Fuck. It wasn’t even zipped closed. I upended the contents onto the bed—wallet, phone, tissues, a compact mirror, loose change, and so much stuff. “Is anything missing?”
“I don’t—” She stared at the pile, brows furrowing. “I don’t think so?”
“Check. Carefully.”
She picked through the items, sorting through everything. She paused. Looked again. Moved a few things aside.
“My lip balm.”
“Lip balm? Are you sure?”
“It’s—” She made a shape with her hands. Round. “It’s pink. About this big. Kinda egg-shaped.”
“Fuck.” Egg-shaped. Roughly the right size. I dropped the empty purse onto the bed. “He was checking if you had it on you.”
“Had what? The—” Her eyes went wide. “Theegg? You think he was trying to find the egg in mypurse?”
“He knew it was small enough to carry.” I moved to the safe and punched in the code. “You’d left the hotel without me, which meant you might have it with you. He bumped you, swept a hand through your bag, felt something egg-shaped, palmed it. Probably realized his mistake as soon as he got clear.”
“That’s why he kept following me.” Grace’s words came out slowly as the truth dawned on her. “He thought I might still have it, so…”
The safe clicked open. The velvet bag sat inside, untouched. I pulled it out, checked its contents, then secured it in the travel pack strapped across my chest.
“Garrett.” She stood in the middle of the bedroom now, arms wrapped around herself. “What is going on?”
“He said his employer wants to make an offer on the egg.”
“An offer? That sounds?—”
“Civilized?” I grabbed my toiletries from the bathroom. “Yeah. That’s how he said it. Very polite.” I tossed my toothbrush into my bag and raised my voice enough for her to hear me. “I told him if you wanted to sell, it would go to auction, and his employer could bid like everyone else.”
“And?”
“And he said his employer israther insistentabout being the one who ends up with it.” I exited the bathroom and stopped in front of her to make the situation as clear as possible. “And he told me he loves it when people choose the hard way.”
All the color left in her face drained from it.
“That’s why we’re leaving. They know the hotel. If he suspects you didn’t have the egg on you, he’ll guess it’s here. Staying means waiting for him, and whoever else his boss sends, to make a move on their timeline.” I tossed my toiletry bag into my duffel and zipped it closed. “Leaving means I decide when and where.”
She stood frozen, another shirt clutched in her hands. “So what do we do? Abandon the trip? Go home?”
“We go somewhere they’re not expecting. Regroup. Figure out our next move.”
“Where?”
“Paris. The French archaeologist we talked to on the plane lives just outside of the city.”
“Paris.” She let out a short laugh. “We’re fleeing toParis.”
“Would you prefer we stay here and wait for them to come back with more than one guy?”
“No, I just—” She shook her head, turning back to her suitcase. “This is unbelievable. This morning I was researching Tower of London tours, and now I’m running from international art thieves like I’m in some action-adventure movie.”
“It’s not a movie.” I moved to the window, checking the street below. Foot traffic appeared normal. No one lingering, no vehicles idling. “In movies, the hero always shows up in time. In real life, sometimes the bad guys get there first.”
“And you think they’re going to do what? Break down the door?”
“I think people have done worse for objects worth less. Your egg is worthat leasttwenty million dollars. You’d be surprised how many people would kill for that.”
