Ice Storm - Anne Stuart [78]
“Uh…I’d better be going,” she said, not meeting anyone’s eyes.
He half expected Peter to stop her, but Madsen simply stepped back. “See you,” Reno said unhelpfully. In fact, he didn’t expect to see her again. The novelty of English girls was wearing off.
He pulled on his discarded black jeans, zipping them, then turned to look at Peter with his usual innocent expression. He’d already gotten rid of the condom and washed off, hoping his activities would arouse his somnolent bed partner and send her on her way, but it had taken Peter to roust her. He never liked sleeping with them. “So what’s the big emergency?”
“We’ve been compromised. Isobel almost walked into a trap at least three times in as many days, and we’ve just lost another operative. And I asked myself, what has changed around here recently that might have compromised our security?”
Reno reached for the black silk shirt he’d been wearing. He was growing very fond of the quality of clothing he’d been finding in London—rich silks, creamy leathers, angel-soft wools. He pulled it on, stalling for time. “So you think I’m a plant,” he said. It was not a question. “You think I set Isobel up. So why am I still alive?”
“I’m not convinced of anything. And out of respect for Taka I’m keeping an open mind. Did you sell us out?”
“If I said yes, you’d kill me.”
“Yes.”
“If I said no, you wouldn’t believe me.” He slid his feet into the leather motorcycle boots he loved.
“Try me.”
Reno tucked his shirt in, reaching for his sunglasses. “No, I didn’t sell you out. I may not want to be here, but I don’t betray family, and by extension, you’re family. You matter to Taka, and Taka matters to me.” Reno met Peter’s gaze calmly. He’d taken out his tigereye contact lenses, and there was nothing between them, just ice blue gazing into cold brown.
And then Peter nodded. “I believe you.”
He’d managed to shock Reno. “You shouldn’t just take my word for it,” he said.
“I have good instincts. And I already called Taka.”
“Good,” he said. “I would have done the same. So why did you wake me up? What time is it, anyway?”
“A little after midnight. We have to go pick up Madame Lambert and Josef Serafin. They’ve been driving around for hours now, until I could set this up.”
“It sounds simple enough. Why do you need my help?”
“Why do you always ask questions?”
“Taka told me to. That way you learn things.”
“What if people refuse to answer?”
“You can learn as much from what they don’t say as what they do,” Reno said in as maddening a tone as he could manage. He’d been working on it for a while, and it came naturally to him. Unfortunately, Peter Madsen wasn’t the best subject to try it on.
“You’re going to find out, anyway. There’s a hidden apartment behind the offices, just below this one. It’s totally soundproofed and blocked off, but we’re going to have to keep Serafin there for the time being, until we find out who’s been coming after us.”
“Us?”
“Someone’s targeting Committee operatives, which includes you, so no more sex.”
Reno simply snorted. It hadn’t taken him long to get tired of it; he wasn’t going to find what he was looking for here, and substitutes weren’t fixing the problem. He wasn’t about to admit that to a hard-ass like Peter Madsen, though.
“Whatever,” he said, one of his favorite English expressions, right up there with “holy motherfucker.” “I thought he was going to the safe house.”
“Genevieve’s there.”
Peter wasn’t quite the Iceman he thought he was, Reno observed, keeping his expression blank. “Why?”
“We’ve lost three agents in the last two weeks. I’ve warned Taka, and there’s no way Madame Lambert’s going back to her apartment. Golders Green is safe enough for Genevieve, but I’m not putting someone like Serafin anywhere near her. The more scattered the targets the better our odds.”
“And what did your wife say to that?”
“None of your business,” Peter said, looking harassed. “She wasn’t happy. If she didn’t have some kind of stomach bug I wouldn’t have been able to make her.”
“Stomach bug? You’re certain