He turned one of the kitchen chairs around and straddled it, laying his arms along the top. Relaxed, not a care in the world. Mike stepped away a few feet, crossed her arms over her chest.
Nicholas smiled. “Victoria. Victoire. What shall I call you?”
“Kitsune. You may call me Kitsune.”
“Kitsune, Japanese for fox. So are you Japanese? Your heritage seems a bit muddled to me. Like a dog from the pound.”
“Woof.”
He stood up and leaned over her. “Let me tell you how this is going to work. You are going to give me the Koh-i-Noor, and in return, I’ll put in a good word for your friend Grant Thornton. You remember him, don’t you? He’s the one who gave you the information about the Koh-i-Noor stone moving to New York months before it was publicly announced? As we speak, he’s being transferred to the tombs in London. Into a mixed cell. You know how they love the pretty boys. Word gets out he’s former SAS and they’ll want to make an example of him.”
She paled, couldn’t help it, and Nicholas thought, Got you.
Kitsune raised her chin. “He has nothing to do with this. Nothing, and you know it.”
“I beg to differ. As does Her Majesty’s government. Thornton will be stripped of his rank, his work, his pension. He will be an outcast from his world, a pariah. On top of his humiliation, he’ll go to jail for the rest of his life. If he survives the night, naturally.”
He walked around her, circling his prey. “A man like him, who’s dedicated his life to queen and country? You’ve destroyed him, Kitsune. It’s all on your head. He lost everything because he had the misfortune to fall in love with you—a fraud, a chimera, only the illusion of a woman who didn’t really exist.”
Kitsune closed her eyes and saw Grant. Beautiful, innocent Grant. He would be the one to suffer, and she’d done it to him. The Brit was right about that.
“I’ll save him if you give me the Koh-i-Noor.”
She gave him a long look, weighed his word, he knew, weighted him. She said finally, “I have conditions.”
Nicholas stopped his pacing, went back to his chair and sat, eyebrows politely raised.
“You’re hardly in a bargaining position, but let’s hear it.”
“Grant walks, no stain on his character, and he returns to his job. Has he been told about me?”
“No.”
It was an unutterable relief. She nodded. “He will not be told about any of it. Not about me, not about Lanighan. Nothing.”
“All right. And?”
“Lanighan is holding a man in the warehouse. He is important to me. See that he’s freed and I’ll tell you where the diamond is.”
“Ah, now, Kitsune, you’re going to have to do better. If you want our help, you tell us up front where the Koh-i-Noor is, and then we’ll talk about meeting your conditions.”
She shook her head. “My friend first. And your word, as a gentleman, that he will not be harmed.”
Mike stepped in. “Are you talking about William Mulvaney?”
Kitsune couldn’t believe this. Did everyone on the planet know about Mulvaney?
“Yes. His name is Mulvaney.”
“What’s he to you?”
“A friend.”
At Nicholas’s raised eyebrow, she added, “More than a friend. He is my mentor, my partner. He is a man I have known more than half my life.”
“You sound like you would give your life for him,” Mike said.
Kitsune said simply, “Yes.”
“Is he your friend? A man you would trust with your life? A man you would sacrifice yourself for? Is he really?” and Nicholas queued up the phone conversation they’d overheard on their way to the warehouse.
“Where is the bitch with the stone?”
“She’ll come. She wants her money too much to betray you. It’s all she ever cared about. Relax.”
Mike said, “Is this the voice of your friend Mulvaney?”
Kitsune rolled her eyes. “Please, I know how you work. You can manipulate anything, make Drummond here sound like the president of the United States.”
Mike said, “Yep, that’s certainly possible, but take a look at this. We couldn’t have screwed around with this. We took this from your car at the warehouse.”
She put Kitsune’s laptop on the table and opened the lid. The video camera feed from the warehouse was still running.
Mike backed the feed up, set the small computer in Kitsune’s lap.
“This was shot less than an hour ago.”
Kitsune looked down, saw the time stamp, and saw Mulvaney walk out of the warehouse, upright, unfettered, tossing off some remark at the man who stood nearest the door. He was by no means tied up, nor did he seem to be under duress. On the contrary, they were laughing.
What is going on here?
Nicholas said, “We have it all, Kitsune. Lanighan kept detailed records.”
“You’re lying.” She smiled. “I destroyed everything.”
Nicholas smiled back. “No, you didn’t. We got there before you. Remember Savich? He’s been on Lanighan for a day now, and guess what? Lanighan saved all your emails. All your planning, every detail. And we found emails between your friend Mulvaney and Lanighan. Let me read one to you. This is dated a year ago.
“You can’t trust Kitsune. Did I mention her name is Victoire? Her full name is Victoire Couverel. She was a careless little gutter snip, no more than sixteen, when I saved her from jail in Naples. I saw the potential in her and trained her myself. She has betrayed me and she will betray you as well if she has a chance. Use this information wisely. Watch your back around her. I will bring you Anatoly’s diamond. I will send the account number when I have secured the stone from America. Once she’s made delivery of the Koh-i-Noor, kill her. You need the blood of a woman to fulfill the promise of the stone. If you can’t do it yourself, I will do it for you.”
