Chapter 13
Dusk was slowly setting over the city, and Chicago’s air was mild and sweet. Zoe was on her way to the pizzeria and each step amplified her discomfort. What could she do, how could she try to get more information from Finch? She wasn’t an agent or a spy. She had no leverage and doubted that, with her pink flowery dress, she looked like a threat. If only she had a knife hidden in her hair or a gun tucked in her garter belt.
Any information she might get could be helpful to figure out what Finch really intended. Was the car fire a way of trying to kill Archer? What kind of father would do that? But on the other hand, it was a reminder of her own father. A shiver ran down her spine and she walked faster.
The small restaurant was on a street corner, near her apartment, which she was convinced Finch was well aware. Never would she underestimate a man like him.
As she entered, the maître d’ knew about the reservation and escorted her to the small terrace outside. Vines were climbing the old brick building and potted flowers decorated the wrought iron fence marking the area. He pulled out a chair at the small table in the farthest corner and she sat. Her hand put a rebel strand of hair of her up-do behind her ear, and she worked at slowing down her breathing by looking at the cars passing by. It wasn’t a very busy street, but it was interesting looking at people, going about their lives that she knew nothing about. Being so close to the sidewalk, she could hear snippets of conversations and imagined what was said next. A Harley-Davidson stopped at the light, engine revving. The man riding it was clad in a dark pair of jeans, black boots and leather jacket. His full-face helmet hid all of him. He turned his head in her direction for a moment, revving the engine and flew like a rocket when the light turned green again.
“Hello, pretty lady!”
Zoe jumped in her chair and turned to see Liam Harker leaning on the rail. He winked at her, and she saw the silver, just before she caught a glimpse of a firearm underneath his coat.
With his short reddish hair and five o’clock shadow catching the lowering light, he looked like a wild Irishman to her.
“You know I’ll die of a heart attack sooner or later with you guys.”
Undeterred, the cop only shook his head, a smile firmly in place. When he spoke next, his smile grew but his voice was much lower. “I think you’ll give Gabrielle a heart attack when she knows who you’re having dinner with.” She followed his gaze to see Finch being dropped off in a town car by a chauffeur.
Busted,she thought. “I just dropped a flash drive for Gabrielle in your bag. Give it to Kai or Lance when you get a chance. And don’t leave it in his car... Oh, and by the way, until I find a decent home, your mutt’s staying with me.”
Before she could give him a heartfelt thank you, he walked away. Dazed, Zoe shook it off and smiled as Finch arrived on the terrace.
“Miss Somersby. A delight to see you. I feared you might cancel on me.”
Zoe smiled and let him kiss her cheek. “Why would I do that?” Elegant in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up on his forearms, displaying a very expensive watch, and dark gray pants, he sat in front of her. “Well, maybe after talking to Archer Blackwood, you may have found reasons not to.”
He waved at the waiter.
“You promised not to talk business, so I didn’t see any reason not to come. Or to tell my boss for that matter.”
His smile was blindingly white, almost shark-like. He turned to the waiter who suggested a selection of wine and gave them each a menu. Finch ordered the drinks and turned back to her.
“An independent woman. I like it. I fear the menu is quite limited. But everything is delicious, I assure you.”
“You enticed me with a pizza, that’s exactly what I’ll have.”
The waiter came back with two glasses of red wine and they ordered two individual-sized, deep-dish pizzas, hers loaded with everything, his stacked with meat. Throughout the meal, they discussed books and traveling, very neutral subjects. If she hadn’t been warned, falling for the older man would have been too easy. It was probably due to his charm, apart from his gray eyes, that he’d also passed on to his sons.
Zoe would report the entire conversion to Gabrielle, of course, after listening to her boss telling her how much of a crazy fool she was. Fair enough.
The evening was lovely and the more she relaxed, the more she replaced Finch with Archer in her mind. Could he be this charming? This fascinating? Zoe thought that he could.
Finch topped her glass, but she had no intention of taking another sip. She had been careful and intended to be until they parted ways. The man before her took one last bite of his chocolate cake and leaned back, his glass of wine in his hand.
“Let me say, my dear Zoe, that it had been a very long time since I enjoyed an evening with such a beautiful woman. What a shame.”
Zoe fingered the foot of her glass. “Why is that a shame?”
His eyes gleamed in the lowering light. “Because of what I have to do next.”
A ball of fear tightened in her stomach, but Zoe maintained her cool exterior.
“Beautiful, intelligent, and most of all, resilient. It’s what you are, my dear Zoe, aren’t you?”
She pushed her glass away. “Now you’ve lost me, Jamieson.”
“Bear with me. I’ve had this plan in my mind for a long time. I’ll skip over the details, but my goal seemed impossible at first. I needed someone exceptional to help me out. Someone with exceptional abilities. But that someone was inaccessible, hovering out of my reach. Until today.”
