from the phone. “Shutting up now, sir. Here’s the thing, children. We went looking for ripples—what sorts of things happened after Artur’s packages were delivered—and we didn’t find any for the delivery sites. No ripples. Artur dropped his package off, his trip went flawlessly, and that was the end of it.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Josh said.
“That’s ’cause you top,” Grace quipped, and Josh casually shot him the bird without even looking up. “Sometimes,” Grace murmured to Molly.
Hunter sent him a look, and he subsided, but Hunter got it. The world wasn’t paying attention to Grace, and he’d needed to know he hadn’t been forgotten. Hunter saw Molly pat his knee, and his shoulders relaxed. It wasn’t only Hunter, then, who was starting to understand the care and feeding of the exotic creature they called Grace.
They all heard Felix breathe patiently through his nose and out his mouth, and then he continued on. “The thing is, using Broadstone’s company—and some of the tech he told us had been stolen, we started looking for other ripples. And it turns out that there are consequences to the drop-off, but they’re usually about three weeks afterward. In a city far away.”
“Oh my God,” Josh muttered, gnawing on his thumb. “Dad, how are we going to—”
“We can always steal it again,” Grace said, sounding excited.
“So you can say you stole the same gem twice in a night?” Stirling taunted.
“Or,” Josh said patiently, “we can use the tracker Grace put on the box in the first place. Grace, you said the seal on the box was broken, but they were still keeping the gem inside, right?”
“Yes,” Grace said. “Box had been opened, but gem was back inside. I would bet they were told to check to make sure the right thing was in the bag. I’d do that.”
“So,” Hunter said, remembering how Tazo and his companion—Piotr—hadn’t objected too strongly to Hunter leaving because they themselves had an early night. “So….” He kept his arms crossed in front of him but drummed his fingertips along his ribs. “So they are going to have to deliver the gem to their employer, either tonight or tomorrow. Stirling, is it still in the Times Square?”
“Box hasn’t moved,” Stirling confirmed. “Grace, where was the box when you grabbed the gem to take pictures?”
“In someone’s duffel bag,” Grace said. “In the bottom.” He sniffed. “Thank God for gloves. Someone needed to wash his underwear.”
“That’s Tazo,” Hunter said with a grunt and then realized everybody was looking at him with speculation in their eyes. Oh. “No!” he snapped. “No, I didn’t sleep with him.” He let out a huff. “I ran into his ex-girlfriend on an elevator.” He shuddered. “People, the things she told me…. Some things you can’t rinse from your inner eye.”
There was sort of a collective grimace, and Felix said dryly, “And moving on…. So we can safely assume we can track the gem wherever it goes. Stirling, how long will the tracker last, and what’s its range?”
“A week,” Stirling said. “And pretty much the continental US. Anything outside—”
Danny spoke up. “And we can assume it’s from a Kadjic stronghold in Armenia or the Ukraine. Or Monaco. Either way, out of our purview.”
“But probably North America or Canada,” Broadstone said. “The tech, anyway, has all been sold to companies in that region.”
“So we, what?” Hunter asked. “We wait?”
“You have a better idea?” Josh queried. And it was a query. That was one of the things Hunter liked about Josh’s crew. Better ideas were always welcome.
“Let me catch Tazo tomorrow morning. I can knock on his door, tell him my lead for a job didn’t pan out, ask him to rec me—”
“Absolutely not,” Danny and Felix said, both at the same time.
Aw. That was sweet. “Guys, I’m not going over to the other side.”
“No, you’re offering to play double agent,” Felix told him. “I know you think you’re badass—”
“He is!” Grace said excitedly. “He’s very badass—”
“I can vouch for this,” Lucius said ruefully. “He’s quite forceful.”
“Maybe he doesn’t have to be,” Danny said thoughtfully. “Maybe he just has to follow Tazo tomorrow. Is he staying in town or taking a flight, do you know?”
Hunter had been able to get at least that much out of Tazo. “He and his buddy are flying out Sunday. This is sort of a gravy gig for them. They have another job already lined up with someone else.”
“Then he’s definitely making the drop,” Josh murmured. “And probably tomorrow by the sound of it. Stirling, can