Tightrope (Burning Cove #3)(50)

She caught her breath. “Really?”

Matthias gripped her shoulders. “Lies work brilliantly when the people you’re lying to want to believe that you’re telling them the truth. I’m no exception to that rule.”

The atmosphere in the intimate room suddenly felt as fragile as fine crystal.

“Are you saying you would want to believe me?” she asked.

“Yes, if you truly wanted me to believe you, I would probably buy whatever story you were selling.”

“At least for a while.”

“At least for a while,” he echoed. “I trust you, Amalie. Do you think you can trust me, at least until we’re on the other side of this damn cipher machine case?”

She did not have to give that a second’s thought. She knew the answer.

“Yes,” she said. “I trust you until this thing is over.”

It sounded as if they were taking a blood oath, she thought, vowing to remain comrades in arms until the battle was finished. What would follow was still to be determined—assuming they survived.

Matthias watched her very steadily for a moment. Then he took his hands off her shoulders and stepped back.

“That’s enough for now,” he said. “What do you say we clean up and go to the bar? I could really use a drink.”

She took a deep breath and summoned up her flashy audience smile.

“Sounds like a good plan,” she said.

“I thought so.” Matthias half turned away. He paused, looking at the big bed. “I’ll take the sofa tonight.”

“It’s too small for you. I’ll be fine on the sofa. You should take the bed.”

“I said I’ll take the damn sofa.”

Some battles were not worth fighting, Amalie thought.

“Okay,” she said. “The sofa is all yours.”





Chapter 32


The Death Catcher laughs. “Smile for the audience, Princess.”

Amalie looks down at him. “You’re dead.”

“Sure, but the audience is waiting for you to fly. You can’t disappoint the crowd. They bought tickets.”

The unseen monster giggles.

“Amalie, wake up. You’re dreaming.”

Matthias’s voice brought her out of the dream riding a current of hot energy. She rolled out of bed and onto her feet, reaching for the gun in the drawer of the bedside table.

But there was no drawer and there was no gun. She stood beside the bed, dressed in her underwear, and tried to remember where she was. She finally realized that Matthias was standing a couple of steps away, giving her room.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “It sounded like you were having a nightmare.”

“Yes,” she said. She took a deep breath. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“It’s all right. I wasn’t getting much sleep anyway.”

A wedge of light from the open door of the bath illuminated the room in shades of shadows. She could hear the distant, muted sounds of the hotel’s dance orchestra. She estimated the time at somewhere between midnight and one in the morning.

She remembered that she was in her underwear. She grabbed the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around herself.

She was not the only one underdressed for the moment. Matthias was wearing a pair of briefs and his undershirt.

“Do you want to talk about your dream?” he asked.

She made a face. “It’s always the same. I’m on the platform. The Death Catcher is on the ground. He’s dead but he laughs and tells me that I have to fly. I can’t disappoint the audience. And then I hear the crazy giggles.”

“Sounds like a bad one.”

“Yes. Excuse me. I’m going to get a drink of water.”

She hurried into the bathroom and turned on the light. For a moment she gazed at her haunted reflection in the mirror. Then she splashed cold water on her face.

When she opened the bathroom door a short time later she expected to see Matthias on the sofa. Instead he was standing near a window. He had twitched the curtain aside to look out into the night-darkened gardens. Alarm flashed through her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

He let the curtain drop back into place and turned to face her. “Feeling better?”

“A little. But I won’t be able to sleep for a while.”

“That’s not surprising.”

“Now that I think about it, the dream was a little different this time,” she said. “The Death Catcher was wearing a mask that looked like the face of Futuro.”

“I need to get back to Burning Cove so that Chester and I can start taking that robot apart. We’ll leave here right after we talk to the waitress who knew Charlie Hubbard.”

“I understand.”

A charged silence gripped the room. Amalie was intensely aware of Matthias standing a few steps away, nude except for the briefs and undershirt.

“Last night in the conservatory—” she said.

She stopped talking.

He closed the distance between them.

“What about last night in the conservatory?” he asked.

She cleared her throat. “I just wanted to assure you that I didn’t read too much into that kiss.”