Kiss Me While I sleep (21 page)

“Of course. This one time it seemed necessary, as we haven’t spoken before. Do you have the number?”

“Not yet. Evidently there is some difficulty-”

“Get it. Today.”

“There is a six-hour time difference. It will be afternoon at the earliest.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Blanc hung up and for a moment stood with his fists clenched. Damn the Nervis! This one spoke better French than the other one, he sounded smoother, but underneath they were all the same: barbarians.

He would have to give them the number, but he would try to impress upon Rodrigo that it would be ill-advised to call the CIA’s man, that it could easily result in both him and his contact being prosecuted. Perhaps not, perhaps the man the CIA had sent didn’t care about who hired him, but that wasn’t something Blanc felt confident about.

He went back inside and looked at his wife, her dark hair still tousled from bed, a robe cinched around her trim waist. She slept in flimsy, low-cut nighties because she knew he liked it, though in the winter she put an extra blanket on her side of the bed because she felt the cold. What if something happened to her? What if Rodrigo Nervi followed through on the threats that had been made years ago? He couldn’t bear it.

He would have to give them the number. He would stall as long as he could, but in the end he had no choice.

Swain had a brilliant idea in the middle of the night: instead of finding who had installed the Nervi security system, breaking into the office, and somehow getting the schematics, why not just use the resources at his fingertips? The boys-and girls-and their toys could find and access just about anything. If it was on a computer somewhere, and that computer was online, they could get it. It stood to reason that any security company Nervi used would be up to snuff on all the latest bells and whistles, which meant they were probably computerized. Password protected, yeah, but how tough was that? The hackers on the payroll in Langley would consider that no more worrisome than a mosquito bite.

Resides, that meant they’d have to do the work, and he wouldn’t. All in all, he thought it was a great idea. He was so Pleased with it that he sat up and switched on the bedside lamp, plucked his cell phone from the charger, and called right then. Going through the security checks seemed to take longer than ever, but finally he was talking to someone who had some authority.

“I’ll see what I can do,” the woman said. She’d identified herself, but Swain had been preoccupied and hadn’t caught her name. “Things are in an uproar around here, though, so I don’t know when-wait a minute. This is listed as a holding of Salvatore Nervi, deceased, and now Rodrigo and Damone Nervi. They’re listed as assets. Why do you need the breakdown on their security system?”

“They may not be assets much longer,” Swain said. “The word is they’ve just received a shipment of weapons-grade plutonium.” That sounded ominous enough to stir some action.

“Have you generated a report on this?”

“Earlier today, but then no one got back to me-”

“That’s because of Mr. Vinay. I told you things were in an uproar.”

“What about Mr. Vinay?” Jesus, had Frank been replaced?

“You haven’t heard?”

Obviously not, or he wouldn’t have asked. “Heard what?”

“He was in a car accident this morning. He’s in critical condition at Bethesda. The DDO is taking over until and if he comes back. Word is the doctors aren’t optimistic.”

“Shit.” The news hit him like a blow to the solar plexus. He’d worked for Frank Vinay for years, and respected him as he did no one else in the pickle factory. Frank might dance through the daisies when he was dealing with politicians, but with the field officers under him, he’d never been anything but straight, and willing to stand up for them. In Washington, that was not only unusual but almost suicidal, career wise. That Frank had not only survived but advanced in his job, first as DDO and now as director, was a testament to his worth-and his skill as a dancer.

“Anyway,” the woman said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Swain had to be satisfied with that, because he could imagine the uncertainty and jockeying for position that was going on across the pond. He knew the deputy director, Garvin Reed; Garvin was a good man, but he wasn’t Frank Vinay. Frank had forgotten more about spy craft than Reed had ever known, plus Frank was a genius at reading people and seeing layers, patterns, where no one else did.

Swain felt uneasy about his own status, as well. Frank’s solution for handling the Lily problem might not be the same as Garvin’s. Garvin’s view of the Nervis might not be the same as Frank’s. Swain felt as if his tether to the mother ship had been cut and he was drifting away; or, to use another metaphor, he had already been skating on thin ice by delaying the purpose of his mission, and now he could hear the ice cracking beneath him.

Fuck it. He’d keep to the same course until he was either jerked off the mission or told to alter it-not that he hadn’t already altered it, or at least delayed it, but no one knew that except him. When in doubt, plow ahead. Of course, the captain of the
Titanic had
probably had the same philosophy.

He didn’t sleep well the rest of the night, which made him crabby when he woke up the next morning. Until, and if, the computer geeks came through for him, he didn’t have anything to do, other than driving by the lab and mooning the guards. Since the weather was chilly, his ass would get cold, so mooning was out unless he was really provoked.

On impulse he grabbed his cell phone and dialed Lily’s cell number, just to see if she’d answer.

“Bonjour,”
she said, making him wonder if perhaps she didn’t have Caller ID on her cell phone. He couldn’t imagine her
not
having it, but maybe she answered in French out of habit, or precaution.

“Hi, there. Have you had breakfast yet?”

“I’m still in bed, so no, I haven’t eaten.”

He glanced at his watch: not quite six. He’d forgive her for being lazy. In fact, he was glad he’d caught her in bed because she sounded sleepy and soft, without the usual crispness to her voice. He wondered what she wore to bed, maybe a skinny little tank top and her panties, maybe nothing at all. She definitely wouldn’t wear something slinky and see-through. He tried to imagine her in a long nightgown or a sleep shirt, and couldn’t. He could, however, imagine her naked. He imagined it so well that his Johnson perked up and began to swell, requiring a firm hand to keep it under control.

“What are you wearing?” His own voice came out slower and deeper than usual.

