Page 83 of The Love Scam
Delaney leaned back against the bookshelves and shook her head. “You’re not hearing me. I don’t know what she did with the flash drive. Hell, I didn’t know what she’d done with her daughter forwaytoo long. If it hasn’t surfaced yet, you’re probably in the clear.”
“‘Probably’ isn’t gonna do it for me. ‘Probably’ means there’s still a chance I’ll get pinched again. And at my age, I’ve got no interest in making new friends on my knees.”
“Uh, I don’t think that’s an age thing,” Rake began.
Delaney shrugged, cutting him off. “I don’t know what to tell you, Kovac. She left me a letter. And that’s it. That was always it: two pages, single-spaced.”
“A letter.”
“Yep.”
“In code?”
“No, in English. But it’s not the smoking gun, Kovac. And if it was—well. Like I said. You wouldn’t have had to spend the last week having your people skulk around. The cops would have knocked on your door, or I would have. Oh—and what happened to the A and B teams?” she added, jerking her thumb toward Tall and Small. “Why are you using subs?”
“I like how you’re asking me that, as if you don’t know the answer. They were on your boy toy until Lake Como.”
“Hey! I’m amantoy.”
“Then somebody kicked the shit out of them, and they lost him.”
“Aw.”
“The B team picked him up again outside the hotel that first morning, and thensomeonestole their wallets, led ’em on a merry chase, and called the cops and reported a pickpocket. Who brings their righteous ID along when they know they’re gonna be up to some shady shit?” Kovac lamented.
“Right?” Delaney said. “Amateur hour. What I’ve been saying.”
“And whoever this was also planted a dozenotherwallets on them. Dumbasses are still in jail. I’m sure as shit not bailing them out.”
Yes, loading the bad guys with stolen property was slick. Teresa’s latest stray, the nimble-fingered teen Lillith and Rake would have recognized as the Roma Gypsy who lent them his phone that first day, was quite the talent. And when the cops get a call from one of the more affluent areas in the tourist quarter, they show up in a hurry. The whole thing had taken less than twenty minutes.
“Wait, that’s why you ducked out on Lillith and me? You spotted a tail?” Rake was, to her surprise, getting into fret mode. “Jeez, Delaney, I wish you’d said something.”
She spread her hands. “Where would I have even begun?”
“You could’ve been hurt.”
“Oh, please.”
“Hello? My meeting, remember? So then I remembered this isn’t a goddamned spy-caper movie, so I put guys here at San Basso—I figured you’d have your eye on the place. Ina way, the story started here. And on a practical note, your hotel’s a quick walk from here.” He shrugged. “So.”
“So you spotted us again.”
“Yeah.”
“Which is when you got a little desperate. And a lot stupid.”
“Whoa.” Kovac put his hands up as if (false hope) he was being arrested. “My guy was just supposed to ask the little girl about the flash drive.”
“You were gonna take my kid?” Rake demanded. He’d gone from listening to the exchange with a slightly disbelieving look on his face to taking two steps, slamming his hands palms down on the desk, and glaring straight into Kovac’s eyes. “Your grubby brigade of fucksticks was gonna snatch my daughter?”
“I told you, he was only supposed to talk to her.” This in the tone of a man mildly inconvenienced by a waiter bringing the wrong order, instead of facing off with six feet three inches and 195 pounds of irked Tarbell. “But you put an end to that quick enough.”
“If youevercomenearmy—”
“Yeah, yeah, vengeance will be yours. Hell, vengeancewasyours. The guy you upchucked all over has been sick as fuck ever since.”
“Good. When it comes to gastroenteritis, I like to share the wealth.” Rake straightened and stepped back from the desk. “And there’s plenty more where that came from if you guys get any other moronic ideas.”
