Read Online Peccadillo - A Katla Novel (Amsterdam Assassin Series Book 2) by Martyn V. Halm - Free Book Online

the bed before I could fall.” Anouk looked at her. “I didn’t know Bram was at your place. I was leaving a message when I had another spasm and the phone slipped from my grasp.”
    “I’ll get you some water,” Bram said. “So you won’t have to get up.”
    He left the room.
    Anouk gave Katla an apologetic smile. “I envisioned our first meeting to be different.”
    “Less dramatic, you mean?”
    “Uhm, yes. And I’m not looking my best.”
    Katla shrugged. “You don’t have to impress me.”
    “I might want to try.” Anouk grinned. “Although Zeph told me not to bother.”
    “He did?”
    “Well, if a bullet doesn’t impress you…”
    Katla leant on her cane. “That bullet made a deep impression.”
    Bram entered the room with a bottle of water, which he put on the bedside table. “For when you get thirsty.” He turned to Katla. “I have an aikido class in less than six hours, so we better leave now.”
    Anouk nodded. “Thanks for everything.”
    “No problem,” Bram replied. “Call me tomorrow if your spine still hurts.”
    “Oh, my phone. It’s under the bed somewhere.”
    Bram sank down on his knees and felt around, came back up with a phone, a battery and a battery lid.  
    Anouk put phone back together and switched it on. “It still works. Again, I’m sorry.”
    Katla flashed her a smile. “You’ll have to impress me some other day.”
    “Maybe I will,” Anouk replied and turned off the light.
    -o-
    Bram went straight to bed, but Katla stood by the window in her dark living room and gazed out over the buildings of Artis. The Reptile House with its muted green glow, the silvery trails of the footpaths.
    Her gaze shifted focus and she compared her dim reflection with the image in her mind. The tattooed nude on the bed, glistening doe-like eyes looking up at her, her gaze containing more than idle curiosity. She knew that look all too well. There was no denying the arousal in Anouk’s eyes.
    Katla turned from the window and limped to the bedroom, where Bram snored gently. She slipped under the covers and pushed her buttocks against his warm belly. His breathing changed and his sleep-heavy arm curled around her waist. She snuggled closer, his warm breath moist against the back of her neck, and closed her eyes. Thinking of ways to turn this new information to her advantage, she drifted off to sleep.

TRACKING

    With his hands flat on his desk, Gene Zhang listened to Nicky’s report, his gaze fixed on the fingernails. Nicky finished and took an apologetic stance. He hoped Chen, standing behind him, did the same. If Chen was stupid enough to show amusement, Nicky wouldn’t save him. Not this time.
    Zhang put his hands together and lifted his head. “Sphinx should’ve been ours.”
    Nicky didn’t reply, but looked calmly into Zhang’s eyes, drawn to pinpricks in cold fury.
    “We have a shipment of perishable goods waiting in Macao, Nicholas. And the Gizeh will sail the day after tomorrow. Lau has forty hours to correct his mistake.”
    “We’re close to locating Sieltjes, Elder Brother. We’re tracking the taxi driver, so we know where he dropped her off.”
    “Forty hours,” Zhang repeated. “Lau better not fail again.”
    Chen and Nicky bowed and left the office.
    -o-
    The small man in the big chair looked up from his laptop and smiled at Nicky. “I have the information you requested.”
    “You have her address, Feng?”
    “Sieltjes expected to be followed.” Feng pointed at the laptop showing the GPS track. “I’m inclined to disregard the first stop.”
    Nicky looked over his shoulder. “Why?”
    “I put myself in her shoes. Java Eiland is a huge area, with many high rise buildings. And he stopped in the middle, so we’d have to consider her living anywhere within walking distance.”
    “It is an affluent area,” Nicky said. “And the second stop?”
    “He took a roundabout route to Artis.”
    Chen looked over Feng’s other shoulder. “The zoo?”
    “Which