Until Twilight (13 page)

gathering here in the City of Light. Every one of his senses told him the last act was

about to be played out. “Okay. We’re on it.” He disconnected and repeated everything

to Bella. “I need to call Adam and Nicki right now.”

But before he could speed dial them his phone rang again. Nicki herself.

“I’ve cleared everything with the government so we can get into the building.

Someone will meet us there in an hour. That just gives you time to meet with all the G8

heads of security and help them figure out the best way to protect their charges.”

“Good enough. We’re on our way downstairs right now. Wait until I tell you what

Maddie found out.”

“Well, hurry. You and Bella get down here right now. We can finish going over this

while we head to the meeting room where the G8 security heads have gathered.”

Lane filled Isabella in while they headed for the elevator, answering her questions

as best he could. He looked her over with an assessing eye, satisfied that her color was good and her eyes clear. She’d been completely stressed out when they’d hit the room

earlier, and that was no fit state for an explosives expert.

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Mine.

He wondered if she’d heard him whisper that word in the final moment of orgasm.

And if she did, what did she think? They’d been together such a short time, but it

hadn’t taken long for him to realize this was the woman for him. Not just as the other

half of his team but as someone with whom he was completely in sync. And not just for

work. Forever.

Adam and Nicki were waiting for them in a corner of the lobby and Lane repeated

everything for them.

“Holy shit!” Nicole was silent for a moment. “All right. I’m going to get Adam onto

his contacts. With even this tiny lead we have a pretty good chance to find out who

Octo really is.”

Lane glanced across the lobby to where Raul was seated in one of the big wing

chairs, casually leafing through a magazine. “I see The Bull is still on the job.”

“Yes. He’s keeping track of the three heads of Kopf for me, as well as Liebermann

who has come through the lobby twice in the past hour.”

“Anyone with him?”

She nodded. “Two men. He snapped their photos with his phone and sent them to

Maddie to run through the face recog software.”

“Any word yet on Arturo Franzoni? Any clue as to where he could be?”

“I’m still on it. Again, I’m using Adam’s contacts from his Mossad days since

everyone else has come up dry.”

“You’d think that since Italy froze the Kopf assets as they asked, they’d let him go,”

he pointed out.

“I think they want to hang on to him to force everyone else’s hand.”

“Won’t the threat of a bomb do that?” Lane asked.

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“They may be trying to cover all bases. There’s a sound of desperation in their

messages and in everything they’re doing. Snatching the Italian Minister of Finance

shows how frantic they are.”

Lane repeated to her what Isabella had told him about the bomb threat some time

ago at Gottfried’s home.

“I’m guessing they’ve already tried going through channels to reclaim the stolen

art—I’ve got Dan checking on that—and haven’t gotten anywhere. This is a personal

thing, Lane, not political. Thousands of Jewish families had valuable art conscripted by the Nazis and have been fighting for generations to get it back.”

Lane raised an eyebrow. “And they’ve traced enough of it back to the three heads of

Kopf that they’re taking these drastic actions?”

“Again, Dan’s getting that information, using every person he ever worked with

overseas to call in favors. He knows we’re running out of time.”

“Lane.” Isabella put a soft hand on his arm. “You have no idea of the passions

involved with regard to this stolen art. It’s worse than a blood feud.” She looked at

Adam and Nicki. “Adam, I’m sure you can understand. Think of it. People were swept

from their homes, their property confiscated and if they weren’t killed they were left

with nothing. Families have struggled for generations to reclaim what they lost. This is very, very personal.”

Lane shook his head. “I hear you. And I agree with you on the desperation.

Blowing up eight finance ministers will definitely send a message to the countries

where Kopf has assets.”

A dark-haired man in an impeccable suit approached them and looked at Nicki.

“Miss Welles?”

“Yes?”

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“I’m Charles Deschamps.” He pulled a flat leather wallet from his pocket and

flipped it open to display his credentials. “I’ll be escorting you to the hall where the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Excellent. And you have the G8 security heads together for us?”

He nodded. “Right this way.”

The eight people gathered in the small meeting room all had one thing in

common—very grim expressions on their faces. They had a number of questions for the

Nemesis people, which Nicki took the lead in answering. Isabella stood beside her,

explaining the situation regarding the bomb threats and what she planned to do

shortly. While she was dealing with them Nicki’s cell phone rang and Adam took it

from her and answered it, moving into a corner for privacy. Lane watched him, saw

some of the tension ease from his body, saw him nod two or three times and disconnect.

“What?” Lane asked when the former Mossad agent walked back to him.

“They’ve found Arturo,” he told Lane in a low voice.

Lane raised his eyebrows. “How? Where? Did Octo release him?”

“No. Some…contacts of mine were able to effect his escape.” A look of satisfaction

flashed briefly over his face. “They also have two of Octo’s people ready to deliver to the Italian police when I give them the go-ahead.”

“Does Octo know that yet?”

Adam grinned. “Are you kidding? My friends were trained by Mossad. There’s a

lid clamped down tighter than a vacuum seal.” His face turned serious. “We can let the

others know but not anyone outside Nemesis. As soon as Dan calls back with the rest of

the information we need we may be able to wrap this whole thing up.” He glanced over

at Isabella. “Assuming your lady neutralizes the bomb threat.”

“Oh, she’ll do it. No doubt. She’s the best.”

Nicole walked over to them. “We’re ready to go.”

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Lane looked at the eight people gathered behind her. “You’re taking them with

you? Putting them in jeopardy?”

“I want them to understand that these people, Octo, can get into any place they

want, do anything they want, and that freezing the Kopf assets will be the best

alternative.”

