Page 25 of Pride, Prejudice, & Pretense

"So," Charlie said, drawing out the monosyllable in obvious self-consciousness, "Darcy told you about the tunnel, gave you the key?"

The question was rhetorical, but Lizzy answered anyway. "He did. Said he'd already scouted it, used it."

Charlie nodded, a faint look of significance on his face. "He did. He woke the roosters this morning. I'm not sure he slept at all. I know he didn't sleep much if he did."

Darcy had told her as much but without any hint of significance. Except he had bought her books and a cactus. The cactus was on the marble counter on the far side of her laptop screen. She smiled at it. It made her feel less alone.

Charlie cleared his throat: "So, Darcy also showed you the equipment for tonight?"

"Yes, the trackers, the necklace, and the earrings."

"Fine. You're comfortable with all of them?"

"I am. I've used versions of them before. What's the range?"

"Pretty amazing. A mile, give or take a few yards. Darcy and I will divide the backup today since he's not with you." His manner was subdued, cloudy, not his usual sunny manner.Did Darcy dress him down?She was certain that would be unpleasant, given Darcy's native gravity, the typical weightiness ofhismanner.

Although Lizzy wondered where he was, she did not ask. Perhaps he was just off-screen.

"Darcy will be stationed here, working the tech. I will be in a car, tailing you. A brand-new, Cavalry-blue Camry." Charlie grinned.

"Appropriate," Lizzy said with a laugh.

"I'll do my best to keep you in eyesight the whole time?Wickham’s car, anyway?and I'll have a tablet in my car keyed to your tech so I can keep track of you and at least hear the audio. Don't worry, I'll be around. Just stay out of deserted places, dark corners."

She shuddered. "No worries. Besides, this is his opening salvo, his attempt to soften me up for eventual infidelity. I doubt he'd have followed up so fast if he thought I would immediatelyyield to him. That would suggest I was already corrupted and the causal power would not be his."

"That sounds right, but I will worry. So will Darcy. He's questioning the security guard, our guy, who talked to the priest this morning. They're meeting in the parking deck below your building. Now that someone's been to the desk, I'm going to bug it tonight. That way, we'll know specifically what's happening there, if necessary. We'd planned to do that all along but had to hurry the schedule, given the priest and Wickham. You know the story: the longer a bug's in place, even if the placement is ideal, the more likely it becomes that the wrong person will find it accidentally."

"Accident. The great equalizer."

Charlie smiled. His spirits seemed to be on the rise. "Tell me about it. Accidents have nearly gotten me killed a few times."

"Me, too. Me, too. But there's no making any mission accident-proof."

"No," he said with a self-deprecating grin, "or foolproof."

"Don't, Charlie," Lizzy said kindly. "No harm, no foul. Don't let Darcy's imperious manner make you believe that was anything but a hiccup."

"He was always able to make me feel foolish, even when we were in school. Darcy displaces a lot of water, existentially. A battleship. Me, I know I'm a light cruiser, way less displacement."

"Maybe." Lizzy tilted her head as she entertained the image. "But that doesn't make you superficial or any less seaworthy. Don't let Darcy browbeat you with that high brow of his."

Charlie laughed out loud. "You're one of the few spies I know, Lizzy, who's genuinely funny. It’s like you're the Anti-Darcy."

"I don't know." She thought about her text exchange with Darcy about her pedicure, "I suspect he can be funny…when his dignity isn't in the way."

He shook his head, unconvinced. "So the CIA has tapped into the Chicago traffic cams. Darcy will be monitoring those, too. They'll back up my systems, should I somehow lose track of Wickham's car. Are you planning to take any weapon?"

"No. I always have mace in my purse, so now Fanny does, too. There’s no reason for Wickham to question that if he were to see it. It's part of the urban woman uniform."

"So, architectural tour?"

"That's what he said. At the party, he told me he had studied architecture, but there was nothing on that in the file Darcy gave us, was there?"

"No, I'll ask him about it. He said he put in a request with MI-6 for the full Wickham/Wicker Man file. I suppose we should be glad of Wickham’s previous studies. It'll keep you two in public."

Lizzy nodded. "So…"?this time she elongated the monosyllable?"why do you want to keep your new girlfriend a secret?" She grinned at Charlie with mischief.

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