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She laid her cheek against his chest, a satisfied sigh blowing across his skin. “Mozambique Island. There is an old church with a graveyard. It’s where Issa is buried. I hid it in a vase that is mounted to the tombstone next tohis.”
“Tell me about the data onit.”
“Oh no.” Thalia sat up, her long hair falling over her shoulder in a mess of tangled waves, the small streak of blue peeking through the thicker strands of black. “I answered one of your questions, now you answer one ofmine.”
“Ah.” Grant grinned. “Twenty questions time. Fine.” He leaned back and pillowed his arms behind his head. “Askaway.”
“What are you? What do youdo?”
“Ah-ah. That’s two questions.” Dammit! Of course she asked the one question he couldn’t fully answer. When she cocked her eyebrow he had the sudden urge to cover his dick. “Fine.” He took a deep breath, fighting the urge to give her the usual rehearsed answers. “Officially, I’m a contractor. Unofficially, I’m a semi-retired beach bum. That’s all I can tellyou.”
“So you are an operative, like Salinasaid.”
Grant shot up onto his elbows. “She told youthat?”
Thalia shrugged. “Not exactly. She thought I was your partner or something. I put the piecestogether.”
Grant shook his head and collapsed back onto the counter. “She knew better than to talk atall.”
Thalia resettled against him and threaded her fingers through his. “So now that I know, you’ll have to kill me, huh? All that secret agent codestuff?”
Grant suddenly felt dirty lying next to her. It was a metaphorical sensation, but he could almost smell the grime of the world that had touched him. If she only knew how much evil had touched him she wouldn’t be so quick to joke. “Something like that,” he chuckled and released her hand. When she tensed a little against him, he tilted her chin up and stole a quiet kiss. “You’re safe with me, Thalia. No one will hurt you. I will make sure ofthat.”
“I believe you.” She nodded and he released her chin, rethreading his fingers withhers.
“Now. Tell me about what’s on the thumb drive and what makes you think Jauhar killedIssa.”
“Hey! That’s twoquestions.”
“Tit for tat, fossa. Spillit.”
“But you didn’t actuallyanswer…”
He trapped her arm against his chest and poked his fingers into her side, relishing the feel of her squirming in his arms as she giggled and laughed. Oh, yeah. His little fossa was ticklish. It was sort of an odd feeling. He’d never tickled anyone before. He stilled and let her calm, but kept her trapped against him. “Spill it or I’ll be forced to continue my torture to extract the information Iseek.”
She laughed. “Torture by tickle. You’re such a badass, Mr.Kendal.”
He moved in on her again and she squealed, batting his hand away. “Okay! I’ll tell you everything!” He let her catch her breath and something inside him hummed when she relaxed against him. He hated that they had to sober such a playful mood with talk of dirt-bag bullshit, but he needed to keep her safe as much as he needed to hear herlaugh.
“When Issa was killed…” He didn’t miss how difficult it was for her each time she had to talk about her uncle’s death. He didn’t push her as she swallowed back her sadness. He’d never lost anyone close enough to care that much. His mom walked out long before he was old enough to remember her. His dad was nothing but an abusive drunk. A religious zealot and hypocrite who beat the hell out of him every chance he got until he was thrown into foster care at ten. He was shuffled through a dozen foster homes for three years before he finally quit going home and stayed on the streets. His adult life had shown him a few people worth his respect, but no one he would cry for when they were gone. When she wiped away a tear he wondered if he would cry for her when their time wasover.
He waited quietly, unsure of how to comfort her. After a long pause she cleared her throat, her cheeks turning as red as her eyes. “Sorry. I usually don’t let things get thatmessy.”
Grant took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing the tender flesh of her palm. “No need to be sorry. You lovedhim.”
She nodded and rested her head on his chest. “Yes, yes I did. I still do. I’m not sure, but I think he was involved in something,Grant.”
Grant released her hand and curled up to sit beside her, looking down into her silver eyes to see them filled with doubt. “What do youmean?”
She looked away, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth. “When his estate manager went over his will there was a lockbox full of random stuff; leather bound ledgers, discs, a few coins and unopened envelopes. I didn’t even look through it at first. I dumped it in a closet at a friend’s house I’d been staying at. I couldn’t…I couldn’t bring myself to go back to his house or go through his things. A few weeks later, Issa’s house had been broken into, and then someone ran me off the road. I laid there, half unconscious as some strange guy searched through my car and my purse.” Grant resisted the urge to curl her into his arms as she closed her eyes and relived what she was telling him. “I remember him saying that I wasn’t worth the bullet he was about to put in my head. That Jauhar was wasting his time looking for a thumb drive when he should have just killed me and burned down the house. I…I don’t know what stopped him. I heard someone shouting and then he was gone. I woke up, still in my wrecked car, a few hourslater.
“I went through everything in his office, his house, in his vacation home in Madagascar. I couldn’t think of anything Jauhar, or anyone else, would want bad enough to kill me for. Then I remembered the lock box. When I went through it I found the thumb drive and a digital recording of a conversation between Issa and Jauhar.” She swallowed hard then raised her face to his, her eyelids slowly opening to reveal her silver eyes glistening against pools of tears. “Jauhar threatened to have him killed if Issa didn’t pay him for something. Issa was scared, Grant. I could hear it in hisvoice.”
“What did he owe Jauhar moneyfor?”
She shook her head, her shoulders rising and falling with a helpless shrug. “I don’t know. He had money. Tons of it. It doesn’t makesense.”
“I know this is hard for you, fossa, but I need to know.” He caressed her shoulders and her arms to calm her. “How did Issadie?”
