Page 15 of Dangerous Rhythm

Curtis heaved a sigh. “Thank you.”

Mom pulled Dad quickly up the stairs.

“And no hanky-panky!” Curtis shouted after them.

seven

Lina drove through the private gate she’d been directed to and continued to another gate, where Marcus stood waiting. The short ride from the Bisset’s home to Mercer County Airport was uneventful, except for the family phone call to Curtis’ sister, Callie, that he’d insisted on.

“Stay in here until I get you,” Lina told Curtis and his still shell-shocked parents.

She exited the car and greeted Marcus.

“The plane’s ready. The flight plan and manifest are for limited eyes only,” Marcus informed her.

“You’re sure you can trust people here?”

“It’s never a guarantee. But as soon as we get them out, the better,” he said. “So, Paris, huh? It isn’t exactly discreet.”

“It’s far from New York and the Stilettos’ reach,” she answered. “Not my first choice to lay low, but with the addition of the parents, I agreed to keep the family together. Curtis called his sister on my phone to inform her about the situation. She argued to bring her family to her.”

Lina was about to sigh dramatically, but caught herself and silenced her frustration instead. Curtis must’ve rubbed off on her.

“You’re not going soft, are you?” Marcus teased.

“You won’t last five minutes in that car listening to them arguing,” she said.

“And you want to get them together?” he questioned.

Great. Now, my boss is questioning my judgment.

“I thought it through. We have resources in France. If I need more backup, it’s a phone call away. Callie also has access to a house in Provence if we need to remove ourselves from the city. We both know what happened to her and that psycho who almost killed her. She doesn’t take safety for granted. Plus, she's married to Brandon Rossi—”

"Who is our client as well." Marcus finished her sentence with a nod. “I trust your judgment. I’ll have a small team pick you up when you arrive in Paris. Stay alert. As far as I know, the Stilettos’ territory is in the tri-state, but who knows what kind of connections Serafina has in the biggerborgata.”

“I’ll keep him safe. Removing the family from being an easy target is the right thing to do,” Lina reassured Marcus.

“I got the Aquarius CEO approving anything we need to do to keep our boy safe,” Marcus said. “He isn’t just an asset to him and his wife—he’s family. They spoke on the phone with me directly.”

“I understand.” Lina was well aware of Curtis’ connection to Dean and Rae Rowland. When you spent days with people, staying at their hips, you learned a lot about them.

Marcus signaled someone to grab the bags from the Honda.

“I can’t believe I’m going back to Europe again.” Lina sighed. “I haven’t even gotten over my jet lag yet.”

“Look at the bright side: You’re already in the right time zone.” Marcus patted her back with a small laugh. “Detective Durhambelieves the two families will take care of each other, and it’ll probably be safe to bring the Bissets home in a week. That’s what we’ll tell them.”

“But we don’t know that,” she protested.

“That’s what they want to hear. Let’s focus on that for now,” he said in his commanding voice.

Lina nodded, albeit reluctantly.

Marcus put on a bright smile before he turned and signaled Curtis and his parents to come out of the car. He shook their hands, assured them they would be safe. He encouraged them to consider the trip as an impromptu vacation and not to worry about a thing.

He was good at making sure his clients felt safe. And Lina would make sure she didn’t make a liar out of him. But her well-honed instinct warned her that the threat would not simply go away on its own, like Durham or Marcus wanted to believe. Serafina Stiletto wouldn’t give up a vendetta easily.

“Everything will be fine, Mom,” Curtis assured his mother. “As long as you continue to respect Callie’s boundaries.”

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