Page 107 of Thief of Night
“I promise,” said Posey, speaking for the first time.
“Absolutely,” Malhar told her, holding up his hands in surrender.
She must have felt guilty, because she stopped scowling. “I know you’re only trying to help. I do appreciate it.”
“We’re not going to cause any trouble to your process,” Charlie promised.
Then, with obvious reservations, Vera left, looking for a hotel employee that didn’t exist, in an office that wasn’t due to open for forty-five minutes.
Charlie went immediately to the laptop on the table. The file Vera had been printing from was open, so it was easy to add “Lena Hall” and a deliberately misspelled “R. V. Caver” to the spreadsheet of attendees. It was possible that Archie had checked to see if Remy was on the list after last night. Hopefully, the misspelling would explain why he hadn’t come up in a search.
Once that was done, Charlie checked Vera’s Google Calendar. And there on the screen were a series of appointments. The first one was marked for 8 a.m., which meant they’d missed intervening. One quickened shadow was already gone. The second was set for 11:30 a.m. That was the window for their heist. Charlie had worked with less.
When Vera returned, more flustered than ever, she thanked them for waiting and printed their badges.
Red came in a few minutes later, conveniently stepping out of shadow just before the doorway. It took a little longer to get his badge, as first Vera had to find it in the system, then he had to explain the whole thing about ID to her, and then she had to call Archie. By the time he and Charlie left, more people were coming in. They went on to breakfast.
“Morning,” Red said, under his breath.
Even that made Charlie feel a flush of heat prickle on her skin. This was ridiculous. She needed to focus.
In the hall, talking with a person she didn’t recognize, she saw the redheaded puppeteer who’d dragged her out of her house to see Mr. Punch. She turned her head, hoping he didn’t see her.
“Tonight we leave,” Charlie said. “After the cocktail party.”
Posey looked mulish. “Nothing happened last night.”
“The person who killed Rooster is here somewhere,” Charlie reminded her. “We don’t know who he’s looking for.”
Red put his hand on Malhar’s shoulder. “Very possibly Mr. Punch.”
“You think the psycho who murdered all those people in Hatfield wants tokill me?” Malhar said.
“It’s not really you,” Red reminded him unhelpfully.
“I am going to prepare for my speech,” Malhar told them. “And, apparently, my demise.”
He must really like Posey to have let her talk him into this.
“If anyone seems like they’re following you, call,” Charlie told him. “And Posey, keep watching the shadows.”
Her sister nodded, heading off with Malhar.
The breakfast area was set up as a buffet. Charlie and Red walked down the line. She filled her plate with fruit and something labeledBLUEBERRY & MASCARPONE–STUFFED FRENCH TOAST.Red got a bowl of congee, bacon, and three soft-boiled eggs. Then they seated themselves at a table with two strangers who immediately introduced themselves with firm handshakes.
“I’m Lars,” the first one said, pushing hair a brighter blond than Red’s back from his face. He wore plaid pants with a dark blue polo shirt and neon blue socks. “I flew in from Sweden. There are so many retreats that promise so many things. I hope this one is sincere in its claims.”
“Lena,” Charlie said. “And this is—”
“Hej,” Red said. “Call me Carver.”
Lars laughed. “Hej! Very good.”
“And I am Shawn,” the other guy interrupted. He wore a baseball cap over dark hair, dusted with gray. With his jeans and sneakers, he looked casual, but the labels made it clear the outfit was expensive. “From Los Angeles. I want some unvarnished truths. Like, did you know the Cabals started because one guy stole a bunch of books from a library? He and his friends read them and then they burned them. That was the start. But no one talks about that.”
Charlie had no idea if Shawn’s origin story was true or not, but she leaned heavily toward not.
“Instead of wanting knowledge to be for everyone, they decided it would just be their little anti-elite clique. So they came up with the idea of the Cabals.”
