“She gets that honestly, I’m guessing, because you’re the same way.”
Drake blew out a long breath. “Fine, you take care of her. But if you let anything happen to her, I will end you.”
Enzo knew how much Drake had missed his sister, and now that he found her again, he was determined to never have her in danger, so he didn’t take offense at the threat. However, he did take it seriously. “I will keep her safe.” He didn’t bother to explain that Drake, no matter how powerful, wouldn’t have a hope of ‘ending’ him. Enzo had too many contacts and too many places to hide. That’s what came of living as part ofla Famigliafor so many years.
“Now we have other things to discuss,” Enzo stated. “And I don’t think you are going to be happy.”
“Why? What else is going on?” Drake demanded.
“We have to determine what the hell we’re going to do with the statue.” Enzo continued, “I think going to the police?—”
“Statue? What the hell are you talking about?”
Enzo frowned. “Didn’t Kathleen tell you any of this?”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Drake cut in sharply. “She said the guy from the alley came back to steal from her hotel room because she was carrying lots of bags and he thought she was rich. She didn’t say a damn word about a statue. Tell me the details.”
Enzo hesitated. Kathleen was going to be furious when she found out he’d told Drake. He wished he’d known she’d left this part out. It bothered him to betray her like this… which was ridiculous. He’d only known her for a few hours.
“Okay,” he said finally, his voice low. “Here’s what she told me.”
He walked Drake through everything: the purse, the rip on the handle, the small, ugly statue, the whole setup.
Drake was silent for several beats, as if processing all the new information.
“So,” he said slowly, “they used Kathleen to smuggle the statue into the country or into Europe. And they were supposed to go to Paris?”
“Yes,” Enzo said. “I think they had someone waiting in Paris to bump into her, swap bags, take the statue back, and walk away. Kathleen would never have known. But because she switched her destination to Lake Lugano, they had to create a new plan. Breaking into your hotel’s security? That’s part of it. Whoever this is… they’re organized. And they’ve got resources.”
“Wait.” Drake’s voice went cold. “This statue, it’s small, ugly?”
“Yes,” Enzo said carefully. “Why? What do you know?”
Drake exhaled sharply, as if he’d just been punched. “This is so much more complicated than you know.”
Enzo’s gut tightened. “What do you mean?”
Drake explained how Alex Buchanan, now Callahan, had been hired to steal this exact statue, but the job had gone sideways because someone else had beaten them to it. Gage Callahan had even been accused of the theft.
“You think it’s a coincidence that they picked Kathleen?” Drake asked.
Enzo hesitated, then said slowly, “No. My guess? She was targeted, but not because she knows the Callahans. Thinking like a thief, it makes sense. You pick someone high-profile enough to breeze through security but not famous enough to draw attention. Someone like Kathleen. Very few people would ever dare to search her bag.”
“She was targeted because she’s my sister?” Drake said, his voice sounding as if he’d aged twenty years in the last few minutes.
Enzo didn’t answer right away, but the silence was weighted. “I think she was chosen because she’s the kind of person who wouldn’t raise eyebrows.”
“So where does that leave us?” The tone of Drake’s voice had shifted completely, less raw anger now, less edge in his words, but sharper. More focused.
It always amazed Enzo how quickly Drake could shift his focus. “We have two choices here when it comes to dealing with the statue.”
“What do you mean by two?” Drake asked. “You have to take her to the police and tell them what happened.”
“Um…that may not be the best plan.” Enzo continued, “Okay, I need you to get out of your head as her brother and an upstanding citizen for a second and start thinking logically. If I go to the cops and tell them that she accidentally smuggled a statue into the country, that’s going to raise an awful lot of questions, particularly about the ‘accidental’ part. It’s going to open her up to a lot of poking, prodding, and investigation. And after what she’s been through…” He let the words trail off deliberately.
Drake cursed under his breath. “Shit. They’re going to be rough on her.” There was a pause, then his voice sharpened. “I’ll have lawyers there to deal with it.”
“You can have all the lawyers in the world present, but that’s not going to make it easier on her. No matter what, she’s going to spend hours being grilled. In fact, too many lawyers will not help matters. Even if you hire locally, it won’t speed things up. You get where I’m going with this?” Enzo pressed.
