measurements.”
“Venable must know a lot about you. How long did you say you’ve been together?”
“He’s been my superior since I was seventeen. He recruited me.” She slammed the car door and headed for the front entrance. “And by the time I had Luke, he knew more about me than even my husband did. I was an agent and that’s all part of the job.”
“If I’d been living with you long enough to have a child, I guarantee that no one would have knownyou better.” He smiled and leaned back in the seat. “And to hell with the job.”
Cadalon Casino
2:35 A.M.
“I’M READY.” CATHERINE CAME OUT of the bedroom into the sitting room and gazed at him critically. “You look very polished.”
“I was aiming at being very James Bond.” He tilted his head. “I have to keep up with the competition. But 007 never had a Bond girl like you.”
She was totally breathtaking, he thought as his gaze moved from the top of her shining dark hair to the silver heels peeping out of the slit in the dark burgundy strapless gown she wore. The golden skin of her shoulders and upper breasts gleamed under the lights, and he wanted to reach out and touch her, stroke her. Exotic, sexy, and so vibrantly alive she lit up the room.
“I’ve always thought the Bond girls lacked a certain strength of will.” She smiled. “But they usually managed to get things done. Did you locate Jacobs?”
“He’s playing blackjack and doing very well. He’s excited about it. His cheeks are so flushed, you’d think he had a fever.” He opened the door to the hall. Don’t touch her. Not the time or the place. “I can stay out of Jacobs’s way until after you’ve taken care of him. But both he and Queen must have read the dossier on you that they gave to me. The photo didn’t do you justice, but he’ll probably recognize you.”
“Then I won’t give him time for it to register. I can’t let him see me until the last minute.”
“He’d have to be distracted not to notice you.” The hall was decorated in the same elegant nineteenth-century decor as the rest of the hotel casino. Catherine looked like a splendid peacock strolling past the soft pastels of the wall hangings and faded Aubusson rugs, he thought. “But I’m sure that you’ll find a way to do it.”
“I’m sure I will, too,” she said absently. “Eve just phoned me. I tried to call her earlier, but I got her voice mail. They’ve canceled all the flights out of the Midwest to New Orleans, so they were on a plane to Atlanta. But they ran across the same problem there. They’re waiting for a break in the weather. Damn this fog.”
“I thought she might be here by now.” He gazed out the window at the thick mist that obscured everything beyond two feet. “It’s as thick as any London fog.”
“Yes, I hoped it might lift before this.” She got into the brass-and-beveled-glass-paneled elevator. “I’m glad that they’re not here yet. I told them what we planned, but I don’t want Joe and her coming into this mess until we have Jacobs secure. If everything blows up in our faces, I don’t want them involved.”
“But they are involved, Catherine. One might say more than you.” He held up his hand to stop her from speaking. “Since we’re almost sure that they won’t make it before we’re done here, I’m not going to worry about it. Though I have plenty of time to devote to worrying since you haven’t left me much else to do until after the finale. Where’s your hypodermic? You’d have trouble hiding it in that gown.”
“It’s under the nail of my right index finger.” She glanced down at her gleaming scarlet nails. “It was the most practical place.” The elevator doors opened, and they were assaulted by voices, music, glittering mirrors, and sparkling chandeliers.
“The blackjack room is beyond the gold arches to the left. Table three,” Gallo said.
“Right.” She moved out of the elevator. “Give me a few minutes, then follow me.”
He nodded. “I’ll let you make your entrance. But don’t expect me to miss the performance. I’ve been looking forward to it.”
“I don’t know why. I told you it’s going to be short and simple.”
“Whatever you say.” He watched her move across the brilliant foyer toward the blackjack room. He was far from the only person staring at Catherine. Who could help it? She was graceful, stunning, completely confident. She was as different as night and day from the fierce huntress who had stalked him in the woods. He wasn’t sure which Catherine fascinated him more, and it was too soon to make a choice. He was certain that he’d be seeing other facets of her that would prove equally interesting.
But for the moment, he’d better follow her and be ready to step in and back her up when she needed him. It was a strange role for him. All his life, he had been a loner, and his missions had definitely been solo. Yet he had accepted Catherine’s plan, which had not only put him in tandem with her, but in a semipassive position.
And he had done it with no resentment and even a touch of amusement.
Strange…
CHAPTER 16
CATHERINE PAUSED IN THE DOORWAY, her gaze searching the room.
Table three.
Yes, there he was. She’d had Venable send her a picture of Thomas Jacobs on her phone. He was a small, wiry man in his middle or late fifties dressed in a tux that looked a little too big for him. His thin brown hair was receding to such an extent that he was totally bald in the front. But his cheeks were as flushed as Gallo had told her, and his gray eyes were sparkling with excitement as he gazed at the dealer. He had a stack of chips in front of him, and his expression was totally absorbed.
But he might not stay absorbed if he saw someone glance in her direction. She’d better put the play in motion.
She glided forward, moving to the side to approach Jacobs from the rear.
Be anxious.
Let everyone see her concern.
Okay. Stop short as she pretended to see Jacobs.
She inhaled sharply, her eyes widening with panic.
Now clinch it.
She ran toward Jacobs and touched his shoulder. “No, Thomas, you know you can’t do this.” Her voice was shaking with emotion. “Why don’t you listen? You know what the doctor said about your heart. No excitement. This addiction could be the end-” He was turning to face her, his expression wary. As soon as he saw her, he’d recognize her. She had perhaps thirty seconds. “Do you want to kill yourself?” Her tone was agonized. “I won’t let you do it. I know I told you I wouldn’t stop you if you were this crazy, but I can’t let it happen.”
He was looking at her face, and she saw his expression change as he recognized her. He jumped to his feet. “Get away from me.”
“You have to listen to me, Thomas.” Her hands clasped his shoulders near his throat. “I’m only trying to help you.”
“The hell you are.” He was trying to push her hands away from his throat. “What are-”
“Just leave here and we’ll talk.” Her grasp tightened, her nails pressing into his skin. “You don’t look- Thomas?” His eyes were glazing.
Jacobs’s knees were buckling, he was falling.
She instinctively put out her arms to catch him.
No, be weak, be helpless.
She let him fall to the floor as if he were too heavy for her to hold.
She dropped to her knees beside him. “No!”
