“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 saidhe’dbe 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—”
“TheSpelyy 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 ahugebudget, so I’m thinking bribes.Look under ‘Vessels’ and ‘Decin’ and here you have it.In Decin, theSpelyy 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.”Decin 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 topoofwhile 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,Ilove 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, becausefuckGustav 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 mustreallylove 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 youhaveto.”
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 awholelot more information.”
“IT’S SOweird,” 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 inthe same cityafter 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.
“Ifeelfantastic.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.”
