“I’m an old man who lives a normally quiet life,” Henri said with a chuckle. “I’m not the type who requires an entourage. I was simply visiting friends.”
Prague? How had I been in four countries within the span of a week, and now I was heading to another? How was I even moving forward at this point? “Why Prague?”
“My home in Prague has proper security and people who know me.” Henri looked at me over his shoulder. “Plus all of my documentation, photographs, and letters are there. You’ll want to see them.”
Garrett caught up to Henri with two long strides and showed him an image on his phone. “Is this the man who visited you?”
Henri frowned at the photo. “Yes.”
“Conrad Richter,” Garrett said to me.
My steps stuttered. “How is he already here?”
“I don’t know.” He put his hand on my back and ushered me aside while the other two men came to a stop and waited for us. “Arthur told me Richter’s boss, Werner Kessler, has an estate outside of Prague. If we get on that train, we’re not just walking into Henri’s territory, but we’re walking into Richter and Kessler’s.”
Kessler. The obsessive collector who’d do anything to get his hands on the egg.
“In London,” he said quietly, “Richter warned me about the hard way. You remember?”
My chest tightened as I replayed the moment Garrett had found me, stashed me in a doorway, and confronted the man who’d been following me. The man who’d stolen my lip balm, thinking it was the egg. “I remember.”
In London, I’d been so determined to prove Garrett was overreacting and that I didn’t need protecting. So stubborn about my independence I’d walked straight into danger. But standing here, looking up into Garrett’s dark brown eyes, with his body between the crowd and me, I didn’t feel weak. I didn’t feel like I was in danger.
I felt safer here than at any other time in my life. “If you’re willing to go, I’ll go.”
He nodded once, gestured for me to continue walking toward the train, and pulled out his phone. After half a beat, he said, “Arthur? Yeah, it’s me. Richter was in Zurich. He showed up at Henri’s hotel an hour ago asking questions. We’re heading to Prague tonight.”
Prague.Closer to answers about Didi. But, oh my god, Prague!
Garrett grunted a few responses as we walked. Phone in his left hand, duffel over his left shoulder, and his right hand still floating at my back. Still moving me forward, or making sure Ididn’t wander off? When he finished with Arthur, he pocketed his phone. “We’ll have backup when we get there.”
“Backup?”
“I’ll fill you in when we have some privacy.”
When we reached the entry to the sleeping car, Henri handed us our tickets.
Dmitry checked his watch and inclined his head toward the main hall. “I need some food. Does anyone want anything?”
Henri withdrew a long wallet and pressed some euros into Dmitry’s hand. “There’s a wine shop in the concourse. Something red plus glasses, if they have them?”
Dmitry nodded and headed for the main hall.
We boarded and found Henri’s room at the end of the train. He stopped at the door and pointed down the narrow corridor. “Yours will be in the next car, Grace.”
Garrett walked with me, not slowing when he pointed at a door and said, “My room’s here.”
We continued into the next car, to where my compartment sat at the end of the train. It was a compact space with an L-shaped gray sofa that wrapped around a small table, bunk beds stacked against one wall, and a window showing the platform outside. A tiny bathroom was tucked behind a door. Two small bottles of sparkling wine sat on the table next to a tray with glasses.
I rolled my bag behind me and slid it under the bed. “What’s the deal with Arthur and this backup?”
Garrett dropped his duffel on the sofa, the egg still nestled inside the travel pack strapped across his chest. “He’s flying to Prague tonight. He and Merlin are in Monaco right now, but they’ve wrapped up what they needed to do and are taking the company jet.”
“Flying would be faster than the train?”
He nodded thoughtfully. “But without aprivatejet, airlines also require documentation, a lot of waiting, and a whole lot more security feeds for someone to use to find us.”
Right. “Plus I don’t really fly well.”