“Stop! Stop, now.”
“Betrayal tastes pretty rank, doesn’t it, Victoire?”
“Bloody bastard.” Her voice was flat, unemotional. Shock, Mike thought, the woman was in shock.
Kitsune’s head dropped. She was tired, so tired. She didn’t understand any of it. She hadn’t betrayed Mulvaney. She would cut off her own arm before she’d even consider betraying him. Why had he said that she had? What did he mean about needing her blood to fulfill the promise of the stone?
She wanted to weep. Why did the man she’d loved more than her own father hate her now? What was she going to do?
94
Paris safe house
Saturday night
Her world was crashing down around her ears, and yet here she was clearly plotting and assessing. Nicholas could practically hear her thinking.
He said to Mike, “Call Menard. Tell him to take the warehouse. We’ll transport Kitsune to the Préfecture de Police, let them start the paperwork to extradite her to America.”
Her voice rang out in the small kitchen. “No.”
He glanced back at her, but kept talking to Mike. “We’ll want a full assault, he has plenty of help. If we overwhelm them—”
“No!”
He stopped and gave her his full attention.
“What?”
She spoke through clenched teeth. “I will help you. I will give you everything you want, and more. But we must do it my way.”
She was taking a huge risk. But this was Mulvaney, and she had no choice. He had given her back her life—no, he’d done much more. He’d given her a life. Even if he hated her enough to betray her, she still owed him.
“You can’t take the warehouse by force. There are safeguards.”
“Explosives, you mean?”
“If Mulvaney is involved, yes. Many. He’ll have the entire place wired to blow.”
Mike paused before she hit send on her cell. “W
hat exactly are you proposing?”
“You allow me to go as I’m supposed to. I’ll get the detonator from Mulvaney. When I signal, it will be safe for you to enter.”
“You’re joking, right?”
She said quietly, “I will give you information. Everything I know. About his crimes, and those of mine it is safe to reveal. You will get the biggest assassin in the world, close hundreds of open cases, both thefts and murders and espionage. Then I will give you back the Koh-i-Noor.”
Nicholas said, “What do you want in return?”
“I go free. No one looks for me. I’ll take my money from my accounts and the money Lanighan paid me, and I will disappear. This was my last job. I’m retiring. No one will ever hear from me again.”
Nicholas said, “What’s to make us believe you’ll honor your end of the bargain?”
Mike said, “Yes, I’d like to hear this.”
Kitsune said, “The truth? The one man I’ve ever trusted has betrayed me. I want to know why. He killed Elaine.” She met his eyes, and he saw the pain not hidden deep enough in hers. “The minute I heard about the cyanide, I knew he’d done it. He’s used it before; it’s a trademark. It was unnecessary, a waste. Elaine had done nothing. Nothing at all, but it didn’t matter. And the tranquilizer gun. He always said using it kept him from bruising his knuckles, and he’d laugh because he’s one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen. He taught me everything.
“And Grant—” She broke off, and was silent.
“What do you care for Elaine?”
“She was my friend, too. And she’s dead because of me, because of what I told her. I didn’t realize at first that she really wanted to believe the prophecy, but she did, she was so excited about the possibilities, the magical possibilities—Mulvaney didn’t need to kill her, she was harmless.”
Nicholas said, without expression, “Yet you were perfectly happy to let her take the fall for stealing the diamond. You were the one who told us she met with Kochen.”
She shrugged. “I was alive; she wasn’t. I had to save myself.”
Nicholas said, “Elaine told me about the prophecy. Three stones would heal the sick.”
Kitsune said, “It’s even more than that. Lanighan believes uniting the three stones will bestow immortality. His father believed it, too.”
Nicholas was fascinated. “You tried to steal the Koh-i-Noor for his father as well?”
“No. His father told me the prophecy and hired me to find the lost stone, the one Anatoly ended up with. But I didn’t find it in time for him.”
Nicholas said, “I want a listing of everything you’ve ever stolen so we can put it to rights.”
“You must know I can’t do that, Drummond. You’ll get me killed. It’s one thing to fail, but I’ve been in business for a very long time, and there’s no way I’m going to drop the dime on my other clients. I will tell you what I stole for Lanighan’s father, and everything Mulvaney did. He and I never shared clients. If my clients are dead, and there is no threat to me, I will share the information. Will that do?”
Nicholas saw Mike wasn’t happy. He said, “Come with me.”
Kitsune heard them talking in the background, then Mike making a series of calls. She could hear anger in her voice. Kitsune didn’t like her, but she respected her. Perhaps, in another life, young Victoire Couverel would have grown up to be more like Michaela Caine. But the thought of being a cop nearly made her laugh aloud.
After fifteen minutes, Nicholas came back and said, “Yes. We are in agreement.”
Kitsune was careful to show no expression. She only nodded. “Good. I will have the information for you, and you will have a signed, notarized paper for me declaring my immunity from prosecutions by the U.S. and Great Britain for my role in the theft of the Koh-i-Noor, and blanket immunity from any other crimes you may see fit to try and hang on me.”
“But first the Koh-i-Noor. Hand it over.”
“What time is it? I can’t read my watch.”
