Captive Moon (27 page)

Tahira’s sigh was slow and pleased. “Boy, I don’t know what you said, but I just love the sound of it.”

He smiled. “Allow me to translate, then.” Looking into her eyes until he had captured her full attention, he repeated in English, “Thank you, my fire cat—thank you very much. I adore you.”

The stunned expression on her face made him chuckle. “Oh … I’ve never had anyone say they adore me before.” She began to look a bit uncomfortable, so he decided to lighten the moment.

“Well, I expect you’ll hear it again before the day is done. I fear it will be much as the previous endearment. I seem to say things to you unconsciously. But shall we go shopping now? I think both of us could stand some fresh air to cool us down, and I do have a call to make.”

“Yeah. Fresh air would be a good thing at this point. I’m feeling a little warm in here.”

Hearing that pleased him more than it should have. While he was certain that somewhere inside he was competing for her hand with Ahmad, it wasn’t the competition that made it important to him that she want him in return. Antoine turned his head so she wouldn’t see him smile. She would know the scent, but c’est la vie.

Removing the keys from the ignition, he grabbed the cell phone and got out of the car. Tahira also slid out without waiting for him to open the door, so he pointed the key chain and pressed the lock and alarm buttons.

Antoine placed his arm around her shoulders as they started down the sanded brick walkway toward the shops. Snow was piled high against the sides of buildings and around the decorated, barren trees rising from the path in neat rows. But the weather hadn’t lowered the enthusiasm of shoppers. People of all sizes and nationalities wandered around, and she found herself humming along with “O Tannenbaum”

when she heard it in the distance.

It felt warm and comfortable walking with him beside her. Without conscious thought, she reached around his waist and pulled herself closer. The familiarity startled her. Should it feel this natural? She’d never slept with a man whom she’d only known for—jeez! Had it only been three days?—in her entire life, and now there were two of them fighting over her. It was flattering as hell, but considering how difficult it had been to even get a guy to make eye contact with her lately, it was just—

She felt movement next to her and saw Antoine point to one of the stores ahead. A few stray blond hairs had escaped from the braid hanging down his back. It seemed almost white against the black and silver ski jacket he wore, and she felt a tingle as she remembered the sensation of it brushing against her body.

“There is Zara’s, if you want to look inside. Take as long as you wish to try on things, and please don’t feel that you have to limit your budget to only a few outfits. There’s no telling how long we’ll be in Germany. We’ll need to arrange for paperwork if your family doesn’t remember to bring it along.”

“Okay, but… um, where will you be? Should I pick some things out and then come out and find you?”

His chuckle was filled with warmth. “I won’t be far, mon chat du feu. But I won’t get cell reception inside the store, especially with the mounds of snow and trees outside.”

“Well, then, why don’t we eat first? You can call and then we can shop together. That way, we won’t lose each other. I really don’t want to get separated.”

He nodded in understanding that was tinged with admiration. “That is a valid point, for more than one reason. We should stay in sight of each other until I find out more about who visited the jail before we could arrive.”

He turned her around and they backtracked a bit, taking in the sights and sounds of the season. She almost wished she had a camera, but who could she show photos to if she didn’t find Rabi? She wouldn’t want to remember this place if she never found him.

Antoine must have scented something of her mood, because he stopped, put a finger under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his. “We will find him, Tahira. It’s one of the things I’m calling about.” Then he tightened his arm and brushed his lips against hers. The gentleness was almost more intoxicating than the desperate passion had been, and she found her legs a bit unsteady when they started to walk again.

“Café Wien has excellent food,” he said, and steered her toward the entrance. “And it appears there’s a window seat available. That should be perfect to make calls.”

Tahira was surprised when Antoine spoke to the host in German. The language seemed to flow off his tongue as easily as French did. She could tell by their body language and facial expressions—if not from the words—

when he requested the window table, and it was only moments before Antoine was helping her off with her jacket and they sat down. She looked out onto a wide, gray flagstone patio. The shade trees edging the area, and the variety of planters and containers that were now piled with snow, were probably lovely in the summer.

