“Then there is nothing else for us to do but continue as planned and then return to London.”
I knew what he was thinking—ifwe returned to London.
“I never wanted this for ye.”
“I know that, however here we are.”
“This is not one of yer lady adventures to Egypt, or Hong Kong, or Budapest.”
“It’s not?” I replied. “I’ve always wanted to play some high-stakes game or bid at an auction for a priceless relic.”
He glared at me. “I should tie ye up and ship ye back.”
“Except for one thing, Mr. Brodie,” I reminded him as I straightened his tie. “I’m the one they have approved to participate in the auction. And it is the only chance we have to obtain those documents.”
He was not pleased, but he agreed. “Aye.”
He slipped his arms around me and pulled me against him. “I thought I’d lost ye when ye left.” He angled his head back so that I was forced to meet that dark gaze.
“I willna lose ye now, lass. Ye should know that I will do whatever is necessary to protect ye.”
I knew what he was capable of. I had seen it in the past, and I shivered slightly. It was a promise, and he would kill to keep it.
I did hope it wouldn’t come to that, yet I was not naïve. We were dealing with some very dangerous people who would also kill, and already had, for what they wanted. I needed to figure out how I was going to prevent him being killed.
Herr Wagner made arrangements for us to meet with the president of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.
There, I was able to arrange for funds to be transferred from my bank to the account of the auctioneer who was to oversee the evening’s event, with the guarantee of full payment for the item being auctioned, when that was determined.
It was possible that I might be left penniless when it was all over.
“Do we know where the auction is to be held?” I asked as we left the bank with everything in place for the transfer of ten thousand pounds.
“Herr Wagner will let us know an hour before the time.”
“Then it must be within the city,” I concluded.
“My thought as well. That’s the reason that I’ve given Karl the task of purchasing three tickets on the late train leaving Frankfurt tonight.”
It did seem that he was planning for all of us to survive the evening.
We returned to theresidenschlosswhere we had spent the previous night. I did, after all, know Angus Brodie quite well.
“He could simply use those tickets and leave,” I pointed out.
“Except for one thing. He needs our assistance legally to be able to enter England. Otherwise, he will find himself back here. Or worse.”
Karl had already returned when we arrived. He handed the rail vouchers to Brodie who put them in a pocket inside his jacket.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon waiting to learn the location of the auction and planning, as best we could, the role each of us was to play in this very dangerous scheme.
Nineteen
We had finishedsupper in the common room of the Cober Haus, and continued to wait.
I was not good at waiting, although I had improved at that during our past inquiry cases. Brodie, however, gave no indication that he was impatient or frustrated.
The man I saw now was the one with over ten years’ experience with the MET and several more in the cases he took for others—that almost unreadable expression, the way he went about our room as he carefully packed his valise and then suggested I do the same. It was obvious he was certain we would not be returning.
