Countdown - Iris Johansen [54]
Jane was still with Mario when Trevor knocked on the door at eight-fifteen that evening. He opened the door without waiting for an answer. “I do hate to interrupt, Jane.” His tone was sarcastic. “But I can’t have you distracting Mario from his work any longer.”
“She wasn’t distracting me,” Mario said quickly. “Her presence is very quiet and soothing.”
“Soothing? Amazing. And Bartlett tells me she went down to the kitchen late this afternoon and fixed you both a tray. You must have discovered a side of her that she’s never shown me.”
“People respond differently to different people,” Jane said. “I didn’t want to disturb Mario.”
Mario grinned. “Because she wanted me to finish the scroll I’m working on.”
Jane nodded with a rueful smile. “I was hoping you’d speed through it and give me something to read tomorrow.”
“I told you I was having trouble with it. There are entire words missing and I have to guess. Or perhaps I’m stretching out the translating so that I can look up and see you sitting there.”
“You’d better not be,” Trevor said.
“Just a joke,” Mario said quickly. “It’s going well, Trevor.”
“Any reference?”
“Not yet.”
“Reference to what?” Jane asked.
“The gold. What else?” Trevor said. “If you read Cira’s first letter, you must know there’s a doubt that the gold was in the tunnel, that she might have hidden it somewhere else.”
“And if she did, you’re out of luck.”
“Unless I find a clue to where she stashed it.”
“You mean where Pia stashed it. Who is Pia?”
He shrugged. “If you read the scroll, you know as much as I do.” He met her eyes. “You said you wanted to go to the Run. Have you changed your mind?”
“No. Why should I?”
“You seem to be fascinated by Mario and his scholastic bag of tricks.” He turned on his heel. “Come on.”
“Wait a moment.” He wasn’t waiting. He was already halfway down the hall. “Bye, Mario, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Trevor had reached the staircase by the time she caught up with him. “You’re being exceptionally rude.”
“I know. I feel like being rude. It’s a privilege I allow myself occasionally.”
“I’m surprised anyone puts up with you.”
“They don’t have to. It’s their privilege to tell me to go to hell.”
“You’re right.” She stopped on the stairs. “Go to hell.”
He glanced back over his shoulder. “Now, that’s what I expected. You mustn’t treat me too—” He broke off. Then a smile lit his face. “I’m being an uncivilized bastard, aren’t I?”
“Yes.”
“And you did your best to provoke me today.” He made a face. “I made it easy for you. You knew just where to strike. I’ve always prided myself on my self-confidence, but you managed to undermine it. I was actually jealous of Mario.” He lifted his hand to stop her as she started to speak. “And don’t tell me that you didn’t want to rake me over the coals. You were frustrated about your situation here and you wanted me to be frustrated too. Well, you succeeded. We’re even. Pax?”
They weren’t even, but she welcomed the possibility of ignoring the tension between them. The past twenty-four hours had been unbearable. “I’d never encourage Mario to get my own back against you. I don’t play with people’s feelings. I like him too much.”
“Oh, I believe you. But you wouldn’t mind letting me wonder. I showed you a weakness and you jumped on it. Maybe in the back of your mind you were punishing me for being fool enough to push you away four years ago.”
She moistened her lips. “I don’t want to talk about this now. Are you going to take me to the Run or not?”
He nodded and turned to the door. “Let’s go.”
They were stopped by a guard at the gate, as Trevor had been last night. “Jane, Patrick Campbell. We’re just going to the Run, Pat. All clear tonight?”
Campbell nodded. “Douglas had a sighting three hours ago, but nowhere close to the castle.” He took out his phone. “I’ll just give your security boys on the perimeter a warning to keep sharp.”
“Do that.” Trevor took Jane’s elbow and nudged her through the gates. “We take the path around the castle to the cliffs. It’s about ten minutes’ walk.” He looked up at the sky.