.With a deep breath against the panic of claustrophobia and of knowing Grace was in the hands of their most mortal enemy, he closed his eyes and put his biggest asset to use.
Think-think-think-think-think….
Oh shit.
