Chapter Twenty
Shay hummed as she pulled her Fiat into Warehouse Two, glad to be back in the US and away from any angry Greek or Turkish authorities. Dealing with the cops had given her more heartburn than the skeletons, which was not what she would have predicted when she took the job.
What the fuck was that about? Most places I go the cops barely look at me, and suddenly in Turkey they were all over me? Did someone tip them off, or did they just get lucky?
In the end, no one had managed to identify her, and she’d delivered the stone to the client. All in all, it had been a good solid job. She’d been paid, and her reputation continued to grow. She’d bounced back completely from her failure in Antarctica.
Fuck Yulia. I hope she’s trapped by a giant on some gnarly beanstalk now. She’s gonna regret leaving me alive.
Shay hopped out of her car and headed toward the office. The tomb raider was prepared to perch on the wall and practice her glare for the tardy Peyton, but to her pleasant surprise, he was already in the office tapping away at his computer with Lily by his side, learning something new. Like a Mad Magazine version of a family photo-op.
This day is turning out great. I didn’t even have to threaten him. Maybe it’s not him, but an imposter who doesn’t know him well enough to pretend to be late? Even Lily looks happy and involved.
Shay snorted. The bright orange Nehru jacket dispelled any doubts she had about the man’s identity. A small orange tabby sat on his lap. Somehow he’d gotten Lily involved in his new theme. She was wearing a white mini skirt and pink top.
“You look like Dr. Evil,” Shay announced with a chuckle. “And his assistant?”
Peyton nodded. “That’s what I was going for.” Lily gave a nod.
“And that’s fashionable?”
“It is to me.”
She nodded toward the cat. “I didn’t realize we needed a warehouse pet.”
“That’s what Lily’s for.” Peyton quickly held up the cat between himself and Lily, stroking the cat’s fur. “Nice try.” He looked up at Shay. “Is he going to be a problem?”
Shay shook her head. “Good thing about cats is that they can’t give up your secret warehouse location in an interrogation since they can’t talk.”
“I guess I never really thought of it like that,” he admitted. He continued to pet Osiris and cooed, “You going to tell the bad guys they can’t break you?”
Shay laughed, imagining the cat speaking with Brownstone’s deep voice for some reason. “Just make sure he stays inside.”
“Easy enough,” Peyton replied.
“Not like he’s going to hack through all the security,” said Lily. “That’s even harder than speaking during an interrogation.”
Shay chuckled. “Good point.” Her gaze flicked to a big trash barrel she didn’t remember being in the warehouse. She marched over to it. “What’s this? You training for a new job with Purity Solutions?”
“Nope. It’s a monument to self-improvement. A proof of how the flames of adversity have led to strength.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You’ll see.”
Burnt remnants of what might once have been pizza lay inside. Judging by the volume, Peyton had made more than one attempt at pizza when she was gone, and somehow everything had gone very wrong, like some horrible pyromantic ritual that got out of hand.
Shay laughed. “Did a wizard raid the warehouse when I was out of the country? Looks like your brave pizzas sacrificed themselves to protect this place.” She eyed the walls and ceiling. “But the question is, did they succeed? Did these pizzas die in vain, Peyton? Please tell me they didn’t.”
“Don’t worry,” he assured her. But behind his back Lily was busy nodding her head.
“I put the fire out before anyone noticed and called the fire department,” continued Peyton. “No one even looked this way. I even checked security footage to verify that.”
“What?” The humor vanished from Shay’s voice. “The fire got that bad? How did you manage that?”
Peyton shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. Lily helped me disable all the alarms before they could go off.”
“And learned something about alarm systems,” Lily chimed in.
Peyton held out his hand, smiling. “A learning opportunity for all involved. That’s a good thing, right?”
Shay crossed her arms. “What useful tidbit did you learn from trying to burn down my warehouse? Where the fire extinguishers are?”
He grinned. “I learned that the sprinklers work.”
The tomb raider shook her head. She couldn’t take any more of this. If she wanted to salvage her mood, she’d need to get away from the warehouse right now.
Shay rolled her eyes. “Come on, we’re going out for a celebratory breakfast.”
“Come on, Osiris. Let’s go get some human food.”
Shay shook her head. “We’re all going to a restaurant. Your cat can’t come.”
“Oh.” Peyton made a pouty face.
Little Dom’s was busy as usual. Every table both inside and out was occupied. Waitstaff flowed between the customers and tables like water, smiles on their faces. The customers seemed just happy, sipping their drinks and taking bites of their entrees.
Chatter filled the room and light music played in the background, but unlike many restaurants in the city, Shay could hear herself think.
She was never surprised when the place was a pleasant madhouse. The restaurant had been famous as a pedestrian-friendly destination for longer than she’d been alive, which meant people were always popping in for a slice of Italian food heaven. It’d been a few weeks since she’d last been there, which was far too long.
Peyton thumbed through the menu. “What’s good here?”
“Everything, but we’re here to celebrate a successful job, so we’re getting pizza.” Shay gave him a serious look. “Tradition is important.”
“Finally, decent pizza.” Lily grabbed a menu, running her finger down the list.
Shay looked over at Peyton. “Tell me you didn’t make her taste test.”
Peyton eyed her quizzically, ignoring the question. “Pizza for breakfast?”
“Yep. They have breakfast
