Page 125 of Eyes in the Shadows

Wes joins us and pops the cork on a bottle of champagne, tilting his glass and pouring it ? of the way. “You think I’d still have my tongue if Loverboy thought something I said upset her?”

Dimitri raises an eyebrow and looks my way. “Perhaps no,” he says, tone full of approval.

“She’s just sad—doesn’t want this to end. She keeps saying she’s going to miss the two of you… can’t imagine why, though.”

Wes smiles before taking his first sip. “She’s a proper sweetheart.”

“Enough discussion of women,” Dimitri says. “Did the FBI find the guns?”

Wes nods. “I’ve got an ear on the chatter, making sure they reach the right conclusions about the bodies. The mayor’s death won’t stay quiet much longer. A day at most, is my guess.” He pauses, then asks, “What happened to the rest of the crates, Dimitri? The truck had all 24 when we parked it in that warehouse.”

“I split the shipment for safe keeping,” Dimitri replies nonchalantly. “I left some guns and the explosives, in case we decided we did want to blow up the warehouse.”

“What happened to the rest?” Wes asks, taking a sip.

Dimitri cocks his head at Wes’s interest. “They are taken care of. You are concerned that I have these weapons now, or that you do not know where they are?”

It’s an open challenge, and I frown, looking between them. What is this all about?

Wes places his glass back down and twists it from the base of the stem. “I think they all should have gone into evidence lockup. Anyone paying close attention will know the FBI didn’t seize it all, like Rossi’s original buyer.”

“The buyer will likely assume Rossi decided to separate and sell off smaller pieces. But he is dead and they cannot kill him again, so I do not think we will have to deal with them.”

“So, where are they?” I ask the obvious question.

Dimitri cuts me a look. “I have them locked away somewhere very safe. There may come a time where we can use them and we will be glad they are not all in federal storage. You trust me, yes?”

I sit back with a shrug. “Good enough for me.”

Wes presses his lips together and, after a second, nods his head thoughtfully. “You’re the one that’s always on about good communication. Would have been nice to know you did it. That’s all.”

“I agree,” I say. It does irritate me that Dimitri went off on his own and did something without us, but I don’t have much of a leg to stand on with that one. “Not that it really impacted our plan in the end, but it could have caused an issue if the mayor hadn’t shown when he did.”

“True,” Dimitri agrees. “I promise not to do this kind of thing again. We must all trust each other, yes?”

I don’t miss the way he looks at Wes when he says it, though whether it’s because Wes didn’t confirm that he trusted Dimitri when I did or that there’s something else brewing, I’m not sure. I should keep an eye on this.

“Absolutely,” Wes answers without pause this time, satisfying Dimitri.

“Speaking of trust…” I pivot, dispelling the tense moment. “McCloskey said something about Anderson being the one with the contacts. Isn’t it weird that we only got Rossi’s name?” I say, taking a swig and looking at Wes. I don’t know what his connection really is with this man we call The General.

“I think it’s much more curious that we followed Rossi for weeks and never caught wind of Anderson’s part in it,” Wes says with a sigh. “I don’t like feeling like I’ve lost my edge.”

“We must learn from this error,” Dimitri decides. “We probably should start bugging their homes.”

Wes rolls his eyes. “It’s an infringement—”

“Oh, you think so?” Dimitri interrupts with a scoff. “So much more invasive than murdering them?”

“It’s not just the target that lives in a home. There are usually innocents there, too, and that’s an infringement on their right for privacy. Mac, back me up.”

I hold up my hands, thinking about how I’d handled Eleanor’s right for privacy. “You really don’t want me weighing in on this one.”

“So, where will everyone go next?” Dimitri asks, finishing his glass of vodka. He reaches for the bottle to pour another.

“I was thinking of staying until the lease runs out,” Wes says, looking towards me. “If I’m not intruding in the love nest, that is…”

My grin is wry. “You have as much right to stay here as me. You, too, if you’re not trying to rush off,” I tell Dimitri.

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