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hat exactly are you proposing?”
“You allow me to go as I’m supposed to. I’ll get the detonator from Mulvaney. When I signal, it will be safe for you to enter.”
“You’re joking, right?”
She said quietly, “I will give you information. Everything I know. About his crimes, and those of mine it is safe to reveal. You will get the biggest assassin in the world, close hundreds of open cases, both thefts and murders and espionage. Then I will give you back the Koh-i-Noor.”
Nicholas said, “What do you want in return?”
“I go free. No one looks for me. I’ll take my money from my accounts and the money Lanighan paid me, and I will disappear. This was my last job. I’m retiring. No one will ever hear from me again.”
Nicholas said, “What’s to make us believe you’ll honor your end of the bargain?”
Mike said, “Yes, I’d like to hear this.”
Kitsune said, “The truth? The one man I’ve ever trusted has betrayed me. I want to know why. He killed Elaine.” She met his eyes, and he saw the pain not hidden deep enough in hers. “The minute I heard about the cyanide, I knew he’d done it. He’s used it before; it’s a trademark. It was unnecessary, a waste. Elaine had done nothing. Nothing at all, but it didn’t matter. And the tranquilizer gun. He always said using it kept him from bruising his knuckles, and he’d laugh because he’s one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen. He taught me everything.
“And Grant—” She broke off, and was silent.
“What do you care for Elaine?”
“She was my friend, too. And she’s dead because of me, because of what I told her. I didn’t realize at first that she really wanted to believe the prophecy, but she did, she was so excited about the possibilities, the magical possibilities—Mulvaney didn’t need to kill her, she was harmless.”
Nicholas said, without expression, “Yet you were perfectly happy to let her take the fall for stealing the diamond. You were the one who told us she met with Kochen.”
She shrugged. “I was alive; she wasn’t. I had to save myself.”
Nicholas said, “Elaine told me about the prophecy. Three stones would heal the sick.”
Kitsune said, “It’s even more than that. Lanighan believes uniting the three stones will bestow immortality. His father believed it, too.”
Nicholas was fascinated. “You tried to steal the Koh-i-Noor for his father as well?”
“No. His father told me the prophecy and hired me to find the lost stone, the one Anatoly ended up with. But I didn’t find it in time for him.”
Nicholas said, “I want a listing of everything you’ve ever stolen so we can put it to rights.”
“You must know I can’t do that, Drummond. You’ll get me killed. It’s one thing to fail, but I’ve been in business for a very long time, and there’s no way I’m going to drop the dime on my other clients. I will tell you what I stole for Lanighan’s father, and everything Mulvaney did. He and I never shared clients. If my clients are dead, and there is no threat to me, I will share the information. Will that do?”
Nicholas saw Mike wasn’t happy. He said, “Come with me.”
Kitsune heard them talking in the background, then Mike making a series of calls. She could hear anger in her voice. Kitsune didn’t like her, but she respected her. Perhaps, in another life, young Victoire Couverel would have grown up to be more like Michaela Caine. But the thought of being a cop nearly made her laugh aloud.
After fifteen minutes, Nicholas came back and said, “Yes. We are in agreement.”
Kitsune was careful to show no expression. She only nodded. “Good. I will have the information for you, and you will have a signed, notarized paper for me declaring my immunity from prosecutions by the U.S. and Great Britain for my role in the theft of the Koh-i-Noor, and blanket immunity from any other crimes you may see fit to try and hang on me.”
“But first the Koh-i-Noor. Hand it over.”
“What time is it? I can’t read my watch.”
“It’s nearly midnight. Eleven-forty, to be exact.”
“Then you need to get me to the warehouse right away.”
Mike snorted. “We aren’t letting you anywhere near that place alone.”
Kitsune said, “You have no choice. I stashed the stone there, and you’ll need me to get to it.”
