And what about Carson? His death had trulybeen my fault. If I hadn’t asked him to help me, he’d still bewalking the earth. Then I remembered the look in his eye, and hiswords as he told me he knew exactly what he was doing and whatdanger he was putting himself in. He’d done what he thought wasright. Flashes of his selfless nature and kind heart flashedthrough my mind until I saw the moment Jericho pulled the triggerand killed him. My tears became rivers. I took Jeremy’s hand andsqueezed hard, trying to make myself stop crying.
He grabbed me into a hug. He smelled sowonderful, and I felt safe and loved. I snuggled deeper into thehug. “I can’t stand the fact that the mafia is going to live to seeanother day, and according to Kozlov, probably another year.”
“A year is only moments in time. The bratvawill end, and Kozlov will bring it down.”
In those few words he’d answered lingeringquestions I had about Kozlov. I had wondered if he was dead for notbeing able to stop the coup on the ship. He must have been awardedfor surviving or something.
He spoke into my hair. “You know, we’ll beworking on our next mission together.”
“I’m so glad.” My words were muffled in hisshirt.
“The hard part will be keeping itprofessional between us. But we have to.”
I nodded.
“Do you understand, Christy?” He pulled backslightly and looked down at me.
I nodded again and said, “I do.Unfortunately.” At least I would be near him, even though itwouldn’t be romantically.
***
The next day, I was packing in my room whenI heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I called, but the door didn’topen and no one answered. I heard stifled laughter—Ace’s—and amuffled groan from Halluis.
“What’s going on, you guys? Would you justcome in? I don’t have time for this,” I sighed in exasperation.They still wouldn’t open the door, and I could still hear Acetittering behind it.
I threw the shirt I’d been folding onto thebed, marched over to the door, and wrenched it open. “What do youwant?” I demanded. Then my jaw dropped in utter shock.
Ace and Halluis stood in my doorway—bothwearing tight-fitting, sequined gowns, fishnet stockings, and fullmakeup. Ace was sniggering uncontrollably, and Halluis had a lookof pure misery on his face. I noticed Ace was holding him by theelbow—perhaps it was the only thing keeping Halluis frombolting.
“Um,” I said, as calmly as I could. “Whatare you—? Um. Wow. Just…Wow.”
“I told you she’d forgotten all about it!”Halluis hissed.
“A bet’s a bet,” Ace laughed. “And when yougive your word, you have to follow through.” Ace held up a bag ofcrickets, and Halluis held up one containing snails. I pressed myhand to my mouth, fighting back bursts of laughter as he filled hisown hand and Halluis’s with the disgusting-looking critters. Heraised his eyebrows at me.
“Oh, you want me to give you the cue?” Ilaughed. “Okay, then. On three. One, two, three!”
They both downed the crickets in one gulp.They repeated the process with a snail each, using a tiny fork topull out the fried glob from the shell, then Ace took a bow,pulling Halluis into a bow beside him. “Ta-da!”
“You guys—you’re nuts. But you’re the best.”I laughed. I gave them both hugs, and they turned to go.
“You know, those crickets really weren’t allthat bad,” Ace said as they moved down the hallway. “Kinda crunchy,kinda salty. I think I might pick up some more before weleave.”
“You just wait until we get to France. Thereyou will find real cuisine.”
I leaned up against the doorjamb andlistened to them argue, laughing as I watched their sequinedfigures disappear into their respective rooms.
I went back to packing, and a few minuteslater Jeremy appeared in the door. He informed me that once I wasthrough packing, we’d have a chance to visit one place that I’dalways wanted to visit in New York City. Tourist attractions filledmy mind.
“Only one, eh?” It felt strange to think ofvisiting tourist spots, but I had to move on. If I were to sit hereand dwell on what happened to Carson and Jericho and how the bratvaturned Mikado and so many others into murderers and thieves, Iwould have to curl up on myself, and I’d never recover from thepain. No. I locked those terrors into their own little box in mymind and threw away the key. I hoped to never have to think of themagain.
“If it’s only one, then I want it to be awalk along the Brooklyn Bridge. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
“Your wish is my command.” He swung out hishand, inviting me to go out the front door and begin our New Yorktourist excursion.
Jeremy and I sat on the train with ourthighs touching. I had to force myself not to unclasp my hands andput one on his knee. It seemed like the natural thing to do.Instead, I took a moment to draw in his smell. Musky. Soapy.Delicious. I had learned quickly to breathe only from my mouth whenentering the subway tunnels to avoid the nasty, pervading smells ofB.O., urine, and old trash, but Jeremy’s smell overpowered itall.
“I thought you’d choose the Empire StateBuilding or even the Statue of Liberty. I don’t think I would haveguessed the Brooklyn Bridge. You’ve driven over it and everything.”His eyebrows raised in question.
“But I haven’t walked along it. And besides,it’s sure to look different on foot, walking above the cars. Thankyou for taking me.”
He leaned into me, a smile tugging at hislips. “I don’t want to burst your bubble, but a lot of sightseeingin New York involves being above the cars.”
“Ah, but none where the exhaust and carnoise fills the space around you. I simply can’t wait.”
He shook his head. “Yeah, I can’t think of aplace that says New York better than that.”
Despite my teasing, I knew there was nobetter place to view Manhattan, the rivers, and Brooklyn than thatbridge, and it was such an iconic spot for travelers to visit. Wegot off at City Hall and entered the walkway. All kinds of peoplewere on the wide, wooden bridge. Cyclists, runners, tourists,
