searching for news. Seems like the police have egg on their face and they’re not going to pursue it anymore. They’ve got two thugs to put in jail, so they’ll make do with that. But I’ve got something to tell you.”
She filled him in on her stay in Tel Aviv, leaving out everything she’d learned about Jake. She hadn’t processed the information enough to feel like sharing it with anyone, even Hound. He was shocked to hear that Abiyram was dead.
“I’m really sorry to hear that. Are you sure the bullet wasn’t meant for you?”
“We were sitting four feet apart. A sniper wouldn’t miss by four feet.”
“Wasn’t he the guy you were going to bring onto the team?”
“Yes, but I never had a chance to confirm it. Hound, do you . . . do you think maybe we should all go our separate ways? Make this scattering permanent?”
“What the fuck for? ’Cause I tried to get into your pants again?”
“Oh, please. There are bigger issues here.”
“I don’t know. You didn’t see what you turned down.”
“Smart ass. I’m serious.”
“I’ve yet to hear a reason.”
“You know the reason. Danger. It’s my job to deal with whatever I stir up, but I’ve involved you guys too long. You and Glass are getting married, starting a life together.”
“Yeah? Where’d you hear that?”
Maliha bit her lip before responding. “It might have something to do with the engagement ring she’s wearing. The ring you gave her.”
“Technically you gave me the diamond, so I wasn’t acting of my own free will.”
“Would you please just shut up, you exasperating man! You’re getting married, Yanmeng is getting older, and Amaro will get married . . . eventually.”
Jake and I . . .
“Amaro is already married—to the Holy Motherboard. And if Yanmeng heard you call him old, he’d wipe the floor with you.”
“Not a chance!” Maliha paused. She was falling into Hound’s verbal trap, allowing him to lead her away from the main point.
“Okay, seriously. I have no intention of cutting off my work with you. I believe in what you’re doing. You’ll have to do a better vanishing act than you did in the alley to leave me behind, and then I’d spend the rest of my life looking for you. Besides, I couldn’t live like this if I wasn’t in your condo.”
“You’re where?”
“I hid out in a dump of a motel out in the suburbs. They had a sign that said ‘No Bedbugs, No Crabs,’ and they were halfway right. I slept in my rental car. Have you ever considered with the prevalence of nasty critters in even respectable hotels lately that rental cars . . .”
“You’re in my condo.”
“I figured if there were going to be any repercussions it would happen fast, at the speed of YouTube. I stayed at the bedbug paradise a whole four days before crawling back. Don’t take that too literally.”
“Since you’re there, you should know that a shipment of around fifteen boxes will be arriving. Please accept them and put them in the living room.”
“Are you mad at me?”
How can I be mad at someone who just pledged loyalty like that? She examined her feelings and found that she felt more light spirited than she had in a while.
“No . . .”
“Sorry about your friend,” he said.
“Uh-huh.”
“Hey, Amaro sent me something on the key before he took off. He said it’s from a resort in Greece.”
“That makes sense. It would be near the island Lucius owned. How did Amaro know that?”
“Microengraving on the inner surface of the hole where you’d attach a key ring. It’s the resort’s logo. It’s their way of making sure no one duplicates the key.”
“This must be some ritzy place.”
“Caters to the ultra-wealthy. They must have an expensive spa or something.”
“You wouldn’t believe the cost of some massages. Wait a minute—Amaro got all of this from a picture of the key?”
“Um, we have a 3D digital camera and some software that lets him view the image from
She filled him in on her stay in Tel Aviv, leaving out everything she’d learned about Jake. She hadn’t processed the information enough to feel like sharing it with anyone, even Hound. He was shocked to hear that Abiyram was dead.
“I’m really sorry to hear that. Are you sure the bullet wasn’t meant for you?”
“We were sitting four feet apart. A sniper wouldn’t miss by four feet.”
“Wasn’t he the guy you were going to bring onto the team?”
“Yes, but I never had a chance to confirm it. Hound, do you . . . do you think maybe we should all go our separate ways? Make this scattering permanent?”
“What the fuck for? ’Cause I tried to get into your pants again?”
“Oh, please. There are bigger issues here.”
“I don’t know. You didn’t see what you turned down.”
“Smart ass. I’m serious.”
“I’ve yet to hear a reason.”
“You know the reason. Danger. It’s my job to deal with whatever I stir up, but I’ve involved you guys too long. You and Glass are getting married, starting a life together.”
“Yeah? Where’d you hear that?”
Maliha bit her lip before responding. “It might have something to do with the engagement ring she’s wearing. The ring you gave her.”
“Technically you gave me the diamond, so I wasn’t acting of my own free will.”
“Would you please just shut up, you exasperating man! You’re getting married, Yanmeng is getting older, and Amaro will get married . . . eventually.”
Jake and I . . .
“Amaro is already married—to the Holy Motherboard. And if Yanmeng heard you call him old, he’d wipe the floor with you.”
“Not a chance!” Maliha paused. She was falling into Hound’s verbal trap, allowing him to lead her away from the main point.
“Okay, seriously. I have no intention of cutting off my work with you. I believe in what you’re doing. You’ll have to do a better vanishing act than you did in the alley to leave me behind, and then I’d spend the rest of my life looking for you. Besides, I couldn’t live like this if I wasn’t in your condo.”
“You’re where?”
“I hid out in a dump of a motel out in the suburbs. They had a sign that said ‘No Bedbugs, No Crabs,’ and they were halfway right. I slept in my rental car. Have you ever considered with the prevalence of nasty critters in even respectable hotels lately that rental cars . . .”
“You’re in my condo.”
“I figured if there were going to be any repercussions it would happen fast, at the speed of YouTube. I stayed at the bedbug paradise a whole four days before crawling back. Don’t take that too literally.”
“Since you’re there, you should know that a shipment of around fifteen boxes will be arriving. Please accept them and put them in the living room.”
“Are you mad at me?”
How can I be mad at someone who just pledged loyalty like that? She examined her feelings and found that she felt more light spirited than she had in a while.
“No . . .”
“Sorry about your friend,” he said.
“Uh-huh.”
“Hey, Amaro sent me something on the key before he took off. He said it’s from a resort in Greece.”
“That makes sense. It would be near the island Lucius owned. How did Amaro know that?”
“Microengraving on the inner surface of the hole where you’d attach a key ring. It’s the resort’s logo. It’s their way of making sure no one duplicates the key.”
“This must be some ritzy place.”
“Caters to the ultra-wealthy. They must have an expensive spa or something.”
“You wouldn’t believe the cost of some massages. Wait a minute—Amaro got all of this from a picture of the key?”
“Um, we have a 3D digital camera and some software that lets him view the image from
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