She laughed, a startled sound that seemed to burst out of her. “Is this an obscene phone call?”

“It could be. I think I feel some heavy breathing coming on. Tell me what you’re wearing.” He imagined her sitting up against the pillows, tucking the covers under her arms, pushing her tousled hair out of her face.

“A flannel granny gown.”

“Liar. You aren’t a granny-gown type of woman.”

“Did you call for any reason other than to wake me up and find out what I’m wearing?”

“I did, but I got sidetracked. C’mon, tell me.”

“I don’t do phone sex.” She sounded amused.

“Pretty please with sugar on top.”

She laughed again. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because my imagination is killing me. You sounded so sleepy when you answered, and I pictured you all soft and warm under the covers. Everything grew out of that.” He gave his erection a wry glance.

“You can stop imagining. I don’t sleep raw, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then what are you wearing? I really need to know, so I can be accurate in my fantasies.”

“Pajamas.”

Damn, he’d forgotten about pajamas. “Shorty pajamas?” he asked hopefully.

“I switch to long ones in October, and back to short ones in April.”

She was bursting all of his bubbles. He pictured her in tailored pajamas, and the effect just wasn’t the same. He sighed. “You could have said you were bare-assed naked,” he groused. “What would it have hurt? I was having fun here.”

“Maybe a little too much,” she said drily.

“Not enough, though.” His erection was subsiding, a wasted effort.

“Sorry I couldn’t be more accommodating.”

“That’s okay. You can make it up to me in person.”

“You
wish
.”

“Honey, you don’t know how much I wish. Now, about why I called-”

She chuckled, and he felt a kind of squirrely feeling in the pit of his stomach. His insides were actually jumping around just because he’d made her laugh. Again.

“I don’t have anything to do today, and I’m bored. Why don’t we go to Disneyland?”

“What?” she asked blankly, as if he’d been speaking a foreign language.

“Disneyland. You know, the one right outside the city. I’ve never been to either one in the States. Have you been to this one?”

“Twice,” she said. “Tina and I took Zia twice. Averill wouldn’t go, because he didn’t like standing in lines.”

“It takes a real man to stand in lines.”

“And not bitch about it,” she added.

“And not bitch about it.” What else could he do but agree? “I have someone looking into the security system thing, but I’m not likely to find out anything today. I have time to kill, you have time to kill, so why should we stare at the walls when we can see Cinderella’s castle?”

“Sleeping Beauty, not Cinderella.”

“Whatever. Myself, I always thought Cinderella was prettier than Sleeping Beauty, because she was blond. I have a thing for blondes.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” She sounded as if she might laugh again.

“Look at it this way: Will anyone be looking for you in Disneyland?”

There was a small silence as she considered the real truth behind his proposal. He couldn’t tell her that he was restless and worried about Frank, and that he thought he’d go crazy if he had to sit around his hotel room all day. He wasn’t big on amusement parks, but it was something to do and they wouldn’t have to watch their backs. Nervi would never think to have people watching the entrances to Disneyland, because what idiot would stop in the middle of a deadly cat-and-mouse game to go ride Thunder Mountain?

“The weather is supposed to be sunny today. Let’s go,” he cajoled. “It’ll be fun. We can ride the teacups and get dizzy and puke.”

“It sounds marvelous, I can’t wait.” She was snickering and trying to control it, but he could hear the little gulping sounds she was making.

“Then you’ll go?”

She sighed. “Why not? It’s either a dumb idea or a brilliant one, and I’m not certain which.”

“Great. Why don’t you put on a hat and sunglasses and sneak over here, and we’ll have breakfast before we start out? I’ve been itching to let the hammer down on this little car I got to replace the Jag. It has two hundred and twenty-five horses, and I want to let at least two hundred of them run.”

“Ah-ha. Now I know why you called. You want to drive like a maniac with a woman along to watch you show off, and to make appropriate oohing and aahing noises.”

“Indulge me. I’ve been a little short on those kinds of noises lately.”

“I’ll try my best. I’ll be there around eight; if you get hungry before then, go ahead and order. I can eat later.”

Her two-hour time limit didn’t tell him squat about where she was. In two hours, she could get here from anywhere in the area. Hell, she could probably get here from Calais in that length of time. “I’ll wait for you. Tell me what you want and I’ll order it about twenty minutes before eight”

All she wanted was a pastry and coffee, and he made a mental note to add some protein to the order. Just as she started to hang up he said, “By the way-” She paused and said, “What?”

“In case you’re wondering, I
do
sleep naked.”

Lily closed her flip-top phone, stared at it, then flopped back on the pillows and burst into laughter. She didn’t know when she’d last been teased and flirted with so relentlessly, maybe never. It felt good; just as it felt good to laugh. She
was
alive, then, after all. She even felt a little guilty for laughing, because Zia would never laugh again.

She sobered on that thought, and the familiar pain squeezed her heart The pain would never go away, she thought, but there would be times when perhaps she could forget for just a little while. Today, she would try to forget.

She got out of bed and stretched, then did the set of exercises she’d been doing every day in an effort to regain her strength. She was getting better, her stamina improved a bit every day. After thirty minutes of exercise she was damp with sweat but not breathless; the old ticker was holding up. She got into the shower without having to take off any clothes, because she slept nude. Lying to Swain had seemed like a good idea, plus it was fun.

Fun.
There was that word again. It seemed to come up often in connection with him.

She hadn’t wondered before about whether he slept raw, but now her imagination supplied an image of
him
just waking up, stretching, his jaw dark with stubble. His skin smelled warm and musky, and his morning erection jutted up, demanding attention.