“We don’t actually want you.”
He inhaled, a sound that was the second honest reaction she’d gotten from him tonight.
Their kiss had been very honest.
“What do you want then?”
“We want Renouf. We want you to give us everything you have on him.”
“If I had anything on him, why would I give it to you?”
“Because…” She let her words trail off for dramatic effect. “My agency can provide you with a new identity and a well-heeled life outside the organized crime world.”
3
RIGHT UP FRONT Joshua saw problems with Lindy’s offer. All of them his. Staring into her eyes—into green and gold lights sparkling in the glow of the Classical Antiquities display—he tried to guess the thoughts behind her mysterious gaze.
Lindy had to be playing him. MI6 couldn’t easily extricate him from his world. Men like Henri were not only meticulous at choosing their associates, but also at eliminating them when they no longer served a purpose. Joshua had made himself invaluable so elimination never became an issue.
Lindy made her deal sound like a one-off, but a new identity meant paying for the privilege. MI6 might start with wanting everything Joshua had on Renouf, but there would always be someone else they wanted information on. And they would know he had the resources to get them what they wanted.
Joshua had no illusions about how government agencies operated, and they weren’t squeamish about breaking the rules. Especially intelligence agencies. They conducted as many illegal operations as the bad guys, but frankly, Renouf and his associates paid better.
Which was Joshua’s next problem with the deal.
Until he discovered exactly what MI6 had on him, he wouldn’t know how to handle Lindy.
The fact that she’d shown up at this function proved she knew more than she should. How much more remained the question.
“What makes you think I know Renouf?” he asked.
She gave a sultry smile. “I’m having déjà vu. Didn’t we have this conversation in the hall?”
“Where you failed to prove complicity on my part.”
“I wasn’t trying to prove complicity. I was proving a point. Several actually.”
“I got the obvious. You’re following me, and you’re clearly not just a pretty lady in a fancy dress. What did I miss?”
“The olive branch. I solved your little problem to prove I was acting in good faith.”
“What does your agency want with Renouf?”
“We believe he has been funding the thefts of various relics from British museums and Royal residences. We’ve found connections that go back decades. The man’s a menace. An extremely dangerous one.”
“I’ll have to take your word.”
Lindy only smiled.
Great. This was a no-win situation if ever he’d seen one. Renouf was obsessed with expanding his private art collection, and Britain had every right to be pissed about its lost relics. Joshua was caught squarely between them—he even had the White Star burning a hole in his pocket to prove it. While not originally a British relic, the amulet had spent a good century in England.
“Answer a question,” he said. “If you think I can connect you to Renouf, why did you choose tonight to make contact?”
“I received a tip you were coming to town to conduct business here in Manhattan.”
He’d have loved to know where that tip had come from. “Business at the museum? Were you thinking entrapment?”
She shook her head, sending wisps of light-brown hair around her cheeks and neck. He could see the pulse beat low in her throat, the tempo steady. Whatever else might be happening, he wasn’t rattling Lindy, which meant she thought she had the upper hand.
“Why tonight?”
“All right.” She exhaled a tiny sigh that closed the distance between them. “I’ve been briefed on you, Joshua, and I have to admit I’m impressed. You’ve led me on a merry chase since I started following you.”
He couldn’t tell if she thought he’d known he was being tailed. He hadn’t, unfortunately.
“So what did I do to lead you on a merry chase?”
“Well, tracking you to the Piazza Hotel wasn’t any trouble, of course. But you spent your first day in town inside the hotel. I couldn’t get close to you while you were inside your room, but there was that lunch in the bar. You took a call on your cell phone. A secured line.”
She must have seen something in his expression because she waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t look so surprised. I happen to be very thorough.”
Damn straight. “How did you know I’d be here tonight?”
“You came out of your room today.”
He swallowed back a relieved breath. His first day in town had been spent arranging to have the White Star stolen from a police precinct property room, so Lindy had missed all the good stuff. Today he’d only arranged social events with acquaintances in an effort to legitimize his visit and provide cover for the White Star’s delivery.
“You followed me today.” Not a question. Let her think he was playing the game so she couldn’t confirm whether or not he’d known about his tail.
“Right to Lily Covington’s co-op. From there it was two plus two and all that. Since I know why you’re in town, I figured you were likeliest to take delivery during some busy social function. It seems to be your MO. I’m prepared to follow you wherever you go for however long it takes.”
Two things struck Joshua in that instant—that she claimed to know his business and that she thought he had an MO—something he’d worked hard not to establish.
“Take delivery? What do you think I’ve come to collect?”
“The White Star.”
He was too skilled to reveal his surprise, but with the amulet in discussion suddenly weighing heavily inside his pocket, Joshua felt the confines of this display—and this museum—as if the walls were closing in.
No matter how attracted he was to this woman, Joshua had zero reason to trust her.
Forcing a manner of calm he wasn’t close to feeling, he said, “Okay, Lindy. Obviously you think you have something, and you do—my attention. But I’m a businessman with connections to most of the people attending this event. Would you mind continuing this conversation elsewhere?”
“Not at all.”
He didn’t say another word while leading her from the gallery, without even bothering to pay his respects to Lily Covington. He’d send a gift tomorrow to make up for the slight, but right now he needed to clear his head and collect his thoughts to deal with the problem at hand.
The lovely lady strolling along by his side.
She was obviously very confident in her ability to defend herself because she left the museum and took to the streets with that pulse still keeping even time in her throat.
Of course, if MI6 had a file on him then she had backup—if anything happened to her, he would be the likeliest suspect.
Amazing how he could feel so hemmed in on all sides in such a huge city. Ironically, tonight was one of those classic New York nights from the movies. Lights from a million windows sparkled beneath a low-hung moon that cast the city in a star-drenched sheen.
Joshua