Countdown - Iris Johansen [28]
“Screw you. Life isn’t a board game. And you’re just as bad as Grozak if you think it is.”
“No, I’m not. I assure you, once you become acquainted with him you’ll agree with me.”
“I don’t want to become acquainted with him. I want him behind bars.” She met his gaze. “And I’m going to call Joe and give him Grozak’s name as soon as we reach Scotland.”
“I thought you would. That’s why I wanted a little time for you to get over your first emotional response and be able to reason again.”
“It’s reasonable to call in the law.”
“Reasonable, but not effective if you want Grozak. He’s been dodging the law for years and he’s good at it. You don’t want him to suspend operations and disappear if he scents trouble.”
“I don’t want that smirking bastard who killed Mike walking around free either.”
“You’re a cop’s kid. You know the large percentage of murderers who are never caught. And most of them don’t have as many contacts and people protecting them as Grozak.”
“He’s not going to get away.”
“I never said he would. I can’t afford to let him. He’s a danger and he has to be eliminated.” The words were spoken simply but with absolute coldness, sending a ripple of shock through her. Trevor was usually so understated that she sometimes forgot how lethal he could be.
“And how do you intend to do it?”
“He wants me dead, he wants the gold. Since he can’t have either one, I let him come near enough for me to pounce.” He smiled. “I pounce very well, Jane.”
“I imagine you do.” She looked away from him. “But I’m still not convinced I should trust you instead of the police.”
“Shall I tell you? Because I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I don’t want the gold.”
“We’ve already covered that ground. I know what you want.” He leaned toward her and his voice lowered to velvet softness. “And I’ll give it to you. Everything, anything you want.”
Her gaze flew back to his face and she was caught, held captive by the intensity, the charisma that electrified his expression. She had drawn that face a hundred times and knew every line and indentation of his lips, the blue of eyes that could often be cold and yet sometimes were warm as a tropic sea. Those eyes were very warm now. He couldn’t mean— No, of course not. With an effort she pulled her glance away. “The scrolls. You’re talking about the scrolls.”
“Am I?” He smiled faintly. “Of course I am. What else?” He reached into his jacket pocket. “I brought you a present.”
A cabochon-cut blue stone lay in his palm.
“It’s one of the lapis stones on the bronze containers for the scrolls. Not very pretty, but I thought you’d like it.”
Two thousand years old.
She reached out and tentatively touched the lapis. “So old . . . You shouldn’t have taken it out of its setting.”
“I didn’t. It fell out when we were opening the tube.” His hand brushed hers as he placed the lapis in her palm.
She flinched and then forced herself to steady her hand. Jesus, he’d barely touched her and she felt as if an electric charge had rippled between them. She looked up to see him studying her expression. “And I was right, it’s better off with you.”
“Is this some kind of bribe?”
“More like a promise. I promise to let you read the scroll that was in that tube if you’ll give me a little time to find that chest and remove Grozak from this earthly sphere.”
“Only this scroll?”
He chuckled. “Greedy. No, I’ll let you read all of them. But this one was particularly interesting, and I think you’ll be as excited as I was.”
She could feel the excitement as she looked down at the lapis. “Why? How was it different?”
“Cira wrote it.”
She glanced up, startled. “What?”
“Cira. The rest were written by Julius Precebio and his scribes, but this one was definitely Cira.”
“My God,” she whispered.
“Just a little time,” he said persuasively. “Stay with me. Let me keep you safe. You want Grozak? It will happen. You want to read the scrolls? You’ll get them. It’s a win-win situation for you.”
Her