Chasing the White Lion by James Hannibal (best free e book reader .TXT) 📗

claiming you can handle things on your own.” Tyler inclined his head toward the clothing racks, where Mac was helping Val select another Jersey Shore outfit.

When Talia looked their way, Val crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. No surprise there. But Mac crossed his arms as well.

She let out a breath. She wished Finn were there. After all the princess and your highness talk, he’d have wanted to see Talia eat a little humble pie. “I get it. I need you all. And I know a large part of this is about stopping the person trying to kill me. I’m grateful for the help.”

Mac nodded.

So did Tyler. “Good. The occasional tête-à-tête is healthy for a team—a set of checks and balances.”

Val kept her expression hard, unmoved, and Talia narrowed her eyes. “I’m still keeping the coin.”

The grifter huffed and turned back to the clothes.

The gold coin was only part of the whole keep-Talia-in-the-dark game Tyler had been playing. She fell in step behind him on the way to Eddie’s computer bank. “What about this second mark, Malcom Smythe? Is he some kind of collateral damage?”

“Does it matter?” Val held a gold blouse and a rhinestone-studded jacket up to her shoulders. “A mark is a mark. As long as we get the job done, right?”

“Wrong.” Talia caught up to Tyler. “Tell her she’s wrong.”

“I never tell Val she’s wrong. It’s counterproductive. But don’t worry. I think you’ll like our Mr. Smythe.” Tyler thrust his chin toward the main screen. “Go ahead, Eddie. Call him.”

A blue globe spun at the center of the screen, and a ringtone pulsed in the speakers. When the call went through, a white-haired man materialized. He wore a waxy mustache and goatee. Talia recognized him anyway. “Conrad?”

“Mr. Smythe, thank you very much.” The cook added more pretension than usual to his accent.

Talia had trouble taking her focus off the plum waistcoat. Atan had mentioned Smythe’s preference for outlandish colors. “You told me you wore that to celebrate my homecoming.”

“As I did, child. But I was also trying it out, getting comfortable. I am . . . unused to pushing the boundaries of fashion.” He held a royal blue bow tie to his neck and wiggled it.

Talia giggled.

Tyler brought conversation back to business. “Are you all set, Mr. Smythe?”

“Set and ready. We’ll see you at the dig site tomorrow morning.”

“Good. Until then.” The screen returned to the blue globe. Tyler glanced at Talia. “Happy?”

“Not until we find those kids.”

The groan of the garage door stopped Talia from asking why Conrad was bunking apart from the rest of the team, or what he had meant by the we in We’ll see you tomorrow. Finn ducked in. He pressed the button to send the door down again the moment his head was clear.

Mac shoved the clothes he’d been holding into Val’s arms and strode off to greet his friend. The two had grown closer in the months following the Gryphon heist. He clasped Finn’s hand and bent close to his ear, muttering. The thief nodded and gave him a sad smile.

Talia wanted to do the same—to go to him and say something encouraging. But what?

Eddie made an attempt of his own. When Finn sank into the couch beside his computer bank, the geek swiveled around and laid a hand on his arm. “Next time I’ll build you one of those boxes that hacks the code.”

Finn gave him a you can’t be serious stare.

“No. Really. I built one last year for fun. Worked great.”

“Psst.” Talia leaned into Eddie’s line of sight, running a hand across her throat.

He didn’t notice. “I learned how to build it from this guy on YouTube.”

Finn dropped his forehead into his palm. “Someone shoot me.”

Val sat on the couch beside the thief. “Are we feeling sad because we couldn’t get the job done?”

“Valkyrie,” Tyler said.

She ignored the warning. “A cat burglar defeated by a stuck door—as if you have no clue what you’re doing. Don’t worry. I covered your slack. Come to think of it, you only got in the way.”

No one breathed. The only sound in the garage was the hum of halogen lights. After a few heartbeats, Finn got up and walked out, slamming the old iron dock gate behind him.

Misguided helpfulness was one thing. A direct attack was another. Talia gave Val a death stare. “You don’t care who you hurt, do you?” She hurried after Finn.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-

ONE

VILLA VÁCLAV

RIVER VLTAVA

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

FINNCOULDN’TBROODLIKEANORMALGUY, by moping on the mossy steps cut into the riverbank. Talia had to search for several seconds before she found him, perched on a decorative ledge between the second and third stories, a good twenty feet above the basement dock.

To the best she could figure, he’d climbed a tree, balance-walked across a branch to the wall, and scaled the rest using cracks and uneven stones. “You wouldn’t want to come down and talk, would you?”

Silence.

“Right. Of course not.” Talia hated heights, and she hated climbing. She gave it a shot anyway.

The old oak proved no challenge. But to reach the wall, she had to walk across a gnarled branch with no suitable handholds for balance. “I’m doing this.” She stepped out from the root of the branch, wobbling the moment she let go of the trunk. “I’ll probably fall and break my collarbone. Not that you care.”

After three terrifying steps, she flattened her body against the wall, cheek pressed into the cold, wet stone. “I’m not dead. I didn’t fall. Feel free to stop me at any time . . . Please.”

“Don’t come up. I came out here to be alone, not to watch you embarrass yourself.”

Progress. He’d spoken. She dug her fingers into the first handhold, a fissure running through a stone.

Urgency banished the sarcasm from Finn’s tone. “Oi. I said don’t come up, yeah? I’m serious. You’ll fall.”

“I’m serious too. Either I’m coming up or you’re coming down. Your choice.” Her foot found purchase on the eyebrow of a first-floor window, and she pushed upward. Her fingertips barely fit