Gedeon’s gaze jumped to her instantly, his heart accelerating. Her head was down as she smelled a ripe apricot. Lola was to her right and behind her, talking animatedly with the vendor while Meiling purchased a few of the apricots and placed them in her small basket. She began to wind her way through aisles around the rest of the long length of tables, walking toward the exit, ignoring Lola completely. Twice she stopped to look at something one of the vendors had to offer before shaking her head and continuing on her way.
“She’s coming out,” Gedeon advised.
He had to work to keep from being tense. This was the moment Meiling was most at risk. Georgi had someone backing him up, and so far, no one had spotted that man. They were all leopards. Gedeon wasn’t at all familiar with the terrain, and their enemies were. This was their home turf, and they regularly made their drops here. They would know every nook and cranny to wedge themselves in to watch over their charges, but like him, when their responsibilities were on the move, they would have to move.
Very carefully, but with great speed, he broke down his rifle and placed it in the small carry case. While doing so, he barely made any movements. The entire time, he scanned the rooftops and the one little open meadow just to the right of the parking lot. That meadow kept drawing his attention. His gut knotted.
“Lotus, come back inside. I don’t care what your excuse is but come back inside. Make it look real.”
Meiling was a pro when it came to working with him. She didn’t argue, although she had to be afraid she would lose her quarry. She snapped her fingers and turned around, nearly bumping into a man who caught her by the shoulders. She laughed softly and apologized.
“Forget something?” he asked, keeping her from falling.
“Yes, what I came for in the first place. I’m always doing that.”
The older man laughed with her, and then she continued into the farmer’s market while he headed toward the parking lot. She hurried immediately and then purposefully turned to her left and went straight to a vendor who had a multitude of lettuce on his table. She pointed to three different types and added them to her basket, explaining how she’d forgotten the very thing she’d come for in the first place. Chatting with him a little more, she added fresh beets and a bundle of asparagus. After paying, she turned back toward the exit just as Georgi and Caleb Basco entered. Meiling smoothly rounded the vendor’s table to examinethe strange artichokes he was pointing out to her. She listened carefully as he explained how to cook and eat them.
“How did you know?” she whispered as she purchased two of the artichokes. They were definitely in the thistle family. Gedeon hadn’t eaten them before. He hoped she didn’t think he was going to start now. She’d been like a crazy woman in the kitchen lately. He was certain she might be considering poisoning him with the thistles or at least choking him with the thorns.
“I had a hunch. I’ve seen this kind of setup before. Keep walking to the parking lot and get into the secondary vehicle. It looks like shit, but Timur said his cousin’s wife made it into a road rocket. So far, they’ve come through for us.”
“Um, Gedeon.” There was laughter in Meiling’s voice. It was the kind of thing that drew him to her. In the midst of a tense situation, Meiling always had a sense of humor. “I have no idea what the secondary vehicle looks like. That wasn’t part of the discussion. You were taking control of that. I had the truck.”
“That little Honda with the paint peeling off. There are four cars parked between the truck and the Honda and Georgi’s vehicle.”
“The shiny hot-looking souped-up truck I was going to get to drive?” she challenged, but the laughter in her voice belied her ability to sound upset.
“You couldn’t even climb up into the cab,” he stated.
“You feel very safe, don’t you, Leopard Boy? I can’t retaliate when you’re making your short jokes because I’m here and you’re there, but it won’t be long and you’re going to be very sorry. Where are the keys to the rocket?”
“Reach under the right wheel.”
“That’s not going to be noticeable?”
“You’ll figure it out, you always do.”
“Who was the actor helping me out with my little performance? The older man? He was leopard. His cologne smelled yummy.”
Gedeon just stopped the grin. Caleb Basco wasn’t his problem. Timur had assigned someone to take him down. “Timur asked him to help us out. Don’t tell me you have a thing for older men.”
She dropped one of the small packages she was carrying beside the tire of the Honda. Her hand slid along the wheel well and expertly extracted the key from the little holder. “Georgi Chaban just walked right past me without looking my way. His car is the hot little Porsche a row up and three cars over. I thought you said he was parked between us.”
“He changed cars.”
“He thinks he’s so clever. Lola handed a note off to him. He read it, tore it into tiny pieces and dropped the pieces into three garbage cans,” Meiling reported. “I indicated the cans to Jeremiah but he can’t move on them until everyone except Chaban is rounded up.”
“You just worry about tailing Chaban. If Timur’s men are as good as he said, they’ll do their jobs. If not, there isn’t anything we can do about it,” Gedeon pointed out.
She slid behind the wheel of the Honda. The car started right up. Chaban had already pulled his Porsche out of the parking lot and turned left. A dark blue sedan pulled into traffic after him. The sound of metal hitting metal was loud as an SUV rammed into the side of the sedan and drove it over the curb and right back into the parking lot, smashing it into another parked vehicle.
“Timur’s man just took Caleb Basco out of the equation, Meiling,” Gedeon reported. “The cops have been called and Caleb will not make it out of this alive. A fight will break out, and Caleb, who believes he’s a total badass with a knife, will attempt to blindside Timur’s man. He won’t succeed. The witnesses will be a couple of cops.”
Gedeon followed Meiling out of the parking lot, taking the exit to their far left. He caught a glimpse of the Porsche and accelerated around the little Honda, revving the motorof the memorable shiny blue-black truck obnoxiously as it shot past her to gain several car lengths in the middle lane.
Meiling tested the speed and agility of the little Honda, weaving it through the needle of two cars in the middle lane to get into the fast lane. She passed Gedeon and kept up her speed until she glimpsed the Porsche. He was using the middle lane effectively. Driving fast, but not calling attention to himself.
“Timur’s men are reporting in, Meiling. The net’s being dropped on Lola’s accomplices. I hope to hell he’s right and Kyanite is as fast as they say he is. If he can’t get to Lola before she has time to send a text to Georgi, that little girl is toast,” Gedeon mused aloud.
