Page 88 of Desperate Victory
At some point, we might have to pretend to be buyers to break into the rings. Cracking the cone of silence around the underground rings was proving even more difficult than I’d imagined.
“This is it,” Lainey said as she threaded her arm through mine and leaned against me. She’d chosen thicker pants to combat the wind and a silk blouse that hugged her curves. Not that I got to appreciate it as much as I’d like.
The jacket she wore offered her more protection, it also provided camouflage for her weapons. The shop across the street was, of all things, a print shop of some kind. At least, that was what it looked like.
Phone in one gloved hand, Lainey rubbed the edge against her chin as she studied the storefront. “Should we get coffee and drift back?”
I scanned the street. It wasn’t the busiest street we’d walked down and there were a number of other businesses. Sadly, there was nothing resembling a coffee or tea shop.
“No,” I finally answered her question. “There’s nothing out here to give us cover for why we’re lingering.” Speaking of which, we couldn’t keep standing here. It didn’t matter that I had my phone out as a partial cover for why we weren’t just continuing.
That wouldn’t provide enough of a distraction for long.
“Then Plan B,” Lainey said, tilting her head back to glance up at me.
“Which is?” I didn’t tighten my grip on her or make sure she stayed with me. Sunglasses hid her eyes from me, but I could read the rest of her body language. The waiting was taking its toll.
“Walking inside and talking to her.”
Yeah. I had a feeling that would be it. “We don’t know what’s waiting for us in there.”
“We don’t, but I’m willing to find out. Do we go? Or do you want to call the guys and wait for them to join us?” Not an unreasonable suggestion.
“You’re indulging me.”
“Whenever I can,” she said easily. “But Margareta would not have called with this woman’s name and her former profession of being a ‘chaperone’ without some cause. She knows why we’re here or at least she suspects.”
Yeah, that was the feeling I got too.
“Split the difference,” I decided. Phone in hand, I sent a message to the group chat with the guys. I gave them our location and plan.
Second message went to Jasper. He and Kellan were here. They might be closer. Either way, backup was backup.
“Messages sent.” I stuffed my phone into my pocket. I wanted nothing in my hands. “If I pull the plug, retreat. Understood?”
Her lips pursed, but she seemed to be struggling to suppress another smile. “Understood.”
Chuckling, I checked for where the gun was secured. Weapons in the Czech Republic were not as easily obtained as they were at home. The guys all knew a guy. Bodhi had made arrangements for all of us.
Still, I’d rather not be caught carrying, especially since they’d covered my conviction up so I could get a visa to enter the country in the first place.
“Do you mind if I take the lead on talking to them?” Lainey asked as we crossed the street.
“You speak far more languages than I do. But I didn’t think Czech was one.”
“It’s not, but the sign there indicates they also speak German.” I followed her gesture to where the German flag appeared on a small sign in the window. I couldn’t read it either, but I trusted her.
“All yours then. Just let me know if I need to punch someone.”
That earned me a swift smile and a chuckle as she reached for the door. I got to it before she did and opened it for her. The bell overhead jingled, announcing our arrival. Not that anyone would be able to hear it over the racket inside the shop. The air was hotter than outside. Warm, humid, and it smelled of dust, paper, and something kind of burnt.
Everywhere I looked, there were stacks of paper, some printed, some not. The machine near the front was running and it was printing off large sheets with three or four pages per sheet.
Lainey made her way through the center of the shop toward an archway made out of more paper and boxes. Everywhere you looked there were boxes, not all of them stacked neatly. The precarious nature threatened bodily harm if they were bumped.
A woman appeared through the archway, a stack of hard covers in hand. She nearly ran into Lainey because her attention was elsewhere. Fortunately, her gaze snapped up at the last second. Stopping in her tracks, she let out a shriek.
Eyes wide and sweat decorating her brow, the woman stumbled back a step and Lainey caught her arm to keep her from falling. She said something in German. The rapid-fire speech sounded lovely from her, not that I could follow it.