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“I gathered that when the comms unit went dead.”
Mia looked up and smiled. “You were worried about me.”
“Of course, I was worried about you. You’re my best friend.”
“I’m your only friend.”
“Even more reason for me to be concerned.”
“From what I overheard, the guy who spilled the drink down your dress wouldn’t have minded signing on.”
“Oh, please. He had on some cheap, rented tux, his shoes looked like he’d thrown them in the wash to get them clean, his hair was a mess, he had at least a day’s growth of beard, and he works with his hands.”
“Good with his hands is never a bad thing.”
Mia scrabbled past Claire to get into the driver’s seat, start the engine and pull away. “You weren’t followed, were you?” Her eyes checked the rear and side view mirrors.
Claire joined her up front. “Of course not. What happened? I was in place.”
“I know. I was watching the men remove the necklace and they were moving toward the deserted exhibition hall. I was waiting to get everything in place and then nothing. I couldn’t hear you; my ability to use their cameras to see you vanished. Like in the blink of an eye. Nothing. I tried to reach you over the comm. I even tried your cell phone. There was nothing. It was as if someone had dropped a shroud over the van. I was completely and utterly jammed.”
“Who could do that?”
“Not many people outside the government. I mean, there are one or two black ops groups. Only Cerberus is based here in London, but then there’s also the alphabet agencies—some homegrown and some from around the world. You’ve pissed off a lot of people, Claire. People we shouldn’t have been messing with.”
“I may have gone after them personally, but I never took anything from any government. They’re taking the necklace back to Paris. Do we know how? Any chance we can snatch it before then? I know how you feel aboutChateau des Templiers. Maybe there’s an opportunity…”
“I think you may have to give this one up. That’s twice we’ve tried, and twice we’ve missed…”
“You know what they say, third time’s the charm.”
“We got to kind of skate by tonight, but the last time you almost got caught. I think we need to go dark for a while. The fact that someone has made a run at us digitally…”
“But they’ve failed.”
“That’s not really the point. The fact is, they know we’re here. These have been targeted attacks, and tonight they jammed me completely, which means either they knew where we were physically, or they know enough about us digitally that they could do it. I’m not really sure which worries me more.”
Claire reached out and squeezed Mia’s arm. “I’m sorry. I get so focused on winning the prize that sometimes I forget the toll it takes on you. If you think we should step back, we’ll step back.”
Mia shook her head. “Don’t do that. You are not responsible for any of what happened tonight. We’ve had a good run without any issues. I’ve always known at some point, someone was going to start trying to link things together and figure out if there was a pattern and if so, who was responsible. I think they are a long way from knowing who we are. They’ve just figured out there is someone. I just need some time to build a digital maze with several catastrophic ends for them and construct some new fire walls.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d have been caught a long time ago,” Mia laughed. “I know your granda was the best when he was young, but back in his day, they didn’t have to go up against all the electronic and digital alarms, sentries, and other devices.”
“I’m going to follow your lead on this one. The last thing we need is for anyone to figure out what we’re up to and who we might be. We’ll get our shot, or maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Mia nodded as she drove to the warehouse where they kept the van. From there, Claire would take Mia home to Chelsea before heading to her own home and bed in Greenwich.
* * *
FLETCH
Curious girl—bold, beautiful, and bodacious. Not like so many of the women—men, too—at these kinds of events. They tended to make polite small talk while trying to figure out who they should be seen with. Instead, she’d insulted his tuxedo and his shoes, but the pupils of her eyes had flared briefly when he suggested what he’d been thinking. He didn’t think she was the usual rich girl looking for a little rough and dirty with the lower class. She’d been right about what he was wearing, but Ryland Fletcher would have bet money on the fact that she had not been ‘to the manor born.’
Fletch was impressed by her willingness to speak her mind and show her emotions, but she’d fled before he could truly engage with her. When he’d caught a glimpse of her again, he’d thought of giving chase, but he’d needed to ensure the necklace got into the hands of the courier. The armed guard and the armored car had been a ruse.
Give chase. Now there was an intriguing thought.
