“I don’t really have a checkered past. It’s mostly just my brother trying to kill me.”
“Brownstone doesn’t have to hide, is all I’m saying. It’s good for us both to remember the position we’re in.” She nodded to the phone. “And you’ve got work to do.”
Peyton nodded. “Yeah, I do.” He walked off, shoulders slumped.
Shay sighed. Great, I’ve pissed off everyone today. I win. Is there a grownup around to hang with? Where’s that damn cat?
She believed everything she’d said, but she was trying to convince herself as much as Peyton.
Get out of my head, Brownstone.
A half-hour later Peyton marched up to Shay with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I’ve got good news.”
“There’s a half-off sale on loud suits at the mall?”
Peyton shook his head. “I wish. Nope. I’ve got the identification on the phone. It belongs to Hollingsworth Retrieval Specialists.”
Shay frowned. “I’ve heard of them. They’re based out of England. They aren’t known for being ruthless assholes or anything, but they are known for being damned reckless.”
“I’ll say. They got themselves blown up. That’s pretty reckless.”
The tomb raider chuckled. “Yeah. This isn’t the first time they’ve lost a team on a job.” She frowned. “Though I wonder why their name wasn’t more public on this one. They don’t usually hide when they are on a job. Find anything else that might be useful?”
“I’ve already copied the data off the phone, but they’ve got good operational security. They received calls from numbers associated with their company, but there’s not a lot stored on the phone. I’m surprised they’d be so careful about everything else and then just call from an easily-traceable number.”
Shay snorted. “Like I said, they don’t usually hide. They don’t have to. Not every tomb raider is a former killer who faked her death and helped a hacker fake his, and not everyone has to be as careful about hiding their identities as we are.”
“Good point.”
“Looks like the job’s back on. I’ll let the Professor know we’ve got a lead and see how he wants to play this.”
Shay expected several different responses, but not the one she actually received.
“Just stop looking, Miz Carson.”
She pulled her phone back to stare at it for a second before putting it back to her ear. “Huh? Did you just tell me to stop looking?”
“I did. I think you should abort this job, and since I’m the one paying you can pretty much consider that an order.” He chuckled. “If you want to recover it yourself, that’s fine, but I won’t pay for it.”
“But I’ve got a lead. I thought this carving was a big deal. You seemed hell-bent on getting it fast before.”
“It was indeed a big deal at the time I hired you. It’s no longer something worthy of attention. For various reasons, I’m no longer interested in the modulator. You can keep all the money I’ve already paid you.”
Shay gritted her teeth. “It doesn’t have to go down this way. I can still find it, Professor.”
Smite-Williams let out a merry laugh. “Oh, don’t worry, Miz Carson. I’ve got something else I’m more interested in acquiring soon, and I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have looking for it. I’m just working out a few more of the details before I ask you to commit. I’ll be in touch soon, Miz Carson.”
“You’re sure about the carving?”
“Quite. I’ll even help you out by letting you know pursuing it would be a waste of your time, even if you desire an artifact for your private collection.”
Shay took a deep breath. “Understood.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few things to take care of.” He hung up.
Probably a few beers to take care of. More than a few.
The Professor wasn’t pissed and wanted to hire her again, which meant she didn’t have to worry about another hit to her reputation. But between the carving and the magic beans, that was two recent jobs she hadn’t completed after a string of complete successes.
Pride, more than concern, ruled her now. It wasn’t good enough to be a mere tomb raider. She wanted to be the person clients thought of when they even said the word.
Damn it. I’d still go after it, but he made it sound like it’s lost its power.
Smite-Williams might have been wrong when he’d said it was still in existence. After the crater she’d witnessed in Japan, she wouldn’t be surprised if the artifact were nothing but ash in the Hokkaido wind. That didn’t make her feel any better.
Danger was easy to deal with. Disappointment was harder to swallow.
Shay snickered and shook her head. She needed to pull her head out of her ass. She was going to have to learn to be Zen about tomb raiding if she were going to last.
This is a bad idea. This is the worst fucking idea he’s ever had. I shouldn’t be feeding into his ridiculous male ego. Some things are not meant to be trifled with just because a man convinces himself he’s tough enough to handle it.
Shay paced as Peyton’s stupid grin kept growing. Lily had finally come out of the office and was cautiously sitting nearby on the edge of a chair, waiting to see what magic came out of the oven.
Peyton stood in front of his pizza oven, his apron splotched with both fresh stains and darker ones that looked days old.
Scorch marks covered the front of his oven.
“Just how much pizza did you make when I was gone?” Shay inquired. “Or were you just throwing grenades around here for fun? New game with Lily maybe?”
Peyton snatched his paddle from the table and slipped it under his latest creation. “Just a little here and there. I bought the oven to use it. It’s not a decoration.” He set the pizza on a tray. “I’ll admit that you were right—making good pizza is about a lot more than just the oven. I’m humble enough to accept that.”
“Oh,