“Should I order for you?” he asked when he noticed she was trying to decipher the menu. It was beautifully designed in blues and reds, and she could at least tell which meats were in which dishes by the photos on the page. But the only thing she recognized on the menu was chicken cordon bleu, and it wasn’t her favorite.

“That would be nice,” she replied with a frustrated sound. “Just something simple, like a beef sandwich. I know I should be hungry, but I’m too wound up right now ”

He gathered the menus and when the waiter arrived, started to order. He paused for a moment, “Would you like wine or beer with lunch? They have some excellent choices here. Or, perhaps some cappuccino or hot tea?”

She looked back to him from where she was watching people wander by with packages. “Hot tea would be great.”

The waiter nodded and replied in thickly accented English. “The chef has surprised us today with one of his excellent apple strudels. It’s just from the oven—for later if you wish.”

Tahira saw Antoine smile at her sudden excitement. “Oh! That would be great. I just love apple strudel. My best friend’s mom used to make it all the time.”

“It’s one of my favorites, as well. Hopefully we’ll have room. They serve generous portions here.” The waiter scribbled on his pad, collected the menus, and left. Antoine picked up the phone and pressed one of the buttons repeatedly, apparently scrolling for a saved number. When he reached it, he nodded almost unconsciously and moved his thumb over to dial.

While she didn’t intend to eavesdrop the conversation, she couldn’t help being curious when a man’s voice answered the phone strangely. “Okay, yeah—it’s here. I’m headed your way.”

Antoine got an odd expression and then replied. “Hello? Raven?”

She heard a mumbled “Shit! Sorry, no. This is Raven’s phone, though. Who’s calling?”

His voice grew suspicious and professional. “This is Antoine Monier. Who are you, and why do you have Raven’s phone? And where is Raven?”

“Oh! Hey, Antoine—this is Tony. Raven’s at the airport, but he forgot his phone at the hotel, so I came back for it. I thought it was him calling, because he said he’d ring it so I could find it.”

“Merde! Where is he going? I need to talk to him right away.”

She heard static and then outdoor sounds from the phone. “Back to Boulder, I think. I didn’t ask. What do you need? I’ll tell him when I give him the phone.”

He let out a frustrated breath. “I’m sorry, Tony. But it’s company business. I need to talk to one of the agents personally. Is Ivan perhaps still there?”

Tahira heard a low chuckle that sounded slightly annoyed. “Nope. But guess what? I’m apparently one of guys to talk to now. I just got drafted—goddamn that Lucas, anyway.”

Antoine’s voice was filled with shock bordering on dread. He lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. “You?

An agent? Merde! What could he have been thinking?”

“Thanks a lot, buddy!” he snarled, “Fuck you very much. I thought you had a higher opinion of me. It’s bad enough that I’ve got to play messenger boy and schlep around all these framed photos to give people, but now I’ve got to take insults? Don’t think so. Buh-bye.”

Tahira winced when she heard the connection break as he hung up. Antoine closed his fist around the phone and bared his teeth in the semblance of a smile that most certainly wasn’t a smile. He closed his eyes for a moment and then took a deep, angry breath. She could hear the plastic of the phone protest as he squeezed it in a white-knuckled grip. His scent was as heated as his mood.

The waiter brought their drinks at that moment, and Antoine started to count under his breath as the young man turned over her cup with a nervous smile at him. She nodded her thanks and dipped the tea bag in the hot water repeatedly while trying to find a way to lighten the moment. “I guess he wasn’t too happy to hear from you?”

He took a long draw from his glass of nearly black beer and wiped the foam from his lip. “Tony has a…

unique personality that I’m still trying to figure out.”

She shrugged and felt a little embarrassed, but decided to speak her mind, anyway. “Well, frankly, I probably would have reacted the same as him. What you said was pretty insulting.”

He waggled his head and she smelled dusty embarrassment join the anger. “Perhaps. But he’s a fox who has just been placed in charge of guarding the hen house. Putting him in a position of … authority makes me question several things, including the temporary chief’s sanity. Still, he is a new ruhsal, as you call us, and we will have to work together. So, you’re probably right that I should apologize.”

He pressed the redial button and she could hear it ring once, then twice. There was finally a connection on the third ring, but it remained open air with nobody speaking.