“It’s nearly midnight. Eleven-forty, to be exact.”
“Then you need to get me to the warehouse right away.”
Mike snorted. “We aren’t letting you anywhere near that place alone.”
Kitsune said, “You have no choice. I stashed the stone there, and you’ll need me to get to it.”
95
While Nicholas pulled on a Kevlar vest, Mike circled him like a wolf about to attack.
“Nicholas, you can’t let her go in alone.”
He gestured for her to put on her vest as he used the other hand to pull the Velcro together tightly across his ribs, ignoring the pain in his back as he did.
“Of course not. I’m going in with her.”
“You lamebrain, that’s crazy. You know she’ll turn on you.”
“Actually, no, I don’t think she will.” He looked over at Kitsune, sitting quietly in the back of the Peugeot, armed men standing close. “Our Fox is in love. If she hates Mulvaney right now, and hates us for capturing her and putting her feet to the fire, she loves Grant Thornton enough to sacrifice herself to keep him from losing everything.”
Mike planted herself in front of him, hands on her hips. “How do you know she isn’t faking cooperation?”
Nicholas grinned as he pulled the last Velcro strap into place. “I’m thinking that’s why Mulvaney betrayed her. For him, it’s not about the money, or the prestige of the job. It’s about his heart. You remember the bitterness and anger we heard in his voice when we overheard him speaking to Lanighan? You saw the letter, and the way she reacted. This man was a father, a cherished mentor, a man she trusted beyond reason. He saved her, kept her safe. Trained her, but she did the one thing neither of them anticipated. She fell in love with a mark.
“And that’s the kind of betrayal a man like Mulvaney can’t handle, especially if he loves a woman who doesn’t love him back, at least not in the way he wants. I suspect he loved her as much as he hates her now.”
“But he’s old enough to be her father.”
He arched a brow. “Feelings don’t have years attached. You’re right, though—for her, Mulvaney was indeed a trusted, beloved father.”
She gave him a long look as she tugged on the vest. “Don’t give me any crap, I’m going in with you.”
She expected him to argue, but he didn’t. In fact, he actually looked relieved. He said simply, “Thanks. I could use your help.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have with me.”
“If you get us both killed, I’m going to be very angry with you.”
He shot her a grin, then called to the men: “Gather round. Here’s the plan.” He laid out the blueprints of the warehouse, gave assignments, showing the snipers their positions. “You’ll form your perimeter here, and when Mike gives the go-ahead, you’ll converge and take out the guards.” He finished with a smile. “As for us, Kitsune, Mike, and I go through the fence and split at the warehouse. Kitsune will go in the front, and take the guards with her. They won’t be expecting anyone else, so I’ll be able to sneak in behind them. Mike will go up the fire escape and cover the room from outside. Once we’re all in place, we go in, get the diamond, and get the hell out. Any questions?”
One of Menard’s men asked, “Shoot to kill?”
Nicholas nodded. “Try not to take out Lanighan or Mulvaney. We need them.”
Nicholas said to Menard, “In case it all goes awry, I trust you’ll be there to mop things up?”
“Give me the signal, my friend, and we’ll take them all out. Try not to get yourself blown up in the meantime.”
“I won’t. Mike, are you ready?”
“Ready. Are we giving Kitsune Kevlar?”
Kitsune had been taken out of the car and was standing a few feet away. She said, “No. They’ll know something’s up if I go in bulked up.
I’m supposed to be handing over the stone, and I’m supposed to think Mulvaney is a hostage. They’ll keep up the charade long enough to get the stone in their hands.”
Nicholas said, “Okay, time’s up. Where’s the diamond?”
She took a deep breath and grinned at him. “It’s in Lanighan’s briefcase. He carried it into the building when we were here before.”
Mike rounded on her. “Why should we believe this?”
“Because it’s the truth. I went to Lanighan’s house earlier this evening, looking for Mulvaney. Everything on this job has gone wrong, so I protected the diamond the best I knew how, which was fulfilling my end of the bargain in the hopes Lanighan would do the same. I put the Koh-i-Noor in the lining of his bag. He has no idea it’s there. I knew you were on my back, too. It was the only way I could think to keep the stone safe until the delivery.”
Her hand went down her shirt, and she withdrew a blue velvet bag. “It’s a good thing you’re a gentleman, Drummond. A more thorough search would have turned this up.” She dumped the stone into his hand. “They’re amazingly well done, for fakes. Peter Grisley should be proud of his work.”
Nicholas ran his fingers along the stone. “Good job stealing the replicas.”
She smiled. “I really only needed one, but I thought, who knows? The second one might come in handy. And it did, in Geneva.”
She took the stone back from him, replaced it in the bag, and thought, Thank goodness they aren’t experts and don’t have a diamond tester. They’ll never know they just handled the real Koh-i-Noor.
She said, “I do have one question.”
“Yes?”
“What are you planning to do with the other two parts of the diamond?”
Nicholas said, “I assume there will be a number of people higher up the food chain who will make that decision. We can’t worry about it.”
“Should something happen to me, Nicholas, you must destroy them, along with Lanighan. He’s the last in his line. It will stop with him.”