After a brief conversation, Elle handed the baby to the young woman, who waved goodbye and managed to head out under a full head of steam with both kids. Sam released a breath, but a bit of wistfulness tugged at her heart. She was beginning to understand what it felt like to be a sister, but what would it be like to be an aunt? Just the sight of Elle holding that baby had started a whole kaleidoscope of possibilities tumbling through Sam’s head. She’d never really thought about family before. Now she was seeing generations of it ahead of her.
Glancing across the waiting area, Elle spotted Sam and walked over.
“Hello, sis,” Elle said, sounding totally American instead of Russian.
“Hi,” Sam replied.
Elle glanced up at the man beside Sam. “Who’s your friend?”
“You’re twins,” the big man observed.
Elle smiled but didn’t take her ice-blue eyes off the man in black. “He’s cute, but has he always been this slow?”
The man frowned at her.
“I don’t know,” Sam admitted. “I just found him.”
Looking a trifle uncomfortable, the man crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“He’s big,” Elle said, grinning slightly. Her blue eyes sparkled. “Can we afford to feed him?”
“He’s not staying,” Sam said. “Do you have bags?”
Elle patted the carry-on. “Just this one. I knew you said we’d be on the go tonight, so I made arrangements to have my bags delivered to my room.”
“Good.” Sam was already feeling antsy to be moving. She looked up at the big man. “Well, good luck finding another tourist to guard.”
He nodded.
Elle fixed him with the full force of her ice-blue eyes. “Do you have a name?”
“Joachim,” he said, then looked a little irritated.
Sam thought maybe it was because he’d answered before he could stop himself. Elle had that effect on men. Even though they were twins, Elle was able to do more with her looks and her personality than Sam was. She’s just more willing to take risks than I am, Sam thought for what must have been the thousandth time.
“I’m Elle.” She offered her hand.
Joachim took Elle’s hand and held it for a moment, then seemed reluctant to let go.
“Are you going to be in Amsterdam long?” Elle asked.
“A few days.”
“Maybe I’ll see you around.”
Sam didn’t think that was a good idea. Joachim was rousing her warning senses. Maybe it was the quiet way he moved, or the fact that he’d avoided the two suspicious-looking men who now seemed to have disappeared, or maybe even the fact that Elle was acting twitterpated over him, but Sam wanted him gone.
“Perhaps,” Joachim replied. He offered a small wave. “Have a safe trip.” Then he was in motion, walking away from them.
Elle watched him go.
Despite her misgivings, and feeling a little guilty because Riley was back home missing her, Sam also watched the big man walk away. The tight leather pants hugged his firm butt in ways that Sam could appreciate even though she was spoken for.
“Wow,” Elle said.
“Wow?” Sam grumbled.
“Definitely wow,” Elle replied. “He’s one of those guys.”
“What guys?”
“Those guys you hate to see go but you love to watch leave.”
Sam grimaced. During the last year of getting to know Elle, she’d found her sister was much more outspoken than she was. “Personally, I thought he was creepy. He appeared behind me, out of nowhere. He told me he thought I was a tourist and shouldn’t be alone.”
“Doesn’t sound creepy to me. Sounds like a nice guy.” Elle glanced at her meaningfully. “You’ve already got a nice guy. Maybe that’s why you’re invulnerable to Joachim’s mutant abilities.”
“Mutant abilities?”
“It’s from a children’s cartoon show,” Elle explained. “The X-Men.”
“In your country?”
“In yours.” Elle gave her a perplexed look. “You know, it surprises me sometimes how little you know about being a kid.”
I didn’t get to spend a lot of time being a kid, Sam thought.
“What mutant abilities does he have?” Sam asked.
“Irresistible charm and devastating looks. Definitely. Oh, and brooding menace.”
“I must be invulnerable.”
“You,” Elle countered, “have Riley.”
The crowd flowed steadily out of the building as the train powered up to depart again. Joachim and the two other men were nowhere in sight.
“What’s on the agenda?” Elle asked. “You said part of this little get-together was going to be a working vacation.”
“I’ve got to find someone.”
“We already found someone. You let him go.”
“Look,” Sam said, more shortly than she intended because she was tired and tense from meeting with Elle and dealing with Allison and Alex’s unexplained request, “if you hurry, you might be able to catch up to him.”
A calm look filled Elle’s face. She touched Sam’s arm. “Hey, just joking, Sam. I’ve been really looking forward to seeing you again. It’s been three months. I’m kind of jet-lagged from the trip. To make this happen, I’ve had to be up and running for the last thirty-seven hours. I’m not at my best.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam said. My sisterly skills could definitely use some improvement, she thought. During their time together, Elle was always the more relaxed one, more able to accept everything that happened. As a foster child, Sam had always fought to maintain security and familiarity. She didn’t like it when things changed.
“No biggie,” Elle said. “Buy me a mocha latte along the way and you’ll find I can be all about forgiveness.”
Sam smiled and shook her head. “Do you realize that sometimes you sound more American than I do?”
“I,” Elle replied, “take that as a compliment. I’ve worked hard to sound that way.” Leaning in, she whispered conspiratorially in a thick Russian accent that she had once assured Sam came from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Sam had gotten on the Internet to learn who those cartoon characters were. “Eet vas all included een my secret spy training, comrade.”
“Terrific,” Sam said. “Are you ready?”
“Yes. Why haven’t you already found the guy that you were sent here to find?”
Sam led the way out of the terminal. “It’s possible that I’ve been looking in the wrong places.”
“Where did you look?”
“At his house.”
“Hmm. That’s a good place to start. He wasn’t home?”
“No.”
“What about his place of work?”
“He’s a criminal,” Sam said. “He doesn’t keep regular hours or an office. He lives on a houseboat, so even his residence moves around a lot.”
“Makes