Page 10 of Never Enough

Nemo looked around. “Dammit, she’s gone again!” He ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it when he reached the ends in the back.

“Getting late, bro. Shop opens in two hours. Someone’s probably going to be there soon. You probably should head out.”

“Did you see which direction she went?”

“North. She didn’t get the moonstones, did she?”

Nemo checked his pants pocket. The bag was still there. When he looked at the tabletop, the stray diamond was missing. “She took a souvenir,” Nemo admitted. “But just one.”

Midas snorted. “Luckily, that works out. We need to replace one with a fake anyway. Waters wants us tracking thesestones. He thinks they’re going somewhere beyond the original owners.”

“Any idea why?”

“Nothing yet, but he thinks they’re headed for Italy. I didn’t ask why he thinks that.”

Nemo began to dress. “All right. I’m on my way back to the rendezvous point. I’ll let you know when I’m at the airport.”

“I’ll be available until I know you’re there. Safe travels.”

Nemo heard the distinctive click as Midas severed his connection. Once dressed, he snuck out of the shop and through the street that he’d come down with his little cat burglar in the wee hours of the morning.

When he reached the edge of town, he looked back at Riquewihr with a sigh.

Au revoir, Le Chatte Noire. We will meet again. And when we do, you will not be getting away for a third time.

With that final thought and a resigned smile, he rubbed at the low ache in the area of his chest. He slipped into the forest’s edge, jogging a roundabout path to where he’d stashed his motorcycle the night before. Within ten minutes, he was back on the road and headed to the small airport where his ride awaited, his brain replaying the stolen hours during the night.

Even as he allowed himself to drift into sleep on the airplane, his dreams were filled with a mop of springy blonde curls, vivid blue eyes, and an impish smile.

4

JUNE 29, 2022

Nemo

“Would you rather…”—he dragged out his opening gambit—“only be able to have sex in the shower or on a table?”

It was pitch black, hot as hell, and Nemo was bored. It wasn’t an uncommon state for him. Only thing he liked better than breaking into places and stealing shit was running. All the physical activity was part of what Tribe hired him for. It’s what made him great at apprehensions when someone got the urge to flee. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, his current job required sitting and watching. Those were not his strongest skills. He could do them, and he could do them well, but he hated waiting and left those tasks to others whenever possible.

Like Steel. He was a master at waiting.

Without turning to look at him, the Latino man next to him, lying on his stomach and looking through his scope, asked, “¿Qué?”

Nemo scratched at his scruffy, dark-blond beard and repeated himself. “Would you rather only be able to have sex in the shower or on a table? You know. Like you could only ever do it that one way your whole life.”

Steel huffed quietly. “There is something seriously wrong with you.”

Nemo frowned and reared his head back slightly. “What the hell do you mean?”

“We’re supposed to be gathering intel on Ka-Bar, and you want to talk about my sex life?”

Nemo snorted. “If Kubrick’s brother was ever here, he’s long gone by now. Loki, Gilgamesh, and Medusa reported seeing him here in April. There’s no way someone would still be holding him here.”

“Even if he’s not here, this location could give us breadcrumbs on where to look next. I’m sure Kubrick would be much happier knowing that you were invested in finding her brother rather than wasting our time on that stupid game. And I refuse to go back to the boss man empty-handed. He’ll move heaven and earth for his woman, and I don’t want to be caught in his earthquake.”

Shrugging, Nemo lowered his night vision goggles over his blue eyes and focused back in the same direction Steel was watching. “Okay, Hansel, we’ll look for your breadcrumbs. But I’ll have you know, Kubrick loves my quirky charms. I’m Mr. Funderful.”

“Jesucristo, she called you that when she was frustrated with you. Can’t you tell the difference between sincerity and snark? You’re around her enough—you should know by now.”

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