“Tony? Are you there?” He sighed when there was no response. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have said that.”

The voice that came back over the line had lowered several notes and had taken on a thick Italian accent. “You’re right. You shouldn’t have. You ever even think shit like that again and I hear about it—

councilman or no, I’ll take you out. Capisce?”

“You said yourself that it wasn’t a good idea.” He tried to put a light spin on it, as though teasing.

Tahira heard Tony’s voice become a bit mollified, but only a bit. “Yeah, I did. But not because I couldn’t do the job; because I didn’t want the job. So, let’s start over while I’m driving. Where do you want your photo mailed?”

“Photo? What photo?”

There was a pause on the phone, and then sudden laughter that startled Antoine. “You don’t even know? Right—you left before the fallout, didn’t you? You weren’t at the hotel when Lucas and I got back.”

Antoine’s expression changed, showing part admiration, part fear and part… something else. “I don’t know if you’ll believe me, Tony, but for what it’s worth, thank you for your sacrifice. We’re all very grateful that you … took care of that problem. Is that the picture? Of the…of her?”

“Oh, hell no! You wouldn’t want a picture of that! There wasn’t much left after using the whole arsenal to bring her down. But it is what made Lucas decide I was Wolven material. It’s my one shining talent. The hindsight might help close some old cases, or so Raven believes, but if you need something dead, I’m your man. So, for what it’s worth, you’re welcome.”

Tahira started at his words and her scent of surprise attracted Antoine’s attention. He held the phone away from his ear for a moment and narrowed his eyes at her. “I’d forgotten about your hearing. I’ll discuss this with you later, as it might well involve your people, too.”

Tony was continuing to talk. She heard a car door slam over the line, and loud whooshing sounds that drowned out his voice for a moment. “—did you get that? That damn plane was right overhead.”

“No, I didn’t. Say it again.”

“I said that the photos are of the snake representative, Ahmad al-Narmer, plastered against the ceiling of the hotel. Apparently, he pissed off Aspen and she fried one of his boys and then left him and his other goons stranded up there for the better part of a day. The best part was that she did it from the comfort of the airplane on her flight home. You’ve got a damned impressive sis there! But he was being such a bastard to everyone in our pack that Lucas thought he ought to be brought down a notch. Lucas presumed you’d want a framed blow-up, considering your… history.”

Antoine’s jaw dropped, and Tahira could feel cool air on her tongue as well. “Ahmad was… held by Josette—for hours, you say?”

“Josette is Aspen, like Amber used to be Yvette? Then yeah. I wasn’t here for the actual event, mind you. I was busy in the warehouse. But Ivan and Raven both saw everything, so you might chat with them for the details.” He chuckled darkly. “Boy, they were glowing brighter than New Year’s Eve in Times Square trying to get down.” His voice lowered to a threatening rumble that was edged with an animal growl.

“Still, considering that Maria won’t be able to walk for another week or two, I can’t say I’m sorry. He deserved it.”

Antoine’s smile was as dark as the one she was hearing over the wire. “Oh, yes. Please do send a copy. Ask Nikoli for my home address in Reno. Are there by any chance digital copies that you could send to me by e-mail? I would dearly love to see one today.”

Tahira couldn’t decide what she thought about the conversation. Was Ahmad truly as bad as Antoine claimed?

If there are enough people who want him humiliated to have multiple pictures framed—wow!

The waiter arrived with their plates. As requested, a thick sandwich made with roast beef, a tangyscented white cheese, and crusty bread was placed in front of her. Antoine’s plate held a breaded patty of a meat that smelled wonderful, covered in a thick, pungent gravy, along with mashed potatoes and broccoli. The scent made her stomach rumble and her mouth water enough that she was sorry she hadn’t just let him order for them both. But her sandwich looked quite good, so she took a bite while he finished his conversation, thoroughly enjoying the taste of meat on her tongue. It didn’t used to matter as much whether meat was on the menu, but since she’d joined the kabile, vegetables made her a bit nauseous.

As odd as the topic was, she was at least pleased that the conversation had relaxed Antoine a bit. “But on to business. I need you to tell Raven that I need him here in Germany. We’ve got an issue here in Stuttgart that requires—”