Flawless(63)

“I thought your girlfriend had us pegged there for a moment,” Mike said.

“My what?”

“Kieran. When she walked by, I thought she was about to ask us what the hell we thought we were doing. She would have figured it out if she hadn’t left.”

“Maybe.”

“What was that accent you were doing, anyway? Slavic-Hispanic?” Mike teased.

“My best Romanian,” Craig said. Then he went still.

“Krakowsky has company,” he said.

“Oh?” Mike murmured, turning his head surreptitiously.

It was Harry Belvedere.

The two men hugged in greeting. Then Belvedere sat down, and the two talked quietly, leaning in head to head.

“Probably commiserating,” Mike said.

Craig nodded. “Comparing notes on being robbed?”

“Not much to compare. Krakowsky got back his jewels and no one was hurt. Belvedere lost his best pieces, and worse, a woman was killed.”

“The point is,” Craig said quietly, “they’re here together now, so the odds are they’ve been here together before. And I’m betting both groups of thieves have been here, too.”

“Awfully coincidental that they were apparently all here at the same time. Think our bad guys could have been tipped off by someone near and dear to the pub?” Mike asked.

Craig shot him an unreadable look, then started to rise.

“We’re leaving?” Mike asked.

“I think we’ve found out everything we can here, at least for now. And I’m more and more convinced that Maria Antonescu, intentionally or otherwise, abetted the robbery that led to her own murder. We have to ID the guy she was dating, her secret lover.”

“And we’re going to find him by...?”

“Actually, I think he’s here. Maybe not here right now, but I think he’s someone we’ve seen in here before. We need to change clothes and head back to Clean Cut Office Services.”

Mike groaned. “It’s Saturday. You really think Ms. Mannerly is going to be there?”

Craig nodded. “I do, because I’m going to call her and tell her to meet us there. Though there’s another stop I want to make first.” He signaled for their check. Julie handed it to him with a smile and not even a whiff of suspicion.

Not bad, Craig thought, for a guy who hadn’t gone undercover in years.

“Hey,” Mike said, just as Craig was laying down money for their bill. He nodded toward the door.

They both stood there as assistant director Richard Eagan walked in and headed straight past them to the bar.

Craig and Mike stared at each other in surprise, but they managed to contain their laughter until they were out on the sidewalk.

*

Toward midnight, Kieran made Danny leave.

After all, he had a tour to lead in the morning.

He protested at first, but she finally convinced him that she was just fine. She was in a busy hospital, and a cop was sitting right outside Bobby’s door.

Once he was gone, she watched Bobby hopefully, looking for signs of returning consciousness. She hadn’t understood everything Dr. Huang had said, but the overall prognosis was good. There was no water building up on Bobby’s brain, and the swelling was going down.

It was about thirty minutes after Danny left that Bobby opened his eyes, looked at Kieran and smiled.

“Angel,” he said.

She flushed. “Oh, Bobby. Please. You know me well enough to know I’m no angel.”

He started to say something, but she could see it was an effort for him.

“I don’t think you should be talking too much. I’m just so glad you’re awake. You really took a wallop on the head. Did you see who did it?” she asked anxiously.

He winced. “A large cemetery cherub with a bat? Ah, lass, no. I was walking—sober as can be, you know that—and suddenly it felt like I was flying. Except that I was scraping stone. And there was a big man there, aye, a big man. I’m pretty sure he was dark haired, but it was a chilly night. He might have been wearing some kind of a cape. You know—like Dracula.” He was quiet for a moment. “He wasn’t alone, either. Someone said, ‘He’s a goner, and I never even got to ask him,’ and I don’t think you’d say that unless you were talking to someone else. So...did they rob me blind?”

She shook her head. “They didn’t take anything, Bobby.”

“They didn’t, eh?”

She couldn’t tell whether he was surprised or not.

As if to himself, he murmured, “What do they think I know?”

“What are you talking about, Bobby? Who are ‘they’?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. But they must have been there in the pub at some point that night, and they must have been after something more valuable than my wallet. I remember old Krakowsky—you know, Gary’s boss—bragging about his new shipment of stones. There were a bunch of jewelers in there that day. They thought they were so discreet, but I sit at the bar and I hear a lot. But,” he added, “not enough, I think.”

Kieran heard footsteps in the hall and looked up to see Craig standing outside the room with Mike, speaking with the policeman guarding the door.

Bobby suddenly gripped her wrist in a fierce hold, shockingly strong for his condition.