“You know your stuff,” Lane told her. “Who am I to argue?”

Nicole’s cell phone beeped. Adam handed it back to her and she looked at the

screen. “Time to go.” Her gaze shifted to Charles Deschamps. “Interpol is waiting at the hall with the dogs and bomb disposal equipment.”

“Then by all means, let us go.”

It was only a short walk from the hotel. Deschamps unlocked the massive carved

doors and they all moved into the reception area.

“Please wait here,” Bella told the others. “You’ll be safe here. Following their

pattern, the bomb will be inside the meeting area.”

Lane ground his teeth, watching her move away from him, the dogs and their

handlers with her, but he knew she’d be distracted by his presence. But when he heard

her voice he moved to the entrance to the room.

“It’s here,” she called, standing in the middle of a row of seats about halfway back

from the front.

The handlers were tugging on their dogs’ leashes who had detected their prey and

wanted to be let loose.

Lane and the others watched while someone brought Isabella the protective gear

she needed, helped her into it and arranged the shield and robotic arms. Then a lead-

lined box was placed next to her and everyone moved away. Lane was sure she’d be

able to work better if they’d been able to take out some of the seats but that might have set off the bomb. And Isabella, being the very best there was, had worked in tight

situations before. He had to believe she was in control.

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Although it took less than fifteen minutes for the purse to be lifted and placed in the box and the lid locked down, Lane felt as if it really took hours. He was soaked with

perspiration by the time they got the all-clear signal. He didn’t even care who was

watching. When Bella was out of her gear and standing next to him again he pulled her

into a tight embrace, holding her as if he’d never let her go.

“Mine,” he whispered in her ear.

This time she smiled and gave a barely perceptible nod and he knew she’d heard

him.

* * * * *

For people who had been through an incredibly nerve-racking few hours the five

members of Nemesis attacked their late dinner with incredible appetites. With

everything wrapped up Raul had gratefully joined them.

“I’m always starved in the aftermath,” Nicki told them, soaking up the garlic butter

from the escargot with chunks of hot, fresh bread. “I could eat everything on this

menu.”

Adam ran his knuckles lightly along her cheek. “And you deserve whatever you

want, babe. You pulled off a big one today.”

“Not without a lot of help.” She took a slow sip of her wine, then looked around the

table. “And a huge amount of help from everyone here. Especially Isabella, our newest

team member.”

“Everyone played a big part,” Bella reminded her.

Lane was watching Bella carefully, making sure she ate, rubbing her shoulders to

ease the residual tension. Once the bomb had been placed in the box and taken out to

the bomb disposal van she’d separated the vials inside and placed them in individual

boxes for the bomb lab to dispose of. Dan had come through with more information

about Octo now that they’d found a lead and Adam’s Mossad contacts had been

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instrumental in identifying the others. Very quietly Henri Liebermann, his niece and the others, including the two who had kidnapped Umberto, were all in Interpol’s custody.

But there had been side benefits to the whole mess. Realizing that others might

move in to take Octo’s place if they didn’t do something, and sufficiently alarmed by

the kidnapping and the bombs directed at their groups, the other seven of the G8

countries had moved quickly to freeze the Kopf assets. Giorgio Umberto and his two

partners were very busy trying to catch the falling pieces of their conglomerate and all of the art each of the men possessed was being carefully scrutinized along with the

documentation.

“So, Isabella.” Nicki studied her. “I usually like my major players to headquarter in

the States, but I’m prepared to give you flexibility in that if you’re too rooted in Italy.”

Bella smiled and leaned into the shelter of Lane’s arm. “Actually my partner and I

had a long discussion while you were finishing up with Interpol. I’m going to keep my

apartment in Florence but I’ll be sharing Lane’s quarters with him. We thought it might be more efficient that way.”

“Efficient,” Adam repeated. “Yes, I’m sure that’s the word Lane had in mind.”

“You’d think Nemesis was a damn dating agency,” Raul complained, finishing his

vichyssoise. “Look at you, the four of you. And Dan and Maddie back in Texas.”

“Well,” Nicole told him, “you know what they say about danger being an

aphrodisiac.” She shifted her gaze to Lane and Isabella. “So I guess I can assume the

two of you are satisfied with being teamed up permanently?”

Lane pulled Bella into his side. “At least for the next fifty or sixty years.”

“Well.” Adam cleared his throat. “A good day’s work all around, then. I think it

deserves a toast.” He lifted his wineglass. “To Nemesis, the goddess of retribution.

Once again she scores a victory.”

“To Nemesis,” they each echoed, and the clink of crystal as they touched glasses

floated on the air.

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The fifteen people who sat around the long table in the plush conference room

looked beyond grim. Not even the coffee made from specially roasted beans and the

exquisite French pastries could sweeten the situation. The person at the head of the

table, addressed only as The Chairman stared at each person individually.

“This has been another disaster,” The Chairman said. “Three in a row. All caused

by the group called Nemesis.”

“What do we know about them?” the man at the immediate left asked.

“Not as much as we’re going to,” The Chairman said in a tight voice.

The person to the immediate right carefully replaced the coffee cup in its saucer.

“So far they’ve disrupted our arms deals, our plan to put Paul Trask in office as the

president of the United States, our international drug distribution, and now they’ve

virtually emasculated Kopf Industries owned by three of our members.”

“So what are we going to do?” someone asked. “We have in place a plan for

international dominance but they seem to be chipping away at it one piece at a time.”

The Chairman looked at each of them in turn. “We’re going to find out everything

we can about them, and take them down.” The woman standing to the side began to