“Self-confident,” she said. “Good spatial awareness. Firm hips.”
A sharp little silence followed this statement. Alice realized she was staring at Daniel’s hips.“Um,”she said, lifting her gaze—and immediately became caught in his.
He was staring right back at her, transfixed. Alice did not even try to look away. She was going to set up camp in this hot, silent moment; she was going to build a house and grow old here. The world beyond turned as dark and vague as smoke. The mission vanished altogether. Daniel took a step closer, and something rattled—her heart maybe, or the office door’s handle.
She blinked just as Daniel did, yanked violently back into clarity. The office door’s handle rattled louder and began to turn.
There was no time to hide. All they could do was dash to the end of the room and press back against the wall, where they were concealed by the door as it slowly opened.
“I know you’re in here,” came a cold, hushed voice. “I have a gun intended for you.”
A brown-haired woman dressed all in black entered cautiously. Daniel moved toward her with silent swiftness, grasping her by the neck. She had no opportunity to react: within seconds, consciousness abandoned her, and she collapsed to the floor.
“Dead?” Alice asked as she closed the door again.
“I hope I am not so clumsy as that,” Daniel answered dryly. Crouching before the woman, he checked her pulse. “Alive.”
“Do you recognize her?”
“No. The housemaid’s uniform would indicate she’s a servant, but these manicured fingernails suggest otherwise. Whatever the case, better safe than sorry.” Taking string from his trouser pocket, he began tying the woman’s wrists.
“You are using the wrong knot,” Alice advised. “She’ll be able to slip out of that easily.”
“It’s a sledge knot. Entirely suitable.”
“You should use a constrictor knot.”
“Uh huh.” He continued applying a sledge knot to the woman’s wrists.
“Iwould rather take advice than risk a suspect escaping,” Alice noted.
Daniel paused, his forearms resting on his thighs, and looked up at her with an unblinking sternness that would no doubt have daunted someone not raised by spymasters. “Are you questioning my professionalism?”
“Of course not.”
He nodded.
“I am impugning it outright.”
A muscle in Daniel’s jaw leaped. Alice did not smirk, for that would be undisciplined, but her mouth did slant a little at one edge as she bent to pick up the woman’s pistol.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
She almost dropped it again as it vibrated in her hand.
“Oh dear,” Daniel murmured.
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Alice pressed the facing of the pistol’s handle, then caught her breath as it slid up, revealing a metal interior etched with Latin. With a trepidatious glance at Daniel, she held it to her mouth.
“Hello?”
“Agent A?” came a tinny reply from within the pistol. Alice winced, recognizing Mrs. Kew’s voice. Daniel bit his lower lip and glanced guiltily at the woman lying bound and unconscious before him.
“Yes, this is A,” Alice replied.
“Kew here. Glad to... Agent M found you... disguised communication device. I have important information... you.”
