Daryl finally joins the party, making a show of puffing out his broad chest.“Okay,friend, what’s Aliah’s favorite tea?”
Slight flare of the woman’s nostrils.“Mint,” she deduces.
“Snack?”
“Pistachios.Maybe pears.No, I’m going with pistachios again.I count at least four shells on the rug in the family room.”
“All right, all right.”I hold up a hand.This has gone on long enough.I turn to Daryl.“She knows who we are, just like we know who she is.”
“We do?”
“British accent.Knows how to pick a lock almost as skillfully as you do.Has a penchant for concealed weapons.”I turn toward the woman.“Sabera Ahmadi has been looking for you.”
“And so, I understand, have you.Lilla.No last name necessary.At your service.”
“Don’t you mean MI6’s service?”I ask dryly.
That smile again.“Another world, another life.Nice to finally meet you, Frankie Elkin.Daryl D.Daniels.”She nods in his direction.“Now, shall we chat?”
WE TAKE Aseat in Aliah’s family room, because it seems the most logical gathering point.I want to know how she found us here.
“Followed you, of course.”
“How long have you been watching?”
“Only for a few days.”
“Fewdays?”Then as the implication of that sinks in: “Wait, did you see the men grab Aliah?”
“As a matter of fact—”
“But you didn’t intervene?”
“I was too far away, poppet.”
“I’m not your poppet—”
“I did give chase.Unfortunately, I’m new to these streets, and they, clearly, are not.I lost them at the third intersection.I managed to snap a few photos that might have value, however.I have others working on that now.”
“I thought your spy days were another lifetime ago,” I remark sullenly.
“Old habits die hard.”
“Do you know where Aliah is?”Daryl again.
“No.”
“Do you know what they want with her?”he presses.
“Same as everyone else, I’m guessing.They want Sabera Ahmadi.She is the key, after all.”
“The key to what?”I ask, having had it with riddles by now.
“Apparently, to untold riches.Or at least that’s what she told me, two weeks ago.”
“I FOUND SABERAeasily enough.It helps, of course, that I trained the woman who trained her.”
“Her mother.”
