“Now?”
Ren checked his watch. “It’s nearly one in Moscow. If that’s where he is.”
“Did you already speak to—”
“This is your deal. I’m not involved. My friend alerted Borodin that you wished to speak with him about a serious matter. Apparently, he was expecting you.”
Coluzzi looked at the numbers, then dialed without hesitation. All night he’d rehearsed what he would say to Borodin. Now his mouth was dry and he could no longer remember what he’d decided on.
The phone rang.
Ren stood facing him, cigar firmly in the corner of his mouth, arms crossed over his chest. His smile was gone. His eyes stared at him as if he were his worst enemy.
“Good luck,” he said.
“Allô.”
“Borodin?”
“Director Borodin, if you don’t mind. Am I speaking with Mr. Tino Coluzzi?”
The voice was calm, measured, not unfriendly, pitched higher than he’d expected, the man’s French nearly perfect.
“My name isn’t important.”
“There are no strangers in this business. We’ve been looking for you since yesterday. Now you turn up with Alexei Ren. You are an opportunistic man.”
“I do what’s necessary.”
“So it seems.”
“I have your letter. I guess I don’t need to tell you that.”
“No, you don’t. Mr. Delacroix was helpful in that regard, as was your friend Mr. Falconi. Or did you think we’d sit back and wait for you to come to us?”
Coluzzi swallowed, biting back his anger. He didn’t care about Delacroix, other than to be angry he’d paid him up front, but Luca Falconi had been like an uncle. “I didn’t think that.”
Borodin paused long enough for Coluzzi to digest the information. “What do you wish to do with your prize?”
“I have a few ideas.”
“May I ask you a question first?”
“Go ahead.”
“How did you come to find it? The news says the robbery was only about the money.”
“That’s my business.”
“So it wasn’t a coincidence?”
“Let’s say that there are others who want the letter as badly as you.”
“Have you spoken with them?” Borodin’s voice was suddenly too relaxed, almost nonchalant. Coluzzi realized that he was the more nervous of them.
“I thought you’d want it, seeing as how the prince was flying to Cyprus to personally deliver it to you.”
“My, my. You never cease to impress me.”
